People don't truly accept life for what it is until they have actually experienced adversity and gone through that misfortune and suffering. We face many challenges in life, and we learn to understand and deal with those issues along the way. We discover that life is not just about finding yourself, but about creating and learning from our experiences and background. Adversity shapes who we are and who we become as individuals. Yann Martel's Life of Pi shows us that adverse situations help shape a person's identity and play a significant role in one's life by determining one's abilities and potential, shaping one's beliefs and values, and defining the importance and meaning of oneself. Adversity has the effect of summoning abilities that, under booming circumstances, would have remained dormant. Through adversity we come to see ourselves grow and advance as individuals and realize our true potential. In retrospect, we see Pi overcome fear and loss and realize what he is capable of and his potential as one of God's disciples. Adversity brings out the best in people, the greatest qualities and abilities a person can possess . Yann Martel expresses through this writing that people are continually victims of adversity, but our understanding of different situations makes us able to determine our capabilities as individuals. Pi has many potential talents and abilities that he has not yet discovered and that he could use to survive. Throughout the novel Pi goes through many life-changing experiences, overcomes many obstacles, and pushes his limits. Like when Pi catches the fish and kills it for the first time. He is hesitant and begins to worry, but soon realizes that in order to survive he has... half of paper... nk of achievements that have shaped who we are. Measuring ourselves against our personal achievements and the adversities we face is one of the many ways we can examine our lives and our potential. Adversity plays such an important role in our lives that it is almost invisible. We don't realize that practically every day we face it and set it to determine who we will be. Sometimes people are given a really bad deck of cards and they don't know how to deal with them. When we find ourselves in a difficult situation or faced with adversity we have two choices. Fight it and become an even greater individual because of it, or succumb to the situation and give up. It all depends on how much determination a person has to fight adversity and, in turn, become a better person. Works Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.