Life Of Pi Close Reading Analysis

As Pi reaches the second level of the hierarchy of needs, he finds himself on the level of safety he needs to figure out how to stay safe while on the life boat. While Pi was on the boat he was so scared of Richard Parker that he had jumped off the boat to go in the water, but then realizes that there are predators just as scary as Richard parker or maybe even worse that he has to avoid to staying safe. “I noticed the presence of sharks around the life boat…The sharks were makos-swift, point-snouted predators with long murderous teeth that protruded noticeable from their mouths” (Martel 179). Once Pi tries to overcome his fears and tames Richard like a zookeeper would do and once he does, he ends up having a companion that helps Pi get through the struggle to survive. Pi finds an island where he is safe and is able to regain his strength but as he finds a tooth in the algae, Pi

I personally feel that Yann Martel’s intent was to establish a theme around mental boundaries. The two different forms of Pi’s story when he was stuck out in the middle of the ocean differ drastically. In one story there is the plot where Pi is stuck on a lifeboat with wild animals, and then in another story the boat is full of real people. The assumption is that Pi only substituted all the people with animals to create a more fictional version of the harsh reality that his family either died or was killed on that lifeboat. Keep this is mind when you consider the plot especially in parts two and three of the novel.

“Without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.” The significance of this quote is that the presence of Richard saves him from the effects of loneliness. “The lower you are, the higher your mind will soar.” This quote is important because when Pi is at his lowest point, he reaches for his only remaining sources of salvation, which is his faith and imagination. “Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The element couldn’t be more simple, or the stake higher.” The quote significance is that the few that survive the ship are force to face each other in a strategic battle of wits to see who will

Pi’s life before the boat crashing was full of hope and wonder. His presence was ethereal, making a purpose out of everything around him. His family ran a zoo, which gave him a tight-knit relationship with animals. Pi loved to try new things. He met new people which led to his exploration

The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of high in your heart. I would go on loving" (Martel, 232). He knows that humans are the greatest creatures made by God. As a result they can do whatever they want to, no matter how hard that action is. Pi controls Richard Parker with blowing in the whistle. One can learn clearly from Pi that it does not have to be complete loss or lack of hope. Faith transfers hope into Pi's heart. It's like giving water to thirsty grass, or charging a battery that is out of charge. He keeps faith, however, he doesn't know much about his religion. He explains, " I practiced religious ritual that I adapted to the circumstances solitary Masses without priests or consecrated on communion hosts, darshans without murtis and pujas with turtle meat for prasad, acts of devotion to Allah not knowing where Mecca was and getting my Arabic wrong" (Martel, 231). New activities lighten the monotony of Pi's daily life, though they are quickly absorbed into routine. Each "first" in the lifeboat or on the raft is treated in the account with detail and great passion. However, inevitably those firsts quickly meld into a monotonous series of repetitions that dull the senses. The first time Pi kills a fish, we are held in thrall as he hesitates and frets over the act. But, as soon as it is over, it is as though a spell has broken: Pi is now free to kill as many fish as he can, any way he can, without any sort of

"Without Richard Parker, I wouldn't be alive today to tell you my story."(164) This quote was spoken by Pi, it was said because Pi realized how much Richard Parker helped him. Richard Parker kept Pi from thinking too much about the tragedy of the ship sinking and his family. Richard Parker also kept Pi from being lonely and kept Pi busy to pass time. I also think Richard Parker kept Pi connected with his family and was encouraging him. "The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar."(283) This quote was spoken by Pi, it was said because Pi was giving up and he was at his lowest point. He goes to faith and imagination to help him get through this. He soon lands on a beach in Mexico after that happened. I think the author wanted to show us that being faithful can be effective even in this situation. "You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it."(91) This was spoken by Pi, it was said because things didn't turn out how Pi expected he would of never thought his family would move and sell all the animals. Later in the book more unexpected things happen and Pi keeps his head up. He keeps going on with his life even though they are major set backs. This shows that Pi is very optimistic about his life which is a good quality to

Desperation forced him to try and move towards the safety box that was near Richard Parker who has the ability to easily attack him. Once Pi is near the safety box he illustrates the feeling of satisfaction by saying, “oh, the delight of the manufactured good, the man-made device, the created thing! That moment of material revelation brought an intensity of pleasure -- a heady mix of hope, surprise, disbelief, thrill gratitude, all crushed into one … I was positively giddy with happiness." (Martel 141). He finds water in the box as he hoped for and this has brought him a confidence boost. Even though Pi completed the first of many stages in the hierarchy, he is still stranded in the ocean. He acknowledges the fact that animals or very territorial and in turn marks his own territory within the boat. Pi insists that, “I had to fix in his mind that the top of the tarpaulin and the bow of the boat, bordered by the neutral territory of the middle bench, was my territory and utterly forbidden to him” (Martel 168). He urinated on the parts of the boat that he claims as his part of the boat and does it in a way that Richard Parker who is an animal would understand.

