Life of Pi
A thought-provoking masterpiece.
One that would take you to the middle of the pacific, with nothing to embrace except for faith, and the will to remain despite all.
“ Life of Pi” tells the story of Piscine, Pi, a 16- years old boy who was left on a boat in the middle of the ocean with a Bengal tiger, a zebra, a hyena, and an orangutan.
Pi’s journey started when his father, a famous Indian Zoo-keeper, had decided to move his family to Canada away from the political chaos that came along with Indira Ghandi. The move didn’t only include Piscine’s family (consisting of his mother,father and brother ) but it had also included the herd of animals from the Zoo which had been a part of his life since he was born. Piscine had spent almost all his childhood among those animals, roaming around the zoo and visiting each and every one of them. His relationship with them became personal as he found himself always defending the Zoo against those people who believed that it refrained the animal’s freedom. Pi strongly believed that on the contrary , a zoo provided animals with safety, well-being, and protection, all of which wilderness lacked.
"Animals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity within an unforgiving social hierarchy in an environment where the supply of fear is high and the supply of food is low and where territory must constantly be defended and parasites forever endured." Life of Pi
"I know zoos are no longer in people’s good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both." Life of Pi
The most intriguing aspect of Pi’s character is his embrace and devotion to three religions: Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Pi was perplexed at people’s confusion when it came to his religion ( the combination of three ). The way he saw it, the belief in God was a common thread between the three religions despite their difference, So why couldn’t he take something from each? Hence, he went to church every Sunday, Prayed in the mosque on Friday, and visited the Temple on Tuesday. Pi believed that embracing three religions was better than being Agnostic, for not being certain is not a way of living.
"Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims." Life of Pi
“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.” Life of Pi
Devastatingly, the family's ship had sunk on their way to Canada , taking away Pi’s family and everything he had known with them. He found himself on a lifeboat along with a tiger (Named Richard Parker), a broken-legged zebra, and a hyena that had fallen off the ship into the boat. Later on, an orangutan had found its way to the lifeboat too as it came floating on a wrapped pile of banana. Eventually, the hyena devoured the zebra inside out, and then attacked the orangutan; the tiger then devoured the Hyena, leaving the boat empty except for himself and Pi. Pi’s ordeal had begun then as he started struggling for survival while trying to stay away from Richard Parker. The ordeal lasted 227 days; a number barely describing what took place in between.
At the end, came the blow.
Pi was interviewed as the only survivor of the ship. When his survival story was discarded as “ Implausible”, Pi then started retelling another story, replacing the animals with people. He asked the interviewers if they had found the second story more believable since it included people. In the new story, Pi’s mother replaced the orangutan, the zebra was the ship’s captain, the Hyena was the cook, and Richard parker was Pi himself.
The author brilliantly provided the reader with an undeniable question of faith, as both stories could’ve occurred yet the first required a leap of faith while the second meant that a horrific cannibalistic series of murder had occurred on that boat. Did Pi replace what really happened with an “ Alternate” story to shield himself from the pain and horror of what had happened? Or did he really live for 227 days with a Bengal tiger whose animalistic instincts would’ve made him devour Pi in less than an hour?
"I know what you want. You want a story that won't surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won't make you see higher or further or differently. You want a flat story. An immobile story. You want dry, yeastless factuality." Life of Pi
I could still see Pi, on that Boat as if he had imprinted himself behind my eyelids, I could hear his heartbeat when he caught a glimpse of Richard Parker. I could feel his pain, his hunger, his horrifying loneliness and despair. I gave up before he did, for I saw no life ahead after all of this. But he did. On that dark horizon, in the middle of the deep Pacific Ocean; Pi saw the silver lining.
