Pi

Rachel Zitting
Kathy Cowley
4 October 2010
Writing 150 Honors

The Life of Pi ‘s context is extremely unique when compared to many works of writing. Yann Martel’s plot is strange and different, and factors like politics, social problems, and economics relate to the story in a different way than most. Taking place in the 1970s, The Life of Pi is about a boy who becomes stranded on a life raft in the ocean with a Bengal tiger.
Moving across the sea from India to Canada, sixteen-year-old Pi Patel has prepared to live in a new country with a new lifestyle. Little does he know, he will have to survive in an even harsher and foreign ecosystem than he expected. At the time of his family’s departure from India, Prime Minister Indira Ghandi had thrown India into a state of emergency. Pi’s father becomes nervous that his zoo will not prosper or will be shut down by a stricter government and he decides to move the family and sell his zoo animals. The economic conditions of the society do not look promising.
Pi has grown up in a highly concentrated area of Hindus. Through a search for God, Pi ends up becoming a Muslim and a Christian also. This range of religion brings context from each religion into the story, as Pi ventures to find out the different stories. Socially, Pi does not fit in. He was teased because of his name—Piscine—and has just now begun to feel slightly confident in himself. He is also looked down on by many because of his peculiar religious choices. Even his parents do not understand him completely.
The Life of Pi is a story full of surprises, survival tips, and spiritual epiphanies. The plot is intriguing and new, and there is a dominating theme of ‘beating the odds.’ Pi is an example of what kind of risks and decisions people will make when they have no other choices. Previously a vegetarian, Pi has to eat all sorts of animals and he also has to watch animals consume one another. The novel is, at times, vivid and graphic. When Pi finally makes it to Mexico and is interviewed, he first tells the version of his story which includes the tiger and all the animals he encountered. When asked for the straight facts, he tells the story which involves his mother and the ship’s chef instead. This version is even more morbid, grotesque, and unimaginable than his previous story. The reader has to decide for himself whether this is the true story that Pi couldn’t bring himself to believe, or whether he knows no one will believe his tiger tale and is just replacing it with something more reasonable. The reader is left to decide many things for himself throughout the book. Either way, the book is fantastical and involves the use of imagination.
I enjoyed reading The Life of Pi because of its uniqueness and the knowledge I gained about survival. Although at times I found myself skeptical like the men in the end of the novel, wanting things to make more sense. I loved how Pi accepted all kinds of religion and had no prejudices against anyone just because they were different. This helped him get along with Richard Parker—the tiger—and he was able to adapt easier to conditions because of his open mind. The novel was creative and many hidden meanings with every chapter. Now that I know the purpose of the novel and the outcome, I would consider reading it a second time just so I can delve into the novel’s messages.