LIFE OF PI -YANN MARTEL - Centenary Secondary School
LIFE OF PI-YANN MARTELABOUT: Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is a coming-of-age story featuring a youngman’s—Pi’s—survival for months in the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with an adultBengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi grows up around animals in his family’s zoo in India. After the family decides to immigrate to Canada and sell the zoo animals, theship 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 mustdepend on each other in a variety of ways to withstand the many dangers ofbeing lost at sea with few provisions. Within the story are themes of spirituality and religion, self-perception, thedefinition of family, and the nature of animals . Life of Pi is a rich and dynamic text full of discussion of morality, faith, andthe ambivalence of what constitutes truth. Settings: India, Pacific Ocean, an island, Mexico, CanadaMain Characters: Piscine Molitor Patel (aka Pi), The Author, Richard ParkerMajor Thematic Topics: Spirituality and religion, self-perception, the definition offamily, anthropomorphism Pi’s name is tied in with the mathematic symbol pi, an almost impossibly longnumber whose combinations never repeat,which also symbolizes Pi’s longjourney, with all its variations. Zoos are like religion— both are in people’s bad graces these days, he says atone point, because of prevailing notions about freedom. In other words, peoplesometimes resist what they perceive as constraints on their liberty. Religion, withits many dictates and rules, may be seen as intrusions on personal freedoms. Pi defends religion (the same way he defended zoos)by imagining what it wouldbe like without religion;Life inside the walls, as it were, is cozy and comfortable,and people prefer not to leave; life outside is bleak by comparison.
STORY OVERVIEW:1. Yann Martel’s Life of Pi is the story of a young man who survives a harrowingshipwreck and months in a lifeboat with a large Bengal tiger named RichardParker.2. The beginning of the novel covers Pi’s childhood and youth.3. His family owns and runs a zoo in their hometown in India, and his father isemphatic about being aware of the wildness and true nature of animals, namelythat they are not meant to be treated like or thought of as people.4. Early in Pi’s life, his father realizes that his son’s naiveté about the tiger in theircare may put Pi in danger.5. To illustrate how true and real the threat is, he forces the children to watch thetiger kill and eat a goat6. .Pi goes through a significant religious awakening in his formative years,eventually subscribing to a variety of religions: Hinduism, Catholicism, and finallyIslam.7. Although the religious leaders don’t accept Pi’s plural religions, his familygradually does, and he remains a devout follower of all his religious paths for hisentire life.8. When Pi is a teenager, his family decides to sell the animals and immigrate toCanada on a cargo ship named Tsimtsum .9. A terrible storm occurs during the voyage, and when Pi, excited to see the storm,goes onto the ship’s deck, he is tossed overboard and into a lifeboat by the crew.10. The next morning, he finds himself in the company of a badly injured zebra, avicious hyena, and a matronly orangutan named Orange Juice.11. Hiding out of sight, beneath the canvas of the lifeboat, is the tiger RichardParker.12. The hyena wounds and eats the zebra, then goes after Orange Juice.13. The orangutan puts up a good fight, but the hyena ultimately kills her.14. Richard Parker finally makes himself known by killing and eating the hyena. Nowonly Pi and Richard Parker survive on the lifeboat.15. How Pi and Richard Parker survive in the Pacific Ocean makes up the rest of thenovel.16. Pi realizes he must survive the elements while adrift in the lifeboat—and thatRichard Parker will almost certainly eat him.
