Life Of Pi

Life Of Pi by Yann Martel

Life of Pi has three main parts that all take place in the 1970's. The first part takes place in New Delhi, India, where a boy named Pi Pannell lives. His family owns a successful zoo, but they decide to move to Canada. The second part, or main part, takes place in the Pacific Ocean, on a tiny lifeboat. The third part takes place in Tomatlan, Mexico. The third part is the shortest out of all of them. The two main characters are Piscine Moliter Patel, or Pi (He goes by Pi because when he didn't, people made fun of his name). Pi is the narrator for most of the novel, and his story of his seven months at sea forms the bulk of the story. He gets his unusual name from the French word for pool. Pi is deeply intrigued by the habits and characteristics of animals and people. The other character is Richard Parker, who is actually a Bengal tiger. After he eats the zebra and the hyena, he is the only living thing left on the boat with Pi.

The problem in Life Of Pi is that Pi is stranded in the Pacific Ocean in a 20-foot long lifeboat with a Bengal tiger and limited supplies. Pi has to struggle to survive while not angering Richard Parker. You see, RP spends his time lying on the far end of the ship. The only thing separating him and Pi is a thin metal covering (It's hard to explain, even I don't fully understand it), but it's more of a compartment. And all of the supplies are in the compartment. And, at one point, Pi lands on an island, but after one night leaves because the water turns to acid because of the trees that grow on the island. Basically, the problem is that he is going to die unless he makes it to civilization.

The first event is the sinking of the cargo ship that Pi's family is on. It is two o'clock in the morning. The ship set sail a week ago, but Pi can't fall asleep. He is seasick. All of a sudden, out of the corner of his eye, he sees water in his cabin. Immediately, he rushes out to warn his family, but they had the lower cabins, and they have already drowned. He races upstairs to the sight of the crew frantically trying to save the ship. The captain confronts him and tells him he must jump into a lifeboat if he wishes to survive. Pi is cautious but knows what he must do. But first, he throws down a zebra, a hyena, and Richard Parker, because these animals are family to him. He dives into the lifeboat himself, and rows into the shark and debris filled water. The real story begins.

The second event is about the island. The lifeboat comes across a low island covered entirely with algae. Pi and Richard Parker stop for a while, eating the vegetation, drinking the fresh water, and nursing themselves back to health. The island is full of meerkats, which are small ferret like creatures, and Pi sees that the island's fresh ponds are full of dead fish. A storm hits while Pi and Richard Parker are there, and the island controls it beautifully, absorbing the ocean's ferocious waves. Pi notices that the island burns his feet at night but not during the day. Seeing that meerkats spend the nights in the treetops, Pi, who has been sleeping on the lifeboat, joins them. One day, Pi discovers a tree that has fruit. However, the center of each fruit holds a human tooth. From this evidence, Pi decides that the island is carnivorous. He fills the lifeboat with dead fish and meerkats and eats and drinks his fill of algae and fresh water. Then he waits for Richard Parker to board the lifeboat and pushes off into the sea.

The final event is when Pi reaches civilization and is saved. The lifeboat washes ashore on a Mexican beach. Pi lays down in the sand and Richard Parker bounds away into the jungle. Pi weeps at the loss of his friend, saddened that he wasn't able to say goodbye. Villagers rescue Pi and take him to a hospital, where they clean him up and feed him. He cannot understand their language, but realizes he is finally saved. Two Japanese men, who are in Mexico on unrelated business, are assigned to interview Pi. They asked him questions to get a better understanding of why the ship sank (The two men work for the company who made it). Unfortunately,