Had Pi been of the faint of heart he most likely would have not survived. The many atrocities that he faced helped bring to light his undauntable side. Tigers are up to any challenge and will not show fear. Richard Parker does not cower in a corner when frightened he roars and makes known his displeasure. When Pi starts blowing the whistle at him, Richard Parker has no idea what is going on, but still hisses and backlashes. Throughout the book Richard Parker is very calm, giving little insight to his emotions with his tough facade.The same bravery is seen in Pi, who has been thrown into a frightening situation. Pi is trapped on a boat with a life threatening beast and he decides to have a show of dominance against it. Pi exemplifies bravery in the following quote: “For two, perhaps three seconds, a terrific battle of minds for status and authority was waged between a boy and a tiger. He needed to make only the shortest of lunges to be on top of me. But I held my stare”(Martel 246-247). Pi stares down a tiger which would undeniably take a great amount of courage. Now having to be completely self-sufficient, Pi is dependant on his own being and faces all the obstacles thrown at him with his head held high. The amount of efficiency carried out by Pi and Richard Parker is very

The result of Pi’s response to Richard Parker’s behavior saved Pi’s life numerous times. The peaceful relationship between the two protagonists helped them both endure 227 days at sea, struggling against all odds. With Pi’s prior knowledge of the body language of animals, he is able to successfully asses his options with the intent of optimizing his chances of survival. During the falling action of the novel, Pi and Richard reach a beach in Mexico, meaning that his bravery and valiant decision to

Earlier in the novel, Pi said that God followed love. Pi's first story was about him loving Richard Parker. Yet in his second story, there was little love to be found. If the second story, the one with the savage butcher and cannibalism, were true, then it would be obvious why Pi tried to hide it at first, as it is the sadder story, not the better one. So with this theme, the audience learns that imagination can create happiness in us when there was none. Finally, the theme of man's coexistence with nature is one of the most important theme in the novel. Martel seems to illustrate this theme with an Again and Again signpost when he has Pi describe how animals find routine to be best, then has Pi gain a routine when he is surviving on the lifeboat. He also illustrates this theme through a Contrast and Contradiction moment when he has Richard Parker, a beast several times larger than Pi, be the one thing that comforts Pi and basically offered to let Pi train him as shown through his prusten. With this theme, readers are taught that humans may not be so different from wild animals, considering how we are animals in a

Pi connects with the readers throughout the story and allows the reader to experience the emotions and hard decision making that Pi has to go through. One of the main themes in “Life of Pi” is that Pi has to put his will to survive above everything else. Martel writes “I was either fixed on practical details of immediate survival or transfixed by pain, weeping silently, my mouth open and my hands at my head” (63) portraying that Pi knows his options of survival or death, forcing him to choose. Pi is forced to put his beliefs and wants behind his need to survive. Pi, being a

If the Richard Parker within Pi died, he would be left alone to face this fact. He has a man’s blood on his hands, no matter how deserved it was, it is almost impossible to forgive yourself. Richard Parker was present solely to help Pi survive after committing what he believed to be a mortal sin of vengeance. Without a Richard Parker Pi said, “I wouldn’t be alive to tell you my story,” meaning Richard Parker wouldn’t have been there to get him to the end of his journey or Pi would not have survived the way he did - able to go on with his life and

This theme is shown through Richard highlights Pi’s traits of compassion and spirit. While Pi is stuck with Richard on the life boat, his worry and benevolence are exposed as he loves and cares for Richard as a companion and partner more so than just a pet or “cellmate”. Pi endured numerous hardships on the boat: dehydration, starvation, illnesses, injuries, and pure misery. His anguish only formed his love for God,

The father’s warnings to stay away from the tiger in the zoo occurs when the father teaches Pi to never trust tigers by saying, “‘Tigers are very dangerous. I want you to understand that you are never – under any circumstance – to touch a tiger, to pet a tiger…”’ (37). This lesson develops the theme of survival because while Pi is lost at sea with the tiger, Pi makes the correct decision of following his father’s lesson in order to survive. This develops the character because as the days pass, Pi learns that Richard Parker wasn’t as bad as his dad made him seem, which means he starts to feel compassionate towards the tiger rather than the fear.

Furthermore, his vast knowledge of animals, having grown up at a zoo, helps him to tame Richard Parker. Pi knows tigers’ psychological thinking and exploits this by classically conditioning Richard Parker. Likewise, Pi’s experience of watching a tiger kill a goat in his early childhood taught him the fundamental lesson that ‘an animal is an animal’, enabling him to strategically and mentally survive his long and testing time at sea. In addition to that, during the early parts of Part 2, Pi comes across a survival manual, a crucial object for his continued existence. The book gives him critical information on the do’s and don’ts of survival at sea and it is hard to imagine that Pi could have survived without this book which also gave him the opportunity to write down his words which were “all he has left’’.