Life of Pi: Introduction
Literature in English
Secondary 6
Introduction ~ Author
 Yann Martel
– Born June 25, 1963 in Salamanca, Spain
– Canadian
 Travelled in Iran, Turkey and India
 Studying philosophy at Trent University in Peterborough,
Ontario,
 Started writing at age 27
 To write Life of Pi…
– Six months spent in India visiting mosques, temples, churches and
zoos
– An entire year reading religious texts and castaway stories
– Actual writing: two more years
Introduction ~ The Book
 First published by Knopf Canada in
September 2001
 Won:
– Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2002
– Boeke Prize, a South African book prize, in
2003
 A film adaptation in 2011
Story Overview
 The protagonist Piscine ("Pi") Molitor
Patel
 An Indian boy from Pondicherry
 Exploring the issues of religion and
spirituality from an early age
 His survival story: 227 days shipwrecked
with a tiger in the Pacific Ocean
Characters
 Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi)
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The protagonist of the story
The narrator for most of the novel
His account of his seven months at sea
His unusual name from the French word for pool
A pool in Paris in which a close family friend, Francis
Adirubasamy, loved to swim
– A student of zoology and religion
– Deeply intrigued by the habits and characteristics of
animals and people
Characters
 Richard Parker
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The Royal Bengal tiger sharing a lifeboat with Pi
His captor, Richard Parker, named him Thirsty
A shipping clerk reversed their names
From the Pondicherry Zoo
Weighing 450 pounds and about nine feet long
Kills the hyena on the lifeboat and the blind cannibal
Acts as an omega, or submissive, animal respecting Pi’s
dominance
Characters
 The Author
– The narrator of the (fictitious) Author’s Note
– Inserting himself into the narrative at several
points throughout the text
– Never identified by name
– Yann Martel
 He lives in Canada
 Published two books
 Inspired to write Pi’s life story during a trip to India
Characters
 Francis Adirubasamy
– The elderly man
– Telling the author Pi’s story during a meeting in
a Pondicherry coffee shop
– Taught Pi to swim
– Bestowed upon him his unusual moniker
– Arranges for the author to meet Pi
– Pi calls him Mamaji (Indian: respected uncle)
Characters
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Ravi
– Pi’s older brother
– Teases his younger brother mercilessly over his devotion to three religions
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Santosh Patel
– Pi’s father
– Runs the Pondicherry Zoo
– A worrier by nature
– Teaching his sons not only to care for and control wild animals, but to fear
them
– Decided to move his family to Canada
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Gita Patel
– Pi’s beloved mother and protector
– A book lover
– Encouraging Pi to read widely
– Speaking her mind
– Taking the place of Orange Juice on the lifeboat (in Pi’s another version of
his story to his rescuers)
Characters
 Satish Kumar
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Pi’s biology teacher at a secondary school in Pondicherry
A polio survivor
Odd-looking man, with a body shaped like a triangle
Devotion to the power of scientific inquiry and explanation
Inspiring Pi to study zoology in college
 Father Martin
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The Catholic priest
Introducing Pi to Christianity
Preaching a message of love
Disagrees about whose religion Pi should practice
Characters
 Satish Kumar
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A plain-featured Muslim mystic
With the same name as Pi’s biology teacher
Working in a bakery
A strong effect on Pi’s academic plans
 His faith leads Pi to study religion at college
 The Hindu Pandit
– One of three important religious figures
– Outraged when Pi begins practicing other religions
– Quieted by Pi’s declaration that he just wants to love God
Characters
 The Hyena
– Ugly and intensely violent
– Controlling the lifeboat before Richard Parker emerges
 The Zebra
– A beautiful male Grant’s zebra
– His leg broken jumping into the lifeboat
– Tormented by the hyena and eaten alive
 Orange Juice
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Maternal orangutan
Floating to the lifeboat on a raft of bananas
Suffering from almost humanlike bouts of loneliness and seasickness
Fighting back valiantly when attacked by the hyena
Killed and decapitated
Characters
 The Blind Frenchman
– A fellow castaway
– Meeting Pi by chance in the middle of the ocean
– Driven by hunger and desperation
– Trying to kill and cannibalize Pi
– Richard Parker kills him first
 Meena Patel
– Pi’s wife
 Nikhil Patel (Nick)
– Pi’s son
 Usha Patel
– Pi’s young daughter
– Shy but very close to her father
Characters
 Tomohiro Okamoto
– An official from the Maritime Department of the Japanese Ministry
of Transport
– Investigating the sinking of the Japanese Tsimtsum
– Interviews Pi for three hours
– Highly skeptical of Pi’s first account of the shipwreck
 Atsuro Chiba
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Okamoto’s assistant
More naïve and trusting of the two Japanese officials
His inexperience at conducting interviews
Agrees with Pi that the version of his ordeal with animals is the
better than the one with people
Characters
 The Cook
– The human counterpart to the hyena in Pi’s second story
– Rude and violent and hoards food on the lifeboat
– Kills the sailor and Pi’s mother
– Pi stabs him and he dies
 The Sailor
– The human counterpart to the zebra in Pi’s second story
– Young, beautiful, and exotic
– Speaks only Chinese
– Very sad and lonely in the lifeboat
– His leg broken and infected after jumping off the ship
– His leg cut off by the cook
– Dies slowly
Organization of the Book
 Three parts:
– First section: an adult Pi Patel’s rumination over his
childhood
– Second section: a blend of a detailed and realistic
survival memoir and a fantastic allegory in a medieval
style
– Last section:
 The report to the Japanese government
 A choice to actually choose the story version the readers prefer
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQhwAvW2nW
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