Abigail Wheetley - CliffsNotes on Martels Life of Pi

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Yann Martels Life of Pi is a coming-of-age story featuring a young mansPissurvival for months in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with an adult Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi grows up around animals in his familys zoo in India. After the family decides to immigrate to Canada and sell the zoo animals, the ship on which they are making the journey meets with catastrophe and sinks. Pi and Richard Parker are ultimately the sole survivors on the lifeboat and must depend on each other in a variety of ways to withstand the many dangers of being lost at sea with few provisions. Within the story are themes of spirituality and religion, self-perception, the definition of family, and the nature of animals. Life of Pi is a rich and dynamic text full of discussion of morality, faith, and the ambivalence of what constitutes truth.

Written by: Yann Martel, born in Spain in 1963 to Canadian parents

Type of Work: Novel

Genre: Fantastical realism

First Published: September 2001

Settings: India, Pacific Ocean, an island, Mexico, Canada

Main Characters: Piscine Molitor Patel (aka Pi), The Author, Richard Parker

Major Thematic Topics: Spirituality and religion, self-perception, the definition of family, anthropomorphism

Movie Versions:Life of Pi (2012)

The three most important aspects of Life of Pi: The novel comprises various narrators and narrations. The Authornot to be confused with Yann Martelis one narrator within the text; he interviews Pi and relates his incredible journey. Pi himself is another narratoralthough his narration is really The Authors since The Author is retelling Pis story; Pis narration, using the first-person I, relates much of the story. The two officials from the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transport who interview Pi in Mexico provide their own narrative of Pis story. The novels author, Yann Martel, is not necessarily a narrator himself but rather uses The Author and Pi as his voice in the novel.

Names are important in the novel, especially the transformation of them. Pi, whose full name is Piscine Molitor Patel, got his name from a champion swimmer, who named him after a swimming pool in France. At school, he was called Pissing because Piscine sounds like that word. He then began using the nickname Pi, which recalls the number beginning with 3.14 and having no end that is the ratio of a circles circumference to its diameter. Similarly, Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger, was captured in the wild and initially named Thirsty; his captors name was Richard Parker. When Richard Parker the captor registered Thirsty the tiger cub, authorities mixed up the names, and thereafter the Bengal tiger was named Richard Parker. Also note that the novel includes two men named Mr. Satish Kumar. One Mr. Kumar is Pis biology teacher and an atheist. The other Mr. Kumar is Pis Muslim mentor. These two Mr. Kumars provide two opposing views of the worldboth of which Pi adopts simultaneously.

Anthropomorphism is a major theme in the novel. Essentially, the term means projecting a human trait onto something that is not human. Specifically within the novel, it often means treating an animal as if the animal were human in some way. Pis father, as the owner of the Pondicherry Zoo, is adamant that Pi and his brother never forget that the zoos animals are wild; they are not pets and should never be thought of as having human characteristics. Pi repeatedly asserts that he would never anthropomorphize any animaland yet that is what he starts to do with Richard Parker. When the ship sinks and Pi spots Richard Parker in the water, Pi calls out to him, begging him to answer that what is happening is nothing but a dream. Later in the novel, Pi attempts to dispel the fear that is building up in him by anthropomorphizing it, calling his fear a person with whom he wants no association. The discussion Pi has with Richard Parker when they are both temporarily blind best demonstrates how Pi eventually considers Richard Parker not as a tiger necessarily but as a companion with human traitsincluding the ability to carry on a conversation.

Yann Martels Life of Pi is the story of a young man who survives a harrowing shipwreck and months in a lifeboat with a large Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

The beginning of the novel covers Pis childhood and youth. His family owns and runs a zoo in their hometown in India, and his father is emphatic about being aware of the wildness and true nature of animals, namely that they are not meant to be treated like or thought of as people. Early in Pis life, his father realizes that his sons naivet about the tiger in their care may put Pi in danger. To illustrate how true and real the threat is, he forces the children to watch the tiger kill and eat a goat.

Pi goes through a significant religious awakening in his formative years, eventually subscribing to a variety of religions: Hinduism, Catholicism, and finally Islam. Although the religious leaders dont accept Pis plural religions, his family gradually does, and he remains a devout follower of all his religious paths for his entire life.

When Pi is a teenager, his family decides to sell the animals and immigrate to Canada on a cargo ship named Tsimtsum. A terrible storm occurs during the voyage, and when Pi, excited to see the storm, goes onto the ships deck, he is tossed overboard and into a lifeboat by the crew. The next morning, he finds himself in the company of a badly injured zebra, a vicious hyena, and a matronly orangutan named Orange Juice. Hiding out of sight, beneath the canvas of the lifeboat, is the tiger Richard Parker. The hyena wounds and eats the zebra, then goes after Orange Juice. The orangutan puts up a good fight, but the hyena ultimately kills her. Richard Parker finally makes himself known by killing and eating the hyena. Now only Pi and Richard Parker survive on the lifeboat.