Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is an exciting tale of survival and miracles. This novel is the story of Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel and how he was able to survive the terrible sinking of a cargo ship when he was only about sixteen years of age. Martel’s creative writing style engages readers and has them thinking the entire time, “Is this a true story?”
The story is told in three parts with an author’s note at the very beginning of the novel. It is also told through both Martel and Patel’s narration (Martel’s narration is italicized while Patel’s is not). In the author’s note, Martel accounts how he came about writing this novel of his. He says that he was at a café one day when an elderly man came up to Martel asking if he wanted to hear of a story that would make him believe in God. Martel decided to listen to the elderly man’s story. He was so enthralled by the story that the elderly man suggested that Martel go and interview the man in the old man’s story who went by the name of Mr. Patel; this is where the tale of Piscine Molitor Patel begins. The insertion of this author’s note is what really sets the wheels in the reader’s mind whirling, making the reader think that this entire novel is based in a true story.
In part one of the novel, Pi Patel talks about his beginnings through his own narration. He explains the origin of his name, the type of lifestyle he lived, and the religions he believed. The story starts off when he is in grade school. He describes how the children and even the teachers, made fun of his name, “Piscine,” which is the reason he came up with his nickname, “Pi.” Pi goes on to talk about the area in which he lived in, describing the wonderful, exotic atmosphere he is surrounded by through creative writing and plenty of imagery. Pi’s parents were the owners of the local zoo in Pondicherry, so he was able to witness the daily life of animals such as giraffes, orangutans, and tigers. The description of the life around him was so vivid that even I believed I was there witnessing the daily happenings of the zoo. Pi also went on to describe how he got into practicing the different religions he ended up being a part of. He was born into Hinduism, got involved with Christianity, and was also a practicing Muslim. At one point in the novel, all three of his religious mentors got together to discuss how Pi could possibly practice all these religions at once. All Pi had to say about the situation was “I just want to love God.” This statement was very powerful in my mind. I have always wondered how one can go on practicing different religions and what their reasons would be, but I never thought one’s reason could be as simple as he just wanted to love God.
After describing his childhood (both before and after the shipwreck, when he lived in Canada), Pi went on to describe the shipwreck itself. Apparently, his parents’ zoo was not getting very good business, so Pi’s entire family needed to relocate. They settled on moving to Canada, but in order to obtain money for the move, they needed to sell the zoo animals. Once sold, they all boarded a cargo ship with some of the animals and headed towards Canada. However, after a pit stop in Manila, the ship encountered a heavy storm and sank, leaving Pi stranded in a life boat with a zebra, hyena, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. After sometime out at sea, the zebra and hyena passed away due to animalistic instincts (the hyena ate the zebra, and the tiger ripped apart the hyena), so this left Pi alone with Richard Parker. All the details and description of his survival tactics were so vivid and out of the ordinary that it seems impossible that this could actually happen to someone. While stranded at sea, Pi was able to partake in lots of prayer and took note of his everyday life on the boat in his diary. Because he was on a life boat, time was whatever the sun and moon dictated to him. All he knew was that the ship sank in July 1977and he did not get back to dry land until February 1978. At first, Pi knew nothing about trying to survive in the wild. However, the more time he spent out at sea, the more comfortable he became. After finding a survival manual, he learned how to fish and catch other food for himself (even though he was a vegetarian himself), he knew how to collect water, and he was even able to train Richard Parker somewhat. At one point, he even questioned whether or not he should even go back to looking for civilization and beings of his own kind, but he came to the realization that he really needed to find human beings rather than live with animals the rest of his life. Pi’s time out at sea, the gruesome descriptions of how he had to butcher several animals in order to survive, and the descriptions of how little there was around him, really made me want to believe that something better was in store for the character; that through all this misfortune, God would still be with him and his luck would change.
Eventually, Pi was able to reach land (Mexico, to be exact) and made his way to a hospital. He was so emaciated that he had to stay at the hospital for quite some. After arriving to the hospital, Pi was greeted by a couple of investigators who were trying to solve why the cargo ship that Pi boarded sank. Pi went on to telling his tale of survival so that the investigators could have some information about the tragedy. However, his story seemed so farfetched that the investigators had a hard time believing the story. Nonetheless, Pi did not retract or hold back on his story. His story was truly one for the ages.
Throughout this novel, Yann Martel provides beautiful details that lead to stunning imagery. This piece of literature is definitely something that should be read by all. He was able to compose something that stimulated the mind in many ways; not only through the way it was written, but also through the imagery he gave. Life of Pi is a very clever, creative, and well written piece of work, and I am glad I was able to partake in reading this novel.
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