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In Life of Pi, Martel utilizes strong allusions to the Garden of Eden in order to comment on humanity's reliance on safety, familiarity, and the nature of blind acceptance.
Jewish tradition states that righteous souls will pass on to a heavenly garden of Eden upon death. However, once the Messiah comes, an earthly Garden will be revealed for all peoples.
Relation to Christian tradition
Gardens play role in Islam
Hindus, nature is inherently divine
Martel makes this connection for the same reason that the boat is named Pi is 3 religions. Though each religion is a separate entity with different values, they share common themes. The garden can be seen as a symbolic parallel to Pi's spiritual maturity.
Near the end of the novel, Martel uses strong allusions to the Garden of Eden through the Algae Island. The island, at first, seems like a safe haven, a paradise. However, Pi encounters harsh realities on the island, following a theme of appearance vs. reality:
beautiful, clear water full of dead fish
island provides safety, but algae burns skin at night
tree provides apples, nourishment, but contain teeth
So, what can you interpret from this song?
"Innocence died screaming
Honey, ask me, I should know
I slithered here from eden
Just to sit outside your door"
"To the strand, a picnic planned for you and me
A rope in hand for your other man
To hang from a tree"
"Babe, there's something wretched about this...
Babe, there's something broken about this...
Oh, what a sin"
"It was an awe-inspiring spectacle to sit in a tree and see giant waves charging the island, seemingly preparing to ride up the ridge and unleash bedlam and chaos–only to see each one melt away as if it had come upon quicksand. In this respect, the island was Gandhian: it resisted by not resisting" (270).
However, the ocean receding like "quicksand" displays the unsettling nature of the island. Martel creates a tone of discomfort throughout the passage by use of words and phrases such as "charging", "unleash bedlam and chaos", and "melt."
The island's lack of "resistance" is remniscent of the jewish creation tradition kabbalah, the origin of tsimtsum. This is the belief that God made room for creation, referring to free will.
Excerpt Analysis 2
"The radiant promise it offered during the day was replaced in my heart by all the treachery it delivered at night...I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island" (282-283)
In this passage, we see evidence of the adult Pi. He trusts own instincts by continuing to follow his faith. Pi knows staying on the island would only result in literal and "spiritual death."
What does this all mean? Any inferences?
Microscope: Life is not a paradise. Pi cannot stay on the island, because that means choosing death and abandoning all hope. It would mean mere survival.
Telescope: Humanity must face hardships in order to learn and grow. The struggles we face are a symbolic cleansing so that we may one day make up for the loss of innocence in the Garden of Eden.
Alles, Gregory D., and Robert S. Ellwood.
"kabbalah." World Religions Online. Infobase Learning. Web. 19 May 2015.
"Hozier - From Eden Lyrics | LyricsMode.com."
Hozier - From Eden Lyrics | LyricsMode.com. Ed. Lyvie Jeanpierre. N.p., 2014. Web. 14 May 2015.
"Hozier - From Eden." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web.
16 May 2015.
Leeming, Margaret A. "gardens in Islam." World
Religions Online. Infobase Learning. Web. 19 May 2015.
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc.
2001. Print.