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The Holocaust
The Holocaust began around 1941, and concentration camps were also made around that time. This is a important event to Yann Martel, not because he was connected to it personally, but because he really enjoyed learning about it and that he how he got inspired to write his sixth book Beatrice & Virgil -
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Yann Martel
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The Cold War
At the time Yann Martel was born, the Cold War was going on, and it did impact some of Yann Martel's writing styles such as in his book Life of Pi. -
Birth
Yann Martel was born in 1963 in Salamanca, Spain -
Travels
Yann Martel spent most of his childhood living in a variety of different countries such as, Costa Rica, France, India, Iran Mexico, Turkey, Canada. and the United States. Traveling and moving around influenced Yann Martel in a way that he represented his experiences through his writing. The different cultural experiences inspired him to write Life of Pi. -
Parents
Yann Martel's parents were Nicole Perron and Emilie Martel. Yann MArtel's father worked as a diplomat for the Canadian government. His parents influenced him to write, but he did not start until later on. Because of his father's job, he had to move around a lot, which also inspired him. -
Education
Attended Trent University in Canada -
Graduating
Yann Martel graduated in 1985 from Concordiua University in Portland, Ontario. He graduated with a BA in philiosoophy, but then stated to have an interest in politics. Having an interest in Politics effected some of his writing styles, because it shows the political viewpoint in some novels such as Beatrice & Virgil. -
Writing Career
Before Yann Martel realized he wanted to become a writer, he worked a variety of jobs such as a librarian. tree planter, dishwasher, security gaurd, and parking lot attendant. But, finally at the age of 27, he committed him,self to writing. While working as a librarian, he had some thoughts about writing. -
Starts Writing & Publishing
The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios was Yann Martel's second published novel in 1993, along with Seven Stories. This novel has common themes of cultural refrences, and it is also the inner workings of his Life of Pi. -
Travels to India
After publishing The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, Yann Martel was dissapointed, because it did not sell well. So he traveled to India to work on a third novel. His inspiration to write this came from all the religious texts he studied in India, and the zoos, temples, mosques, and churches he visited in India. -
Life of Pi
Life of Pi was published in 2001, and it hit the top charts. It received many awards such as the Man Booker's Award and Governer General's Award. Throughout his book, it is clear that he folded a lot of his experiences into the book such as all the things he saw in India, and the different religions and zoology he studied. -
Germany
In 2002, Martel worked as a professor in the Department of Comparitive Literatire at the Free University of Berlin, Germany until about 2003. During the time he was in Germany he got interested to learn more about the Holocaust. He visited concentration camps and studied about it. The Holocaust, and what he learned about it is represented in his book Beatrice & Virgil. -
Novels Themes/Social&Historical
Both of Yann Martel's novels tied in socially and historically and the experiences he encountered throughout his life were put into his novels. Life of Pi had the theme of relgion, and he was inspired to write that when he was in India exploring the different religions. Beatrice & Virgil had the theme of using animals for human conditons, in which case was the Holocaust. -
Common Themes
In Life of Pi and Beatrice & Virgil the commom theme was using animals to show their beatuy, because of studying zoology he had a particular interest in them. In Life of Pi the animal was sort of like God, because he helped Pi survive. In Beatrice & Virgil the animals were just another representation of the Holocaust, to make it more interesting. -
Beatrice & Virgil
Beatrice & Virgil was published in 2010. The whole novel was in a way a representation of the Holocaust, which he got inspired to write aboutwhen he was in Germany and learned about the Holocaust. In the novel, the two animals are another representation of the Holocaust. -
World Event Impacts
Although both novels were fiction, in each book the themes came from either historical/social events that occured throughout his life, such as the cold War and the Holocaust or the experiences he encountered when traveling to the variety of different countries. But, he did an excellent job incorporating and fitting those events into his novels -
Works Cited
Martel, Yann. Beatrice & Virgil. N.p.: Spiegel & Grau, 2010. Print.Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print. Goodreads. "Life Of Pi." Life of Pi. 2013. Goodreads. 21 May 2013 http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/life-of-pi.GradeSaver. "Biography of Yann Martel | List of Works, Study Guides & Essays". GradeSaver, 21 May 2013 Web. 21 May 2013. http://www.gradesaver.com/author/yann-martel/.Amazon. "Beatrice and Virgil: A Novel-Editorial Review." Beatrice and Virgil
