ipl-logo

Yann Martel's Lord Of The Flies: An Analysis

1398 Words6 Pages

Even though this belief ends up not being true, his imagination of it keeps his spirits up and prevents him from taking reckless action. Because he believes he has a family to return to thanks to the grace of God, Pi acts more carefully than he would have had he known there was no one else around for him. Despite his optimism Pi hits a religious roadblock when he realizes he must kill a fish for the first time. As it is ingrained in the minds of the boys in Lord of the Flies, so is it ingrained in Pi’s mind that killing is wrong. He, like Jack, realizes that he must kill for food to survive. Unlike Jack, though, he remembers that the fish is a living thing and feels remorse for what he considers murder. To cope with his and prevent an overwhelming …show more content…

Despite not having revealed the events of the months Pi and Richard Parker were adrift, the book makes it clear that Pi has undergone a tremendous suffering, and that his ability to remain good and with a pleasant personality, enough so to raise a family without being a danger to them, is a result of these religions. Because Martel chooses to include this information at the start of the novel, the reader understands that the remaining parts of the story will focus on the utilization of religion to keep Pi alive. This, in turn, informs the reader that Martel wishes to impress that if one remains devoted to his religion, he can avoid succumbing to sinning and becoming violently beastly …show more content…

“Man Overboard.” Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Tom Burns and Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 192, Gale, 2005. Contemporary Literary Criticism Online. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017. Originally published in Sojourners 32, no. 2, March-April 2003.
Peter, John. “The Fables of William Golding.” Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Sharon R. Gunton, vol. 17, Gale, 1981. Contemporary Literary Criticism Online. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017. Originally published in The Kenyon Review, Vol. XIX, No. 4, Autumn 1957, pp. 577-592.
Spitz, David. “Power and Authority: An Interpretation of Golding’s Lord of the Flies.” Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Sharon R Gunton, vol. 17, Gale, 1981. Contemporary Literary Criticism Online. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017. Originally published in The Antioch Review, vol. 30, no. 1, Spring 1970, pp. 21-33
Stephens, Gregory. “Feeding Tiger, Finding God.” University of South Florida, Texas Tech University, 2010, pp. 41–61.
Townsend, R.C. “Lord of the Flies’: Fool’s Gold?” Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Sharon R. Gunton, vol. 17, Gale, 1981. Contemporary Literary Criticism Online. Accessed 6 Nov. 2017. Originally published in Journal of General Education, Vol. XVI, No. 2, July 1964, pp.

Show More
Related
630 Words | 3 Pages

William Golding’s The Lord of the Flies is not just a book about children stranded on an island, but is instead about the collapse of order when chaos is common. More specifically, it is about Ralph’s struggles to decide between being a savage or maintaining stability. Ralph often feels a strong desire to participate in the savagery that Jack’s group practices throughout his time on the island.

Read More
650 Words | 3 Pages

Meagan Sanders Mrs. Smith AP Literature and Composition September 20, 2017 How to Read Literature like a Professor Thomas Foster wrote a guide to analyzing pieces of literature to lead students in thoroughly searching through texts and documents to find hidden meanings and the reason behind what the author wrote what he did and why he used the techniques he used. Foster used a first-person point of view to help the reader relate better to the topics and his explanation. He changes his tone according to the subject matter he is discussing to change the mood of the text. As well as alluding to multiple classic pieces of literature, he creates an easy systematic guide that benefits students wishing to excel in reading and writing based classes. Foster chooses to use the first person point of view.

Read More
762 Words | 4 Pages

" Lord of the Flies" is a novel about a group of young boys who find themselves alone on a barren island. They build norms and organizational systems, but in the absence of adults to serve as a civilizing impetus, the children inevitably become violent and vicious. Through the emblem of the conch shell, William Golding shows how the loss of order/civilization and law leads to the emergence of barbaric behavior triumphing over society.

Read More
610 Words | 3 Pages

in Nonfiction Classics for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Nonfiction Works. Ed. David M. Galens, Jennifer Smith, and Elizabeth Thomason. Vol. 1.

Read More
1098 Words | 5 Pages

Thapliyal, Rohitash, and Shakuntala Kunwar. “Ecocritical Reading of William Golding’s Lord of The Flies.” IUP Journal of English Studies, vol. 6, No. 1 -. 1, Mar. 2011, pp. 113-117. 85–90.