17. He quickly sees that thirst will kill him sooner than hunger or the tiger, so he setsabout finding a way to get water.18. He discovers provisions stored in the lifeboat, including biscuits, water, waterpurifiers, a whistle, and a handbook for surviving at sea.19. With the tools of survival in hand, Pi builds a second watercraft—a raft made ofoars and lifejackets—and attaches it to the boat.20. With this second watercraft, he can remain out of both the shark-infested watersand Richard Parker’s immediate reach.21. He considers a variety of survival options and concludes that he must tame thetiger.22. Although he is unable to fully train and domesticate Richard Parker, by blowing awhistle and rocking the lifeboat enough to make the tiger seasick, Pi is able tosubdue him and secure his own territory on the lifeboat.23. Pi goes temporarily blind and loses his mind.24. He begins having a conversation with Richard Parker in which they mutuallyfantasize about the kinds of foods they would like to eat.25. Pi fixates on vegetarian delicacies, and Richard Parker continues to revise therecipes with meat as the main ingredient.26. At first Pi is morally outraged at the idea of eating meat, but then he realizes thatit is Richard Parker’s preference.27. During this fantastical exchange, another castaway in a lifeboat appears, alsoblind and also very hungry.28. Pi allows the man, who speaks with a French accent, on the lifeboat, believinghim to be a true companion.29. The man attacks Pi, saying that he intends to eat him; Richard Parker attacksand consumes the man.30. Richard Parker and Pi eventually find an island, which is made entirely of trees,roots, leaves, fresh water, and plants.31. However, Pi makes a horrible discovery that causes them to leave the island:Believing he has found a fruit-bearing tree, Pi peels back the layers of a piece offruit to find that it contains a human tooth.32. The island is a carnivorous being, consuming everything that lives on it. Pi andRichard Parker return to the lifeboat and the ocean.33. An undetermined amount of time passes, and Pi and Richard Parker arrive inMexico.34. Richard Parker runs into the wild and is never seen again.35. Pi is brought into custody, given food, and questioned for some time by twoofficials from the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transport.
36. The officials’ transcript of the conversation reveals that they do not believe Pi’sstory in its entirety, and they tell him so.37. Initially Pi sticks to his story, but then he offers them another, somewhat similarstory in which he shares the lifeboat with a crew member of the sunken ship, hisown mother, and a foul-tempered French cook who eventually kills both Pi’smother and the crewman.38. Pi tells of how he then stabbed the French cook in the throat and watched himdie.39. This second account seems to satisfy the skepticism of the questioners, but theyadmit to Pi that his account of surviving with the tiger aboard the lifeboat is abetter story.Point Of View · The prefatory Author’s Note is written in first person by the author, whoexplains how he came to hear the story we are about to read from Pi Patel himself. Theaccount (Part One and Part Two) is told in first person by Pi. The final section of thebook (Part Three) is written mainly as a transcript of a conversation between Pi and twoofficials, bookended by first-person comments from the author.Tone · Funny, surreal, ruminative, philosophical, and, at times, journalisticTense · Past tenseSetting (Time) · The author tells Pi’s story from an undetermined contemporary point,some years after the publication of his second book in 1996. Pi’s ordeal begins on July2, 1977, and continues for 227 days.Setting (Place) · Pi’s boyhood home in Pondicherry, India; the Pacific Ocean;Tomatlán, Mexico; and, briefly, Toronto, CanadaProtagonist · Piscine Molitor PatelMajor Conflict · he Tsimtsum sinks, drowning Pi’s entire family, the crew, and most ofthe animals aboard. For months, Pi, along with a Royal Bengal tiger, must fight forsurvival aboard a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific OceanRising Action · The Patel family sets sail to Canada.Climax · The first climax is when the Tsimstum sinks and Pi’s family dies, leaving himalone with wild animals on a lifeboat. Another climax occurs when Pi lands in Mexico.
