Journal response...

We recently read and had discussions on the the book "Lif of Pi" in my English Comp class and wrote a Literary analysis of the book. I have put in parts of my paper below, I hope maybe this will help answer some of the questions you have on the book.

The book Life of PI is about a boy, Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi), who was passionate about religion and storytelling. The book begins setting the stage for the story by explaining that Pi earned a dual Bachelor’s degree in Religious Studies and Zoology and alludes to the stories to come of his suffering and survival. “Academic study and the steady, mindful practice of religion slowly brought me back to life.” (Martel 3) Pi grew up in Pondicherry, India as the son of a zookeeper; this is where his passion for religion and the storytelling all began.

When Pi found himself lost at sea he created a story that helped him cope with his situation and escape insanity. Pi’s story incorporated a few animals with him on the life boat; they include Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger (he actually was the savage side of himself that aided in his survival), an Orangutan (which was actually his mother), a Hyena (the evil French chef), and a Zebra (a Japanese crewmember of the Tsimtsum). By telling the story using the animals Pi found it easier to handle the events he endured, all of the evil he witnessed and the killing (the chef, turtles and fish) he had to do to survive. It was also through these events that Pi learned the true meaning of faith and opened himself to one God.

The book ends with Pi telling his unbelievable story of survival to two gentlemen from the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transportation that were investigating the sinking of the Tsimtsum. The gentlemen told Pi they didn’t believe his story and asked that he tell them a different story, the one that really happened, the one without animals. Pi did go on to tell him another version of what happened and how he survived. In that story he explained how he watched the French Chef kill and eat the sailor and then Pi’s mother and how he eventually had to kill the chef. He survived by gathering rain water, distilling the sea water and killing fish and turtles for food. The two gentlemen liked this story, it didn’t challenge them to stretch their imagination to believe; it didn’t require any faith on their part or to believe in something they cannot see or prove. “In Life of Pi, the question of stories, and of what stories to believe, is front and centre from the beginning, when the author tells us how he was led to Pi Patel and to this novel: in an Indian coffee house, a gentleman told him, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.” And as this novel comes to its brilliant conclusion, Pi shows us that the story with the imaginative overlay is also the story that contains the most truth.” (Random house, Interview with Yann Martel)

Originally Posted by Author Yann Martel in an interview, http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780676973778