Life of Pi is a novel written by Yann Martel, it illustrates an Indian boy called Picine Molitor Patel from Pondicherry experienced different issues of religion and survives 227 days shipwrecked in the Pacific Ocean. Yann Martel has called chapters 21 and 22 essential to the whole book, Martel demonstrates how creating a “better story” has helped Pi to survive, allowed him to face his guilt and the two chapters reveals Pi’s understanding of science and religion.
Martel goes on to explore how Pi creating a “better story” for himself can help him to combat adversity and to survive. After the sinking of Tsimtsum, Pi has faced unbearable hardships and suffering. Richard Parker is a carefully designed personality for Pi, which integrates violence and
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After Richard Parker kills the French man, Pi feels “something in him died then that has never come back” (Martel 283). This is one of Pi’s darkest moment, this is the moment which God is absence, Pi feels extremely guilty because Pi is the one who really kills the French chef according to his second story. Pi releases his guilt by assigning this action to Richard Parker, he allows himself to survive by giving himself spiritual forgiveness. Pi discovers a carnivorous island, he finds out that in the night “the predatory algae turned highly acidic and the pounds became vats of acid that digested food” (Martel 314). The whole island including trees, algae and pounds are all acidic, they are all carnivorous. The island is a symbol of his guilt from killing people, Pi externalizes his guilty by creating the floating tress as his murderous deed. The leaving of him represents he releases his guilt and help him to return to strength. Martel demonstrates how a better story helps Pi to avoid his spiritual death and helps him to work through his guilt. Those chapters also have relation on Pi’s perspective to science and