Falling Action · Pi is rescued in Mexico. Two Japanese officials interview him. His storyis called into doubt.Themes · The power of life’s force; the human desire for companionship; storytelling asa strategy for self-preservationMotifs (recurring ideas) · Territorial dominance; hunger and thirst; ritualsSymbols · Pi, the lifeboat, Richard ParkerForeshadowing · The opening pages of the book are supremely suspenseful, as theauthor and Pi himself continually make reference to some tragic episode in Pi’s lifewithout actually naming it. Pi describes his gloomy state of mind upon arriving inCanada and explains how his religious and zoological studies helped him to rebuild hislife. But it is not until the Tsimtsum sinks in Part Two and Pi loses his family that weunderstand the source of his intense suffering, though we do sense it coming all along.CHARACTER SKETCHPI Piscine Molitor Patel is the protagonist and, for most of the novel, the narrator. In the chapters that frame the main story, Pi, as a shy, graying, middle-agedman , tells the author about his early childhood and the shipwreck that changedhis life. This narrative device distances the reader from the truth . We don’t know whether Pi’s story is accurate or what pieces to believe. T his effect is intentional; throughout Pi emphasizes the importance of choosingthe better story, believing that imagination trumps cold, hard facts . As a child, he reads widely and embraces many religions and their rich narrativesthat provide meaning and dimension to life. In his interviews with the Japanese investigators after his rescue, he offers firstthe more fanciful version of his time at sea. But, at their behest, he then provides an alternative version that is more realisticbut ultimately less appealing to both himself and his questioners. The structure of the novel both illustrates Pi’s defining characteristic, hisdependence on and love of stories, and highlights the inherent difficulties intrusting his version of events.
Though the narrative jumps back and forth in time, the novel traces Pi’sdevelopment and maturation in a traditional coming-of-age story . Pi is an eager, outgoing, and excitable child, dependent on his family forprotection and guidance. I n school, his primary concerns involve preventing his schoolmates frommispronouncing his name and learning as much as he can about religion andzoology. But when the ship sinks, Pi is torn from his family and left alone on a lifeboat withwild animals. The disaster serves as the catalyst in his emotional growth; he must nowbecome self-sufficient . Though he mourns the loss of his family and fears for his life, he rises to thechallenge. He finds a survival guide and emergency provisions. Questioning his own values, he decides that his vegetarianism is a luxury underthe conditions and learns to fish. He capably protects himself from Richard Parker and even assumes a parentalrelationship with the tiger, providing him with food and keeping him in line. The devastating shipwreck turns Pi into an adult , able to fend for himself out inthe world alone. Pi’s belief in God inspires him as a child and helps sustain him while atsea. In Pondicherry, his atheistic biology teacher challenges his Hindu faith inGod, making him realize the positive power of belief , the need to overcomethe otherwise bleakness of the universe. Motivated to learn more, Pi starts practicing Christianity and Islam, realizingthese religions all share the same foundation: belief in a loving higherpower. His burgeoning need for spiritual connection deepens while at sea. In his first days on the lifeboat, he almost gives up, unable to bear the loss of hisfamily and unwilling to face the difficulties that still await him. At that point, however, he realizes that the fact he is still alive means that God iswith him; he has been given a miracle. This thought gives him strength, and he decides to fight to remain alive Throughout his adventure, he prays regularly, which provides him with solace, asense of connection to something greater, and a way to pass the time.
RICHARD PARKER Pi’s companion throughout his ordeal at sea is Richard Parker, a 450-poundRoyal Bengal tiger. Unlike many novels in which animals speak or act like humans, Richard Parkeris portrayed as a real animal that acts in ways true to his species. It can be difficult to accept that a tiger and a boy could exist on a lifeboat alone,however, in the context of the novel, it seems plausible. Captured as a cub, Parker grew up in the zoo and is accustomed to a life incaptivity. He is used to zookeepers training and providing for him , so he is able torespond to cues from Pi and submit to his dominance. However, he is no docile house cat. He has been tamed, but he still acts instinctually, swimming for the lifeboat insearch of shelter and killing the hyena and the blind castaway for food. When the two wash up on the shore of Mexico, Richard Parker doesn’t draw outhis parting with Pi, he simply runs off into the jungle, never to be seen again. Though Richard Parker is quite fearsome, ironically his presence helps Pi stayalive . Alone on the lifeboat, Pi has many issues to face in addition to the tiger onboard:lack of food and water, predatory marine life, treacherous sea currents, andexposure to the elements. Overwhelmed by the circumstances and terrified of dying , Pi becomesdistraught and unable to take action. However, he soon realizes that his most immediate threat is Richard Parke r. His other problems now temporarily forgotten , Pi manages, through severaltraining exercises, to dominate Parker . T his success gives him confidence, making his other obstacles seem lessinsurmountable. Renewed, Pi is able to take concrete steps toward ensuring his continuedexistence : s earching for food and keeping himself motivated. Caring and providing for Richard Parker keeps Pi busy and passes thetime. Without Richard Parker to challenge and distract him, Pi might have given up onlife . After he washes up on land in Mexico, he thanks the tiger for keeping him alive. Richard Parker symbolizes Pi’s most animalistic instincts. Out on the lifeboat, Pi must perform many actions to stay alive that he wouldhave found unimaginable in his normal life .
