Life of Pi

Themes
Belu R, Jacinta, Isabel, Emma D
01
Survival
● Survival as a theme can be found throughout the book. Pi
was stuck at sea for 227 days and with an adult bengal
tiger as his only friend.

● Change and man vs nature/itself are themes that are also

found in this book. Orange juice turning aggressive,
Richard Parker being tamed and Pi having to destroy his
morals and going from vegetarian to basically only eating
meat.

● From chapter 37 onwards this theme is very present

Examples
“ Some of us give up on life with only a resigned sigh.
Others fight a little, then lose hope. Still others-and I am
one of those-never give up. We fight and fight and fight. “

“ And so it came to be:

Plan Number Seven: Keep Him Alive. “

“ A lifetime of peaceful vegetarianism stood

between me and the willful beheading of a fish. "
02
Religion and
Faith
● Pi is raised in a culturally Hindu family,
but as a boy he becomes more Hindu
and then also converts to Christianity
and Islam.

● Mamaji first presents Pi’s tale as “a story to make

you believe in god”.

● It seems that faith and belief is

more important to Pi than
religious truth

● His three religious leaders, assert that their

religion contains the whole and exclusive truth.
● “Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die.
Amen.”

● Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep

trust, a free act of love—but sometimes it was so
hard to love.

● "Religion will save us," I said. Since when I could

remember, religions had always been close to
my heart.
 03
Storytelling
● Life of pi is written in first person, Yann Martel tells the story as Pi, like it
already happened and he’s retelling it.
● Young Pi then has an interview and retells an alternate story of how he
survived his days at sea, changing the animals in the story by humans.
● We can interpret both stories differently, The first story can be Pi’s way to
cope with this trauma of surviving in the sea, by a beautiful story with
animals around him. This story can be both true or not, just like the second
story.
● Pi chooses to tell us the faithfull story, this connects to the religions in the
first part of the book, he values atheism but finds magical all three religions
because of the truth and beauty he finds in their stories.
 Quotes
● “That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it, the selective transforming of reality?
The twisting of it to bring out the essence?”
● “The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in
understanding something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn’t that make
life a story?”
● “So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can’t prove
the question either way, which story do you prefer?”
 Boundaries
04
Physical
Religious

Psychological
Physical Boundaries
● The situation of the novel much covers the contrast between the
endless and vast ocean and sky with the tiny boat Pi was trapped
in
● Pi also sets boundaries in the boat between his space and
Richard Parker’s space.
● "There's no escape from the facts, sir: I was floating in a lifeboat
with a tiger. I would have died if not for Richard Parker. He was
keeping me alive, and I was keeping him alive."
● "The sun was inescapable, a fiery orb as much a part of the sea
as the water itself."
● "Life on a lifeboat isn't much of a life. It is like an endgame in
chess, a game with few pieces.”
Religious Boundaries
● Pi is confronted with cultural and spiritual boundaries throughout his
journey which he has to break in order to survive
● “In the literature can be found legions of examples of animals that
could escape but did not, or did and returned… But I don’t insist. I don’t
mean to defend zoos. Close them all down if you want (and let us hope
that what wildlife remains can survive in what is left of the natural
world). I know zoos are no longer in people’s good graces. Religion
faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them
both.”
● “I just want to love God”
Psychological boundaries
● In Life of Pi, the protagonist faces different challenges that test his mind
and what point can it reach to before he gets mad.
● Pi must learn to control his fear and stay focused in order to survive. He
uses various techniques to maintain his mental health, such as setting a
strict routine for himself and using his imagination to create a sense of
companionship with the tiger
● The scene where he is blind and another blind person appears in the
middle of the ocean to confront him can be an example of him
becoming crazy.
 Links
● https://www.shmoop.com/study-guides/literature
/life-of-pi/themes
● Life of Pi Themes | LitCharts
● Sparknotes, Life of Pi
● Yann Martel - Life of Pi (2001).pdf - Google Drive