Read More
521 Words | 3 Pages

She inserts pathos once again to elicit feelings of sympathy towards the relationship between herself and the characters in the books she read, be it as slaves, housewives, or simply not present in the first place. Seeing as her argument thus far evokes a considerable feeling of empathy for her side of the story, with all of its facts and references, it is a minor letdown that Brooks can hardly be bothered to put in a citation of her information on Columbia’s newest reading requirement. While it is a relief that her argument is not being ignored, she could have proven her point more by describing the significance of Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. A brief search for the book reveals it to be about a man journeying to connect with his past and his self-importance. Had Brooks included this one extra sentence, she could have shown the significance of diverse authors and stories in her curriculum, but instead left it ambiguous and seemingly

Read More
1053 Words | 5 Pages

While the essay thus far, has been directed towards unveiling how the narration has been structurally dominant in nature, an exploration of the crucial points of enlightenment across all texts, surface the possible undermining of this textual authority. Disruption to the monolithic stature, is notary in Palahniuk’s use of an ironic epiphany in the ending. The final chapter of the novel takes root from the narrator’s move of shooting himself, a move that is imperatively a symbolic enlightenment, poignantly captured as he states, “We are not special. 
We are not crap or trash, either. 
We just are.

Read More
1170 Words | 5 Pages

The Norton anthology of American literature (Shorter 8th ed.) (pp. 2164-2178). New York, NY: Norton. (Original work published 1931). Jarrell, R. (2013).

Read More
2037 Words | 9 Pages

Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Christopher Giroux and Brigham Narins, vol. 87, Gale, 1995. http://www.gale.com/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/gale/g Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1100001378/LitRC?u=j043905002&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=eb48f4a. Accessed 26 Feb. 2024. Originally published in American Literature, vol. 78. 46, no. 4 -. 1, Mar. 1974, pp.

Read More
1702 Words | 7 Pages

Power and manipulation takes over people’s minds and turns us into egotistical people without even knowing and the sense of having control or authority can brainwash us into the people who we despise. William Golding fabricates his ideas around the time period 1933 after he received his English degree where he mostly wrote poems. Golding’s world consists of writing novels, pulling ideas from the real world into his own creative words on paper, this is where he developed his most famous book, Lord of the Flies, throughout 1954. The perspective of Lord of the Flies is through the eyes of the Second World War and since he was in this war, his point of view on violence changed and gave him a different outlook on society. In the Lord of the Flies

Read More
692 Words | 3 Pages

Books & Literature Classics. N.p., 2000. Web. 20 Apr.

Read More
729 Words | 3 Pages

The portrayal of his character as being highly moral and religious in the beginning of the story were destroyed in his search of satisfying his basic physiological needs by turning into savagery. At many points in the story, Pi sees himself no different to Richard Parker as we are all animals looking to survive. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and the story of The Life of Pi, demonstrates that our minds are controlled in stages, in which one set of needs must be satisfied before reaching the satisfaction of another. To understand the psychology of the human mind which allows us to reach the highest of stages of achievement, one must realize the darkest depths a mind can turn to in order to

Read More
1296 Words | 6 Pages

There is one moment in the story where all his developed instincts were challenged. He was met with a school of flying fish that would jump out of the water and into the lifeboat. He had wrapped one fish in a blanket and intended to kill it with a hatchet. He could not bring himself to kill this fish with a hatchet, but ultimately cannot go through with it. Pi ends

Read More
1463 Words | 6 Pages

Other examples of his slipping humanity would be the first time he killed a fish. As Pi addressed in the book, “to think that I 'm a strict vegetarian. . . and always shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animal 's neck. I descended to a level of savagery I never imagined possible.” (249) He is aware of the changes that are occurring inside of him.

Read More
645 Words | 3 Pages

He is unable to understand why the Lord isn’t listening to his prayers and why everything is detrimental to him. Keeping his religious beliefs at sea is very challenging for Pi, this leads him to experience feelings of disbelief towards God. Despite his doubts, Pi continues to pray and practice his religions. He eventually comes to the conclusion that once everything is taken away from him and he is in complete darkness, he will always have his faith. He admits that loving God is difficult, but it’s something he must do if he is to survive his journey across the ocean.

Read More

More about Yann Martel's Lord Of The Flies: An Analysis

Related Topics

Open Document