An avowed vegetarian, he must kill fish and eat their flesh . As time progresses , he becomes more brutish about it, tearing apart birds andgreedily stuffing them in his mouth, the way Richard Parker does. After Richard Parker mauls the blind Frenchman, Pi uses the man’s flesh for baitand even eats some of it, becoming cannibalistic in his unrelenting hunger. In his second story to the Japanese investigators , Pi is Richard Parker. He kills his mother’s murderer. Parker is the version of himself that Pi has invented to make his story morepalatable , both to himself and to his audience . The brutality of his mother’s death and his own shocking act of revenge are toomuch for Pi to deal with, and he finds it easier to imagine a tiger as the killer,rather than himself in that role .CHARACTER LIST:1. Piscine Molitor Patel (aka Pi)The story’s main character, after whom the book is titled.Pi grows up in India and later makes a life for himself in Canada.During his youth, his family owns and runs a zoo and later tries to immigrate toCanada by ship. When the ship sinks, Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with a full-grown tiger. He survives, with the boat eventually drifting to Mexico, and is able to tell hisstory later in life.2. The Author The narrator, whose voice frames the story as he interviews Pi Patel. The Author is a Canadian living in India when he hears about Pi’s story andjourneys to interview him. By the end of his talks with Pi, he considers Pi a friend and retells Pi’s story.PI’S FAMILY3. Francis AdirubasamyPi calls him Mamaji, which means “respected uncle,”An elderly man whom The Author meets in the Indian Coffee House in India.He is the first person to tell Pi’s story, which compels The Author to go to Torontoto meet Pi Patel. His pitch to The Author is that Pi’s story will make him “believe in God.”
A champion competitive swimmer who teaches Pi how to swim, he is also thesource of Pi’s full name, Piscine Molitor, the name of a glorious swimming pool inFrance.4. Santosh Patel Pi’s father and the owner of the Pondicherry Zoo. Santosh is a reasonable and affectionate father; he seeks to cultivatewell-rounded children and humanely cares for his animals. His outlook on life and his focus on the survival and well-being of his familycompletely define him. Not religious5. Ravi Patel Pi’s older brother, senior to him by three years. Ravi is mischievous and affectionately hazes Pi by daring him to drink the holywater in the church. He later teases Pi about his multiple religions.6. Gita PatelPi’s mother.She is affectionate, comforting, and protective.She is able to accept Pi without always understanding him.Her ambivalence about spirituality gives Pi the freedom to adopt multiplereligions.7. Meena Patel Pi’s wife, a Canadian pharmacist.
