The Life of Pi

YANN MARTEL

An original drawing by Miss K Appalsamy – Protea

Secondary Secondary School
est themselves throughout the novel. Pi is a very religious character, so you should disc
s spirituality plays a part in his identity and the ultimate outcome of the novel. You can
ct Pi's faith to other prominent themes, including its relationship to the natural world,

An adventure of
g you understand Pi's motivation.

discoveries
An allegory

An Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden
meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use
of symbolic characters and events.
FORESHADOWING

 Are you a Star Wars fan?

 Do you recall hearing characters saying, “I have a bad
feeling about this” just before something really chaotic
happens? Well, dear Grade 12 learner, you have just been
exposed to an example of foreshadowing.
 Let us analyse a few examples of foreshadowing in Life of
Pi
 “My suffering left me sad and gloomy”
 "I'm going to show you how dangerous tigers are"
STORYBOARD
The novel focuses on Pi’s family, his India declares a state of emergency and Due to bigger opportunities, the family
interfaith and his love for science and Pi’s family is forced to move to Canada. decides to emigrate to Canada with
animals. Pi has to fight for survival while The ship sinks and Pi’s family dies. Pi some of their zoo animals.
being lost at sea for 227 days with only survives and is trapped on a life boat
a Bengal tiger for company with a Bengal tiger. Having limited
resources Pi finds it difficult to fight for
survival but his belief in God helps him.

Pi ends up on a lifeboat with a Bengal Pi finds himself on a Pi is interviewed by Mr. Okamoto and
tiger, a hyena, an orangutan and a shore in Mexico. Mr.Chiba who seem to doubt the
zebra. Richard Parker walks story of his journey for survival. He
away in the jungle. tells the second story.
Their parting is
unceremonious.
AUTHOR’S NOTE

 Italicised and brief

 Distinction between the author and fictional author
 Author writes himself into the novel as a character. The character who is the voice of
the author’s note as opposed to the Yann Martel who is the author of Life of Pi.
 Highlights his desperation and hopelessness after his failed attempt at writing a book
about Portugal.
 The theme of storytelling
 Pondicherry, in the south of India, now self-governing was controlled by the French
government.
 Meets Francis Adirubasamy (Mamaji) who says:

I have a story that will make you believe in God

Pi Patel’s physical change
In or d e r t o su r vive , P i ne e d s
T h r o u gh a d a p t in g a n d
t o be c ome a st r at e gist . H e
Throughr e spadapting
o n d in g t o t h e
gr e w t o e at only as mu c h as
anderesponding
x t r e me c o n tod itthe
io n s o f
P h ys ic a l C h a nge ne c e ssar y and f e d d ilu t e d salt
extreme h isconditions
n e w wo r ldof , Pi wat e r t o Ric h ar d P ar ke r . H e
his newu nworld,
d e r go ePi
s gr e a t Wh e n on t h e lif e boat f ac ing be c ome s t h in and f r ail bu t
undergoes great
p h ysic a l c h a n ge . c e r t ain d e at h , P i h as t o le ar n su c c e ssf u lly live s of f t h e bar e
physical change. He t o ad apt t o h is sit u at ion and ne c e ssit ie s of lif e d u r ing h is
develops painful boils f ac e s c onst ant t r ials t ime in t h e lif e boat .
on his body and even
becomes temporarily
blind.
 Emotional Change
Through the course of his journey Pi
deals with numerous raw emotions
that greatly affect his views and the
advancement of his character

Pi’s feelings change towards Pi finds himself at his bleakest

Canada. When it is first announced moment, he describes the
that the Patel’s will be moving to Pi’s attitude towards Richard harrowing events of the
Canada, Pi is very much against the Parker also shows emotional Tsimtsum’s sinking, how he
idea. growth. has lost his family and now
At first, Pi is gripped with fear at finds himself on a meagre
Pi did not want to leave the
the thought of Richard Parker’s lifeboat with wild animals. Pi
familiarity of his home in India. He
presence, believing that the tiger has hit rock bottom and feels
later grows to love Canada as he has
would undoubtedly be the cause that he has nothing left to
learned to survive out of his comfort
of his death. lose, ironically this makes his
zone after completing his journey.
survival instinct kick in.
By the end of his journey, Pi has
learned to love and be grateful
towards Richard Parker, citing
the tiger’s companionship as the
reason he survived.
When Pi kills a flying fish to use it as bait for Pi shows his true belief in his
fishing, he expresses the guilt he felt over conversation with the Japanese
murdering this fish, despite the necessity of the Ministry of Transportation.
act. He ties together the themes of
Pi compares himself to Cain, a religious figure storytelling and religion, implying
in Christianity and Islam who committed the there is no proof of whether God exists
first murder. In Pi’s mind he believes this sin but to believe in Him as a higher
he has committed is equal to that of Cain’s, power is ‘the better story’. Pi could
who murdered his brother. have said that it was luck that he
The extremity of Pi’s circumstances cause him survived his voyage, luck brought him
to commit his first real sin, showing unwanted ashore to Mexico, but Pi puts it as his
spiritual development renewed faith in God.
Spiritual Development Through
the course of Pi’s journey his love
of God strengthens, and he
develops spirituality in the face of
Pi’s faith is greatly tested throughout desperation.
Pi develops physically by learning the
the novel, it would be very easy for
rules of his new world and adapting
him to feel God has turned his back them, emotionally by experiencing
on him, and yet in his worst moments unfamiliar emotions and allowing
Pi chooses to lean further on religion. himself to feel freely, and spiritually as
Pi’s conviction that God is with him he learns to be firm in his beliefs and
in his darkest moments allows for rely on religion. Pi’s quest gives him an
improved sense of self and a further
hope in a bleak time and causes him
belief in the existence of God.
to be an even more devout believer in
religion.
Author’s Note

 Fiction is ‘the selective transforming of reality, the twisting of it to bring out its
essence’.
 Link this statement of the fictional author to Pi’s narration of his time spent as a
castaway.
 The author’s note highlights that storytelling is a way to get around telling the
boring or upsetting or uninteresting truth. This foreshadows Pi’s distinction (Part
3) between:

A dry yeastless factuality and the better story

Links to Video Lessons on YouTube

WAS THE TIGER REAL AND DOES IT REALLY MATTER?

 https://www.bing.com/ck/a?!&&p=77a86dd3073a2ab8JmltdHM9MTY4NDYyNzIwMCZpZ3VpZD0wMTM
zZTljYi1kMGYyLTY5MmEtMTdjNC1lNzk1ZDEwYTY4OWEmaW5zaWQ9NTUyNw&ptn=3&hsh=3&fcli
d=0133e9cb-d0f2-692a-17c4-e795d10a689a&u=a1L3ZpZGVvcy9zZWFyY2g_cT1saWZlK29mK3BpK2lzK
21pc3VuZGVyc3Rvb2QreW91dHViZSZ2aWV3PWRldGFpbCZtaWQ9NDNCMEVFMEVEMDBFMTJGR
DdBRTQ0M0IwRUUwRUQwMEUxMkZEN0FFNCZGT1JNPVZJUkU&ntb=1
 https://youtu.be/bGfa_j_OiLc
 The above link revises Part 3 and unpacks some contextual questions.
 https://youtu.be/Xkhld9FkDxk
 The above link details Pi’s arrival in Mexico, the interview with the Japanese
officials and clarifies the blind Frenchman story.
 https://youtu.be/u_w9wG8tKy8
 The above link also helps unpack exam style contextual questions.