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Number Pi Meaning

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The number pi is unusual, never ending and most importantly, irrational. In the Life of Pi, Piscine and the narrator himself narrates the extraordinary story of how Pi survived on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger on the Pacific Ocean. The number pi is about 22/7 and ironically Pi is all alone for 227 days. Throughout this story one important factor is his name; Pi. There are some significance to his unusual name. The first significance to Pi’s name is like the number pi, his story is irrational. One example of something that is illogical is that in his story he landed on a carnivorous island with acidic algae. By morning the island is paradise, but at night the algae turns acidic and eats all the nearby fish that swims by. This kind of island …show more content…

His loyalty for all 3 religions is infinite like the number pi. An additional significance is foreshadowing. The author has used this in many ways. In the story it explains that he became a good swimmer because his parents would not learn how to. This showed that he can take charge of his life and is willing to take on a challenge and overcome it and in the story he has faced many problems. For instance the time he was starving. Although he is very faithful to Hinduism, he fished and ate turtles and fish to ensure his survival. Another foreshadowing is the time when children at his school were making fun of him because his name sounded like “pissing”. Piscine went up to the front of each of his classes to make sure everyone knew his new name was Pi. This shows a leadership quality as well as creativity. That foreshadows those skills he uses on his journey such as making a seperate life boat from Richard Parker or when he tamed Richard Parker to protect his life. At the beginning of Pi’s journey, he is stuck with 4 animals: a tiger, an orangutan, a hyena, and a zebra. They all represent Pi in some sort of way. The zebra symbolizes individuality, the orangutan represents peace, the hyena represents cleverness, and the tiger represents

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