8. Usha Patel Pi’s four-year-old daughter and the living proof that Pi’s story has a “happyending.” Is carrying an orange cat when the author meets her9. Nikhil Patel Pi’s son, who plays baseball.PEOPLE TRAPPED ON THE LIFE BOAT10. The Chinese Sailor Does not speak English Has an injured leg when he jumped from the ship to the life raft Is seen as the zebra in the alternate story Is first to be killed by the cook (RP) Cook convinces the mother and Pi that it is a mercy killing The cook ends up eating his flesh11. The French Cook T he hyena is identified as the cook’s alternate identity ; the cook murders the crew member on board the lifeboat as well as Gita Pateland is finally killed by Pi. He is the personification of corruption and cruelty.12. Pi’s Mother (info given)ANIMALS TRAPPED ON THE LIFE BOAT13. Orange Juice
The large, maternal orangutan that lives for a short time in the lifeboat with Piand the other animals She is a mother to 2 sons Personification of kindness and comfort.14. The Zebra Personifies beauty and innocence Has a broken leg First to be killed by Richard Parker Is seen as the Chinese sailor in the alternate story15. The Hyena An ugly, violent animal who is one of the lifeboat’s initial inhabitants. The hyena eats the zebra’s leg and then starts eating its insides while the zebrais still alive. The hyena later kills Orange Juice, but is killed and eaten by Richard Parker. The animal counterpart to the french cook16. Richard Parker (aka Thirsty) A full-grown tiger, originally housed in the Pondicherry Zoo run by the Patelfamily. He was brought there with his mother by a man named Richard Parker. The tiger cub was originally named Thirsty, but because of a clerical error on theofficial form, he became known as Richard Parker. When the ship he, Pi, and Pi’s family are traveling on sinks, Pi rescues him andkeeps him alive. Toward the end of the novel, he runs into the wilds of Mexico, never to be seenagain. However domesticated and docile he may have become while in captivity, hisnature is completely that of a wild animal.INFLUENCES IN PI’S LIFE17. Mr. Satish Kumar (Biology teacher)
Pi’s biology teacher at Petit Seminaire. Satish Kumar is a communist, atheist, and a great mentor to Pi. Satish’s beliefs embody the facts and truths that Pi adopts as part of his ownmultifaceted belief system. Mr. Kumar is a polio survivor with a triangle-shaped body. He enjoys going to the Pondicherry Zoo to admire the wonders of nature. Mr. Kumar is an important influence on Pi and inspires him to study zoologylater.18. Mr. Satish Kumar (muslim mentor) Pi’s Muslim mentor. This second Mr. Kumar’s education of Pi is just as crucial as the first’s, and Piadopts it just as completely. Pi does not differentiate, as the two Mr. Kumars do, between spiritual faith andscientific reality. Pi’s relationship with the identically named men with opposing viewpoints is anillustration of his ability to believe in multiple, opposite views of the worldsimultaneously.19. Father Martin A kind Christian priest who teaches Pi about Jesus and converts him.20. Francis Adirubasamy ( info given )OTHERS21. The Blind Castaway A man whom Pi meets in the middle of the Pacific. The castaway is also blind and starving on a lifeboat. He has a French accent and is possibly the cook from the Tsimtsum. At first he feigns friendship, even “brotherhood,” with Pi, but he becomesmurderous and cannibalistic once he’s allowed on the lifeboat.
The castaway tries to kill and eat Pi, but he is killed by Richard Parker.22. Tomohiro Okamoto A senior employee of the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry ofTransport. He interviews Pi after his ordeal and is responsible for learning what he can fromPi to determine why the Tsimtsum sank.23. Atsuro Chiba Tomohiro Okamoto’s junior colleague who also participates in the interview withPi at the end of the novel.
AUTHOR’S NOTE: The "Author's Note" recounts how our author encountered Pi's story. It's short,but provides essential details and frames the way you read the rest of the novel. The author begins by explaining "[t]his book was born as I was hungry" (Author'sNote.1.1). Not literally hungry, but eager to write something of importance tosomeone, himself included. His two earlier novels have failed. He informs us he started a novel set in Portugal in the year 1939 and flew to Indiato write it. He tells us that fiction is odd, in that way: a novel about Portugal mighthave very little to do with Portugal. His first trip to India is unsuccessful. He is not ready for the "functioningmadness" of India (Author's Note.1.4). He returns to India, determined to write his novel. Things seem to be going well. Dialogue, characters, descriptions all promise abeautiful novel. However, his novel dies. It's "emotionally dead," missing "thatspark that brings to life a real story" (Author's Note.1.7). Understandably, theauthor feels a little down. But, lo and behold! The author meets a man named Francis Adirubasamy in acoffee house on Nehru Street in Pondicherry (still in India, friends). Francis tellsour author, "I have a story that will make you believe in God." The author takes down notes on the story. From the author's reactions, we knowit's a humdinger, but we don't know the particulars of the story yet. Francis Adirubasamy tells the author he must contact the central character ofthis story, one Mr. Pi Patel. Ooh, things are heating up. The author decides Pi's story must be told in the first person: "in his [Pi's] voiceand through his eyes." Now we're ready to launch into Pi's story. The presence of The Author—who is telling the story as it was told to him, for thepurpose of writing a novel—creates a layer of fallibility. It elevates the story to the level of a fairy tale or parable and allows the literarytext to become whatever is needed to communicate both events and beliefsabout philosophy, religion, adventure, entertainment, and miracles.ANALYSIS OF AUTHOR’S NOTE: Author’s Note clues us into the book’s origins even as it blurs the boudarybetween fact and fiction. The note claims the text is nonfiction, it masquerades as fact even though theyare obviously works of imagination (picturesque novel).
