Thursday 14 June 2012

Narrative Essay


Narrative Essay                       Tori Armstrong



It’s almost unimaginable how influenced our lives become by the simplest of things. We face little things day by day that we get so used to and never stop to realize they’ve made us the people we are. In my personal situation, reading can easily shape a person’s ideas and opinions. For me, the book was called “Life of Pi,” by Yann Martel. This book shows an interesting side to how religion can shape a life.

The characters in this story all show very prominent personalities, I felt I could almost hear the attitude in their voices. When I first started reading it I thought it would be about the life of a boy and his pet tiger, judging by the cover. I quickly knew the quote “don’t judge a book by it’s cover,” was reality for me. I got to know this boy Pi from early childhood; I learnt about his family, how he got his name and about his love for God. He’d shaped his life around God with out having it be forced upon him. This young little boy felt the love that some people never find in their lifetime, and I pondered it. I started to think love is too small in our world to miss out on.

I started to take into consideration that one action does not make a person who they are. Of course Pi did love God, but that doesn’t make him who he is. With the thought in my mind that religion was a huge factor in this boy’s life, I looked deeper, I read more. This young man now, went on to follow 3 religions, going against his parents wishes to show his love. Now I knew, he not only loves God, he’s dedicated, committed, and fearless, and he knew he could take on the world with God behind him. I started to respect this man, I wondered about his thoughts; I wanted to listen to him talk about God.

When I finally started to see him in action, stranded on a boat in the middle of the Pacific, struggling to survive off anything possible, sharing a life raft with a Bengal tiger, I was in awe. He was put to the test and still managed to make it out almost scratch free. He had lived a sheltered life in Indian, but when the time came; his survival instincts came out of no where. God was holding this young man in the palm of his hand. He’d grown up being influence by smaller things he must never have realized, until the day he needs all the knowledge possible to survive, and he’s got it.

This novel brought a new light to my tunnel, brought new thoughts, new questions to my mind. It’s shaped me in a way. It has made me reconsider what is shaping me in my life. When I first started reading it, it didn’t really stick with me, I couldn't grasp what the author was trying to get across. As I kept reading it started to make more sense, I started to relate it more to my own situations in life. It reminded me to stop and think every now and then, who do I want to be? And how will I get there. What if one day, you've lost touch of who you are, and don't know how to get back to reality. This is a story of being shaped by your surroundings and growing with that or away from that. Keeping parts from childhood and expanding it into adulthood.

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