Yan Martel's Life of Pi - Essay

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Write a properly constructed essay in which you examine the heroic quest pattern or
monomyth (outlined by Joseph Campbell) as it applies to Yan Martel's Life of Pi. Please
note that your thesis must incorporate your interpretation of the relevant elements of the
quest pattern in the novel, and use appropriate terminology.
The theory of heroic traditions in different cultures was based on Joseph Campbell's The Hero
with a Thousand Faces. The journey of the hero consists of three stages: separation, initiation,
and return. The hero left his familiar world and goes through an area of mystical mystery in
response to a call for adventure. There are miraculous forces and a decisive victory is achieved.
He then comes back from that mysterious region, carrying an elixir to his companions. Over this
trial journey, the hero changes his former self and achieves spiritual growth. Campbell's insights
into the heroic template are an empirical instrument to deepen the novel's significance and
expose the typical style of the heroic quest. Campbell's book is as fascinating today as the past
century, but also encourages imaginative inventions rather than fossilization (Martel).
The novel Yann Martel Life of Pi was awarded the 2002 Man Booker Prize and in 2012 director
Ang Lee adapted it into a 3D film. Both the novel and the film have gained international acclaim
for the touching theme of faith and spiritual development. Martel himself illustrated the
importance of confidence in an interview. He insisted even during his time of want that art and

religion push people, who are the motors of our lives (Martel). Pi was an Indian boy who was 16
years old and had three religions: Hinduism, Catholicism, and Islam. The name changed from
Piscine to Pi to stop his fellow students from mocking the resemblance between "Piscine" and
"pissing."
One aspect is, Pi is the Greek alphabet's 16th letter referring to the age of Pi. It is also the last
duration of his ordeals for mathematical terms 3.14 or 22/7. Political instability forced his family
to move to Canada from India. The freight vessel sank over the Pacific and Pi, with a zebra,
hyena, orangutan, and tiger to be sold to international zoos, survived alone as well. The hyena ate
zebra and orangutan easily and the tiger was eaten in turn. The tiger called Richard Parker left Pi
alone (Chia 1-18).
The only way he could survive was to conquer this. Joseph Campbell is famous for writing The
Man with a Thousand Faces, as the leading voice on mythology. In this major research, he
described the overall sequence of events occurring in most heroes: leaving the daily world,
undertaking a dark and enigmatic state of consciousness through trials and ordeals and a
victorious return in which humanity is blessed with the gifts of this encounter. The rich wisdom
Buddha brought to the East, the commandments that Moses had brought back to the West, and
the fire, which Prometheus stole from heaven to the Greek people, are examples of this heroic
period.
Pi’s Adventure as Hero’s Journey
Departure
Leaving Like a mythological hero, Pi has set off to the mysterious land of Canada from his
ordinary world in India. Though at first reluctant, he bowed to fate and gladly went to the