In picaresque novels, the harsh realities of life—poverty, illness, and so on—aresubject to wry, ironic, and even humorous treatment. In Life of Pi, Martel uses his narrator to make serious commentary on everythingfrom religion to politics, and the mock-journalistic introduction emphasizes theintersection of fact and fiction in his literary world. Author’s Note blends facts and fictions about Yann Martel’s own inspiration forthe book to illustrate the central theme of the book: storytelling. Martel really had written two not-so-successful books before this one andinspiration had struck him during a visit to India. But did he really meet FrancisAdirubasamy in a coffee shop, and does Pi Patel really exist? The answer is no. On one level, Martel is just doing what fiction writers do: creating an imaginaryscenario to delight and entice his readers. But on another level, these opening six pages deftly lay the foundation for thenovel’s central theme, which is that storytelling is a way to get around telling theboring or upsetting or uninteresting truth. Martel doesn’t want to say that this novel was created by painstakinglyresearching zoos and religions and oceanic survival guides, getting up earlyevery morning, and writing for several hours a day. Such an explanation would poke a hole in the balloon of fantasy that Pi’saccount inflates over the course of the next three hundred pages; so, instead, heinvents a different origin story. The Author’s Note is balanced structurally by Part Three, another short sectionthat is also concerned with creating the impression that this entire book is a workof nonfiction. These bookends do not really fool the reader, of course, but they give us theability to suspend our disbelief and invest ourselves more fully in the story we areabout to read.Part One CHAPTER 1: The main text of the book begins with Pi’s declaration that he has suffered agreat deal, leaving him despondent. The nature of his suffering and its source are not yet clear to the reader.Welearn that Pi is now working, though he does not say anything about his
profession. We also learn that Pi misses India and loves Canada, and that hemisses someone named Richard Parker. From now to Part 3, you hear Pi's voice (except for a few interruptions by theauthor).While he tells us a lot about his interests, and his studies in Toronto, we don't gettoo much of his story, or much about his childhood – yet.Pi tells us that he continued his religious and zoological studies and was a verygood student.There's a long discussion of the three-toed sloth, which Pi thinks of as a beingworthy of both scientific and spiritual inquiry.He speaks at length about sloths and observes that their very survival is ensuredby the fact that they are so slow and dull; they virtually disappear into thebackground.He mentions that his religious studies thesis addressed aspects of Isaac Luria’scosmogony theory.We start to hear a little about Pi's suffering and how he lives with a kind ofmemento mori (a reminder of death). "What suffering?" you may ask. "Will he tellus later?" Yes. Pi also mentions God and types of thinkers he dislikes: forexample, the agnostic.Then he mentions Richard Parker. Pi says, "Richard Parker has stayed with me."From the flap of the book, you probably know Richard Parker is the tiger. And notjust any tiger, but Pi's companion in a lifeboat for 227 days. Pi has "nightmarestinged with love." We're not sure if that's healthy.More hints about the story. When Pi was recovering in Mexico, other patientshobbled into to Pi's room to hear his story. Pi talks about regaining his strength inthe hospital.At an Indian restaurant in Canada, the waiter teases Pi when he uses his hands toeat (as is the custom in India) and says, "Fresh off the boat, are you?" Of course,this means more than the waiter intended. * fresh - off-the-boat . Adjective. (idiomatic, usually derogatory) Newly arrived from a foreign place,especially as an immigrant who is still unfamiliar with the customs and language of his or her newenvironment* This quote links primarily to the theme of emotional hardship evident throughout thenovel
