Life with no Purpose

Going through life with no convictions -- no purpose -- and never knowing what you stand for or believe in, illustrates the ironic life which the characters are forced to live in Graham Greene's novel, The Power and the Glory. When priests turn to traitors, and religious practices are banned, who are you to turn to for hope and reassurance? For it is those who never stand for something, and live life with no purpose, who never deserved life at all.

Today, priests are looked at with a sense of honor and respect, thought to be there for you when no one else is. However after these priests go against their own religion, this feeling of trust fades away faster than it was gained, taking the communities hope along with it. Going against all the conventions he had laid out for him, even the conventions he made for himself, he decides to go against the church, and it's people, even leaving behind his own daughter in hope to escape the government. This so called "whiskey priest" is not a man to get involved with for he proved himself, that you can never trust someone as you may trust God or our savior Jesus Christ.

The mestizo: the name itself meaning, of mixed nationalities -- not purebred -- representing the animal-like life he is perfectly content with living. Between the nicknames, Judas, half-caste, and mestizo, the priest knows that this man should not and will not be trusted, for the second the priest met him he knew, "he was in the presence of Judas." (91) Constantly claiming to be "a good Christian" (90) yet perfectly comfortable turning in someone whom you let put their trust in you. Feeling at home in a jail cell, laying next to his own vomit, Greene uses multiple biblical references, to make us well aware of the Mestizo's sick intentions.

Those with convictions, those without, and those who choose to go against them, categorize the characters throughout the course of the novel, of which the Lieutenant also falls into. With evil convictions and a personality to match, the Lieutenant represents the devil within, but takes it to the extent that to him, "the word life was taboo: it reminded you of death." (p. 38) Letting young children hold your handgun, all the while thinking that violence is the answer to all the problems in the world, Greene once again uses Bible references to demonstrate the terrible thoughts running through "Satan's" mind as the priests are put to the test: their lives or their religion.

Padre José is the perfect example of those who choose their lives and the government over their beliefs or in his case, his religion. José was a priest for most of his life but chose to obey the government when put in a life threatening situation. By obeying the government and marrying off, he proved the government right and showed the people that they too should go against their religion and go along with their "true" leaders -- the government -- for in the minds of those wrapped up in congress, they are the only leaders the people need, and the only leaders they will ever need. Going against all the convictions he laid for himself and all the convictions he had laid out for him, shows us the importance of trust and warns us of peoples reactions while under pressure, like Pontius Pilot many years ago. Pontius Pilot and Padre José both did what society wanted, tying them both together and once again using Greene's biblical references.

Living a life filled with irony, going through life with no purpose, no convictions, or having the sinful mind to go against them, is Graham Greene's way of illustrating a parallel to the Bible while demonstrating the multiple characteristics, each person can face when put in a difficult situation. Whether it be evil convictions, an animal like life, or no convictions at all, once the people you trust turn to traitors, the trust fades away along with the hope of the community, for it is though who never stand for something, and go through life with no purpose, who never deserved life in the first place.

Dual Realities

an essay response to the novel, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel


From the moment we are born, we are given everything we need: food, water, and a place to call home. When being brought up within these boundaries, we create another version of ourselves, never quite knowing exactly who we are, and who we are meant to me. Adapting lifestyles in order to please others is exactly the challenge Pi Matel faces in the novel Life of Pi. After suddenly being thrown out of these boundaries, being forced to live on his own and having to fend for himself, Pi gives up on his vegetarian lifestyle, only in hopes of survival.

Growing up in India, with a mother, a father, and an older brother, everyday living and working in his family's zoo, things seem to be going just fine for Pi Matel. However having to do everything with his parents and living under their rules, he becomes someone they want him to be, and creates a second self. When we are with our friends, we are someone who is happy and fun to be around, when we are at school we are more focused and serious about our grades and school work, when we are with our family, we are more calm and do as we are told, but when forced to live on a lifeboat, your only company being a Bengal tiger because your family has just drown, who do we become? Do we stick with our instincts and remain the vegetarian zookeeper we have been our entire lives? Or do we adapt our lifestyle in order to survive? Here lies just one of the many difficult choices Pi was forced to make while living on the unforgiving waters of the Pacific.

Adapting our lifestyles is not only a problem Pi faces, but is a problem we face in our everyday lives. Creating dual realities, symbolizes the lengths we go to, to please others, which is why, I feel, we create these multiple versions of ourselves. Having a separate self for school pleases the teachers, while a separate self set aside for friends, pleases them. By showing the numerous personalities Pi has throughout this novel was Yann Martel's way of showing us the numerous personalities we create for ourselves.

