Analysis of The Life of Pi by Yann Martel - Book Report/Review Example

of the Book: The Life of Pi of the Book: Yann Martel Introduction Friendship, faith and fiction are the three ingredients that have been included by Yann Martel in his fantasy adventure novel named “Life of Pi”. This novel is based on several fictional events. According to the author’s note, the relativity of the truth is the major theme of this novel. This novel was inspired by Moacyr Scilar’s story “Max and the cats”. The novel is divided into three sections. The first section introduces the character Pi Patel, whose father owns a zoo in Pondicherry, India. The second section is the most interesting section, beginning with Pi’s family journey along with animals of the zoo to North America. The third section describes about a conversation between Pi and two Japanese officials regarding his shipwreck. Effective relationship between human and animals motivated to choose this book for book review. This essay summarizes every chapter of the adventurous novel “Life of Pi”. Short summary of each chapter Chapters 1-15: Titles, names and reality In the first chapter, the birth and family life of Piscine Molitor Patel is explained. The change of his name from Piscine to Pi is mentioned along with reasons. In the second chapter of the novel author described about Pi’s life (Martel 6). The chapter’s from 3-7 included the beliefs Pi had and his growth from a child to a teenager. In the eighth chapter, Pi’s father feeds a goat to a tiger in the zoo in order to explain Pi about the wild nature of animals. The remaining chapters explain about Pi’s understanding of animals and financial issues Pi’s father was facing during their stay in India. In this section Pi’s father induced a fear in Pi against wild animals. He mentioned that wild animals could not be trusted. However, Pi believed that animals could understand people and he gained affection towards a tiger. This shows an unspoken friendship and bonding of Pi towards animals. Chapters 16-32: Religion Pi believed in Hindu religion from beginning because of his natural spirituality. Later Pi was convinced by the life of Christ and decided to follow Christianity. Pi was also convinced by the second Mr Kumar to follow Islamic religion because he liked the concept that Islam is for beloved. In the chapters 19-26, doubts raised in the mind of Pi regarding the wild behaviour of animals. However, Pi was convinced by the priests of Church regarding the behaviour of animals and Pi accepted Christianity. Later he thanked his lord Krishna because he was able to accept Christianity. Most of the chapters including 18-26 included the behaviour of animals that questioned Pi’s faith. Pi was later convinced by priests for the wild behaviour of animals and Pi gained a different vision for animals then onwards. These consequences let Pi develop a positive companionship with the animals of the zoo. Chapters 33-42: Sinking of ship In the chapter 33, 34 and 35; Pi and his family members started their journey to Canada. They took all the zoo animals with them to start a new life. The journey was going smooth but in the middle of the ocean Pi realized their ship was stuck by a storm. Pi wanted to take help of crew members in order to save his family and animals but he was thrown with a lifeboat in the sea so that the crew members could get rid of the animals. Finally the ship sank but Pi could not know the reason behind it as described in chapter 40. Later Pi saved the tiger named Richard Parker and with some other animals he was set to an unknown voyage. Pi had a belief that the wild tiger also had life and God in him and he saved the tiger. This proves that a man and a wild animal can trust each other with their life. Chapters 43-49: The days in lifeboat In the consecutive chapters 43, 44, 45 and 46, Pi’s experiences in the middle of the sea is detailed. Pi was in the lifeboat along with a hyena, a zebra, an orang-utan and the tiger named Richard Parker, who was hiding beneath the tarp. In these chapters the characteristic of the animals were shown how the hyena killed the zebra and the orang-utan. Finally the hyena was killed by the tiger in chapter 48. These chapters highlight the characteristic of wild animals and the fear of Pi. Pi made good friendship with the orang-utan. However, this part shows the difference in the nature of humans and animals due to lack of understanding. Chapters 50-89: Survival and Richard Parker The life of Pi, in the lifeboat continues in the following chapters 50-89. In these chapters the most adventurous incidents happen with Pi. On one hand Pi had to find an island in order to live on the other hand Pi had to maintain his distance from Richard Parker, who could eat him provided a chance. Pi managed to overcome his fears and made an attempt to train Richard Parker and arrange food for their survival. Pi calculated the days and time he spent in the lifeboat with Richard Parker. In the chapters 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 62 Pi’s initiatives have been detailed. His actions made him survive for 227 days with Richard Parker. Pi used to kill sea turtles and fish for himself and the tiger, after a storm destroyed his food stocks in his raft. Slowly and gradually Pi started to trust Richard Parker. He even mentioned that in the eyes of Richard Parker he could see emotions and sorrow. In the later chapters 79-89, Pi’s adventurous journey was detailed until Pi found an island. Based on the instances it is clear that Pi, who was a vegetarian started eating sea food in order to survive. This shows how humans can change their belief when required. Pi also saw emotions in the eyes of Richard Parker and started believing him, which reflects the emergence of a positive relationship and companionship between a tiger and a human. Chapters 90-91: The Frenchman This part of the chapter describes about Pi going insane due to his lowliness. Pi hallucinates and sees a Frenchman speaking to him. The Frenchman was just his imagination and he was speaking to Richard Parker. Finally Pi realizes his mind was not working properly and he decided to move with Richard Parker to a secured place. The tiger named Richard Parker helped Pi’s senses work properly after Pi realized he was speaking to a tiger. This shows the importance of the tiger in the life of Pi, because he was losing his senses and due to the tiger he was able to recover. This reflects a positive relation between a human and a tiger. Chapter 92: The Island After moving normally for a while Pi found an island which was a predator itself and at night the island kills everyone on the surface. Pi found the tooth of a dead man while he was looking for a fruit. Richard Parker was safe because he slept in the lifeboat. It was completely disturbing fact for Pi and finally Pi and the tiger had to move on despite they discovered an island. Chapters 93-94: The journey came to an end and rescue Pi and Richard Parker continued their journey and finally they landed in Mexico. Richard Parker jumped out of the boat and ran away without looking at Pi. Pi was sick due to the troublesome journey and was rescued by the local people. The chapters 93 and 94 prove that Pi’s thoughts were not accurate. The tiger did not have any emotion or understanding. The reflections that Pi saw in his eyes were his own imaginations. It shows that wild animals like tiger can never have understanding and emotion as humans. Chapters 95-99: The Interview The chapters 95-99 describe about Pi’s situation after he was rescued. Two men from the department of Japanese Ministry and Transport arrived to ask Pi about the incident. Pi told them everything that happened to him but they refused to believe his story. Pi then created another story by changing the characters. He said in the lifeboat he, his mother, a cook and a crewman were left and the cook killed everyone. Hence pi had to kill the cook. The Japanese people understood it was the same story offered by pi. These chapters characterize the human behaviour and Pi’s sufferings. After the loss of his parents these wild animals were in his memory. Pi could never forget the tiger named Richard Parker. It shows the love and faith Pi had for the animal. Chapter 100: The Report The last chapter is short and crisp. It states that according the ships sinking report, there was no bad weather area as mentioned by Pi. Pi possibly survived for 227 days with an adult tiger. Hence this chapter concludes the story of Pi. Conclusion Based on the discussion it is clear that animals understand love and like to be with humans in certain condition. According to the story, Pi had a soft-corner for the tiger from his childhood but was afraid to confront him. The tiger and Pi were the last mates in the journey of 227 days. There was immense love and faith Pi had gained during his entire journey. Pi could feel sorrow in the eyes of the tiger. However, when they reached a safe island the tiger ran away without looking back at Pie. This shows that wild animals do-not have emotions and they just know how to survive. Hence it can be concluded that animals and humans can make good companionship only in certain conditions. Work Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Houghton: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009. Print. Read More