Study Notes

In order for his survival, Pi needed to keep himself occupied mentally and physically, where on page 190 he says “I kept myself busy. That was one key to my survival”. It's important that Pi kept himself busy because if Pi had nothing to do, he could be bored to death, literally, by possibly committing suicide to end his misery. Also by keeping himself busy, time goes faster for Pi than it would if he was doing nothing. According to Pi, another way he kept himself mentally stable was by putting the time that has passed aside, he says “I did not count the days or the weeks or the months. Time is an illusion that only makes us pant. I Survived because I forgot even the very notion of time” on page 192. If Pi counted the days that passed, it would be demotivating because he would probably just count the days as for how long he has been stranded with no help. It’s also good that Pi forgot time because if he forgot time

Pi faces a very extreme environment and a very extreme situation when he had to keep the tiger alive. According to the text, “I was alone and orphaned, in the middle of the Pacific”, which was his only companion in the middle of the ocean on the lifeboat, to survive.(page 79) In the situation, even under the extreme circumstances Pi stays cool and collected and focus’ only on survival. With the mentality to survive, and wanting to end the pain of thirst, “I think it was this that saved my life that morning, that I was quite literally dying of thirst”(page 81), Pi decided that his life wasn’t going to end now. He

Reaching out to Pi in his times of need was his mind, “I would have given up – if a voice hadn't made itself heard in my heart. The voice said, ‘I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are’’’ (148).

In Pi's 227 days of being stranded in the sea, he has had many problems that have

“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

When pressed on the issue of the lack of credibility of the animal story, Pi is forced to give a second, human story because it is the only story that would be reasonably believable, full of “dry yeastless factuality”.

The mathematical constant to which ‘Pi’ relates his name has a value of 3.14 which is the approximate fraction 22/7 this represents the 227 days Pi survived at sea. When Pi is introducing himself at his new school he goes up to the board in each class during attendance, writes his name and beside it “π = 3.14” and draws “…a large circle, which [he] then slice[s] in two with a diameter, to evoke that basic lesson of geometry.” Pi repeats this same routine with every teacher on the premise that “repetition is important in the training not only of animals but

Pi’s narration also supports the theme of the importance of storytelling. As the only evidence of the story, people have no choice but to believe what he tells them, however wild it seems because while he might lack evidence, they don’t have any at all. When Pi is recalling his story to the Japanese in charge of the sinking, he tells them two stories, one with animals and one with people. One version, although it may be factually true, does nothing to reveals the emotions and masked memories that should not resurface. By creating the animals Pi blocks his mind from

While having managed to complete the first two levels, Pi begins to think about the loved ones he has lost and others he cannot see anymore. The end of the book helps describe the animals in the boat as representations of human emotions that Pi has detached from himself. This

Furthermore, Pi confesses to wanting Richard Parker to live primarily for Pi’s own survival when he states, “A part of me did not want

So then Pi starts his journey with the porpoises in pursuit to the reef and the beginning of his journey to adulthood. On the first night of his journey it depicts a massive storm with waves crashing over and over again depicting his sadness in this symbolism of losing his parents to the humans but soon shows the happiness he gains

I must live with that.” (pg. 311). After he gave the story to the investigators they were terrified of what Pi had given them. “What a horrible story” (pg. 311). But they ended up putting the pieces together, and relating the animals with the people Pi gave them in the second

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’’.

Chapter 92 is a story of its own. It begins by exciting the reader with something new: an island, then it continues by describing the new lifestyle. Most of the chapter feels like a sort of relief from the horrible journey through the ocean and it calms the reader. In the end of the chapter, the plot twist where the organism is actually carnivorous feels like a betrayal because Pi was given a happy, relaxing life, only to have it violently snatched from him yet again. It is apparent that Pi wishes that he had not found out about the organism’s secret because he says “Ah, how I wish that moment had never been! But for it I might have lived there for years-why, for the rest of my life on that island.” (Martel 310)This shows that he is so happy there that he would have preferred to unknowingly live on an island that is trying to eat him than to know and therefore leave the island. Overall, I enjoyed reading the plot of chapter 92 because it was full of twists and turns that made it exciting and different from the repetitive feel of the rest of the book.