Having everything that he once lived for -- his family, his friends, and his life in general -- taken away from him, right before his eyes, took an enormous amount of courage to remain hopeful, and for him to still have the will to live. After months of constant struggles, never having enough food, and with the fresh water supply running low, even the smallest plot of land would seem like a dream come true. Far off in the distance Pi and Richard Parker -- the Bengal tiger also aboard the lifeboat and therefore Pi's only companion -- spot an island. With sugar tasting algae, this unknown island seems like the sacred Garden of Eden of which Adam and Eve came across many, many years ago. After days on the island, Pi finally decides to spend a night on the island, instead of in the lifeboat. During the night, strange sounds can be heard from below, as dead fish begin to rise to the surface of the many ponds. Pi suddenly realizes that, "the island [is] carnivorous…This was why Richard Parker returned to the boat every night...This was why [he] had never seen anything but algae on the island." (p.282) After ridding himself of his vegetarian status, I feel this island was showing Pi what exactly all this animal death looks like and in a way, punishing him for what he had done.

Quickly fleeing the carnivorous island, and once again returning to the open waters, Pi's hope is diminishing faster than his food supply. After countless days of loneliness and nearly no food, Pi runs into another man who oddly enough was also trapped on a lifeboat. "I was struck dumb. I had met another blind man on another lifeboat in the Pacific." (p.250) However the man did not stay with Pi for long for as soon as Richard Parker picked up the mans scent, the only scent remaining in the lifeboat was the smell of his blood. The killing of Pi's so called "brother" illustrates what lengths animals -- or even people -- will go to in order to stay alive, showing how valuable the gift of life really is.

Months and months passed and living conditions got worse as Pi and Richard Parker grew weaker. Just as Pi thought that his life had come to an end, land was spotted along the horizon. The lifeboat had reached Mexico. Soon after his arrival, Pi was asked to speak to Japanese men -- the country where the sunken ship was made -- about his adventure. Pi told his story to the men, but they simply did not believe it was possible. When asked how something so hard to believe could possibly be true, Pi responds, "love is hard to believe, as any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?" (p.297)

Tired of having to prove himself, Pi tells yet another story, but this time replaces each animal with a person. Two stories, both told by the one survivor of the Japanese ship, Tsimtsum's tragic wreck; Yann Martel leaves us wondering what story is correct? Do we believe the story layed out throughout the course of the novel? Or the gruesome story that although is more realistic, is too horrid to want to believe. Each story, although different, contains links to the other, for it is those who are willing to listen, who truly believe.

Losing the ones we love, adapting the lifestyles that we have always known, are just two of the many struggles Pi faced while living out on the Pacific. Creating other versions of ourselves to please the ones around us, or in Pi's case, the animals he shared a lifeboat with, is Matel's way of showing us how we believe what we want to believe, become who we want to become and survive while others may not.

Great Expectations

Love -- a feeling everyone in this would should have, even if they’re not giving love to someone, they should always be receiving it. When growing up in a home with no love, with a parent unable to forgive, and never being able to move on, illustrates life as a nightmarish version of reality, as demonstrated in Charles Dickens' classic Great Expectations.

When living in a rundown home, with everything the same as it was many years ago, never being able to move on, and never planning on trying, illustrates an ironic side of life in which Miss Havisham and Estella are forced to live in everyday. Estella – a young, beautiful girl, who at a very young age was adopted by Miss Havisham and was brought to her home where she was then raised. Growing up with an unforgiving mother, never introduced Estella to true love – a feeling we today spend years trying to find – therefore leaving her heartless and forcing her to live her life loving no one.

Though Estella could not find the heart to love, she was loved by many – Pip included. Estella was Pip’s escape from the real world, for when he saw her he was stricken by her beauty and hoped to be with her forever. Through the many heartbreaks yet to come, Pip’s love was still true, for his love for her was everlasting, demonstrating the theme of the novel – love itself.

Miss Havisham, still living on her own, could not relate to what Pip was feeling, for she could never find the heart to love again, as Estella could not find the heart to love at all. Never being wed, there was a missing part in Miss Havisham’s heart which could not be filled; therefore Miss Havisham left her house the exact way it was the day of her betrayal, symbolizing the lack of strength Miss Havisham needs in order to move on. Why does Miss Havisham still hold on to that thought of tragedy in her life? Simply because love is the closest thing we have to magic, which is indeed something to hold on to.

The lack of love, and not having the strength to receive it, are two tragic factors in Miss Havisham and Estella’s already tragic lives. Through the struggles they faced – adoption and betrayal – nothing can quite compare to what they force Pip to go through. Pip shall forever love Estella with that one little hope that she will someday love him back -- a feeling difficult to even imagine.