QUOTES FOR CHAPTER 1— The three-toed sloth —Quotation: “I chose the sloth because its demeanour—calm, quiet andintrospective—did something to soothe my shattered self,” (Martel 3).Best qualities: The three-toed sloth’s best qualities are its calmness, characterized by not reacting to loud noises and otherdisturbances; its quietness, characterized by rarely making any noise or even stirring in theslightest; and its introspectiveness, a trait given under the assumption that since it is neverdoing anything else, it must be deep in thought. All three of these the narrator mentions in Chapter 1 as things that soothed hisshattered self.Worst qualities: The three-toed sloth’s worst quality is its defining characteristic andthe origin of its name: sloth. The three-toed sloth very rarely does anything other thaneat and sleep; it is the pure definition of lazy.Role in the excerpt: the sloth’s role is to provide contrast between its calm, simple way of life and thetumultuous journey that is Pi Patel’s life, and perhaps also to represent what Pi wishes he could have had: “a peaceful,vegetarian life in perfect harmony with its environment” instead of a life spentconstantly fighting for survival against the environment.Quotation: Sometimes I got my majors mixed up. A few of my fellow religious-studiesstudents—muddled agnostics who didn’t know which way was up, who were in the thrallof reason, that fool’s gold for the bright—reminded me of the three-toed sloth; and thethree-toed sloth, such a beautiful example of the miracle of life, reminded me of God.” (Martel 5)Context – The narrator has just finished writing about the habits and behaviours of thethree-toed sloth and uses this quotation as a transition between that subject and thesubject of his general schooling at the University of Toronto by comparing thethree-toed sloth to his fellow religious studies students.
Explanation – The narrator compares the muddled agnostics* in his religious studiescourse to three-toed sloths. He does not mean that they live in perfect harmony with th
1. Yann Martel’s 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. 2. The beginning of the novel covers Pi’s childhood and youth. 3. His family owns and
6 P r e s t w i c k Ho u s e, in c. Multiple Critical Perspectives Life of Pi General Introduction to the Work Introduction to Life of Pi L ife of Pi is a novel by Canadian author Yann Martel. The protagonist is an Indian boy and man named Piscine “Pi” Mo
Yann Martel’s ‘Life of Pi’ justifies the irony behind the stated proverb. It develops the bond between human and nonhuman environment- . Entire narration can be read in two ways. Firstly through biocentrism, when the s
Yann Martel's Life of Pi, an apparent philosophical treatise, with syncretisation of religions and science, is a survivor narrative combining the of art bildungsroman, fantasy, and extended dramatic monologues. Assuming the role of a dramatist, Yann Martel uses the ‘author’s note’ to
Life of Pi by Yann Martel 2001 The BestNotes Study Guide by D. L. Cassie. LITERARY ELEMENTS SETTING The story is initially set in India in the late 1990 s. The author has traveled to Pondicherry, a coastal town in the former French territory of India, which joined Independ
Life of Pi – Reading Guide . The author of this book, Yann Martel, spends a lot of time explaining both the human and animal experience of a zoo. Why do you think that Martel goes into such detail explaining how zoos work? 5 2. What, according to
book. The author, Yann Martel explains that while in India he travels to Pondicherry, where an elderly man, Mr. Adirubasamy, tells him he has a story for him that will make him believe in God. He tells Yann about Pi, who the author manages to find in Canada, where Pi
Martel was living in Montreal. Life of Pi was Martel's breakthrough novel and went on to receive numerous awards, including Canada’s Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction in 2001 and the 2002 Man Booker Prize. Life of Pi was a U.K. best
ARCHAEOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATION 13 HOME PAGE WHY DRAW? EQUIPMENT START HERE: TECHNIQUES HOW TO DRAW MORE ACTIVITIES LINKS Drawing pottery The general aim when drawing pottery is not only to produce an accurate, measured drawing but also to show the type of pot. Sh ape (or form) and decoration are therefore important. Many illustrators now include extra information to show how a pot was .
