Life of Pi
Characterization
Santosh Patel
Pi's father and the Pondicherry Zoo's director. He used to run a hotel before switching to zookeeping due to his passion foranimals. Santosh not only educates Pi and Ravi about zookeeping, but also abouthow to respect and fear wild animals. Santosh was reared as a Hindu but is not religious, and he doubts Pi's religious passion.
Richard Parker
Pi's lifeboat partner is a three-year-old male royal Bengal tiger. Richard Parker was captured as a cub by a hunter named Richard Parker, but the tiger's name was switched with the hunter's in the accompanying papers. The tiger embodies beauty, power, and danger, and he and Pi share areas on the lifeboat. When they arrive in Mexico, Richard Parker escapes into the jungle, never to be seen again. This "bad goodbye" will haunt Pi for the rest of his life. In Pi's second retelling of his ordeal, Richard Parker is a symbol of Pi himself, as well as the atrociousacts Pi had to do in order to survive.
Gita Patel
Pi's mother is Gita. She was reared as a Hindu and received a Baptist education, but she is now an atheist and questions Pi's beliefs. Gita encourages Pi to read as a child. Gita dies when the Tsimtsum sinks in Pi's first story.
The hyena
One of the lifeboat's first passengers is a ferocious creature. The hyena is a coward because he regularly whines. While the zebra is still alive, the hyena eats its leg and then begins devouring its insides. After killing Orange Juice, the hyena is killed and devoured by Richard Parker. The hyena represents cowardice and how evil others can be even you're at life or death with each other.
The zebra
A male Grant's zebra, a majestic and rare animal, fractures its leg while jumping into the lifeboat. It suffers considerably at the hands of the hyena before dying. The zebra represents how cruel life can be.
Ravi Patel
Pi's older brother, Ravi Patel, is very different from him. Ravi, unlike Pi, is a jock and a popular person. Ravi does not appear to take schoolwork seriously and frequently teases his younger brother.
Orange Juice
Orange Juice symbolizes Pi's innocence as heboards theboat. Her naivety would have cost herlife. Pi took the decision to save Richard Parker when he was first placed aboard the boat.
Francis Adirubasamy
A Patel family friend who was a champion swimmer in his youth. Pi refers to him as arespected uncle,and Mamaji teaches Pi to swim and appreciate the water. He's also to blame for Pi's odd nickname. Francis is the man who tells Pi's narrative to the author for the first time in India, stating that the story will make you believe in God.
The author (Yann Martel)
A fictional Canadian author who resembles the novel's actual author, Yann Martel. has written two books and was inspired to write Pi's story while visiting India. The author seeks Pi and interviews him, breaking up the story with notesthat explain his sources and describe his interactions with the adult Pi.
Tomohiro Okamoto
Tomohiro works at the Japanese Ministry of Transport's Maritime Department. He is the leader of the investigation into Pi and is attempting to figure out what occurred. Tomohiro is skepticaland easily angered, as he is quickly irritated by Pi.
Pi Patel
Pi is born in Pondicherry, India, and reared amid wild animals due to his father's occupation as a zookeeper. Pi derives his odd name from a well-known swimming pool in Paris. He has had a lifelong interest in religion and practices Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Pi relates the narrative of his 227 days trapped in the Pacific Ocean as the narrator for most of the work. During his struggle, Pi discovers a tremendous resourcefulness and survival instinct within himself, but in his despair, he resorts to horrible acts. Pi enters the University of Toronto after being rescued in Mexico, where he studies biology and theology. He gets married and has two kids.
Conflicts
Person vs Nature
Pi encountered a major issue at the start of his expedition when he shared a boat with Richard Parker. Pi had to be cautious and attentive because Richard Parker had the potential to murder him. Pi had to take a lot of measures, and it took him a long time to solve this problem.
When Pi becomes trapped in the Pacific Ocean, the sea conditions make it considerably more difficult for him to survive. The scorching sun, thirst, and a shortage of food have made it impossible for him to survive.
The Tsimtsum ship has sunk due to rough sea conditions. This is one of the novel's key conflicts since the sinking of the ship killed Pi's family and many animals, leaving Pi stranded alone in the ocean.
Pi finds out the island that he is stranded is carnivorous, making Pi want to leave that place even faster.
Person vs Person
Santosh wants to show his sons what happens when they come into contact with a tiger. He would begin by showing a goat being eaten alive by a tiger. Gita counters that this is ethically wrong and that they are only children.
Pi's mother sees a man committing cannibalism, she disagrees with the man as she thinks that is morally wrong.
Person vs Self
Pi was continually pushing himself and doing what he needed to do to survive, even if it meant going against his convictions or ideals. On numerous occasions, Pi must choose between remaining true to himself and going against himself in order to survive. Although Pi becomes mentally weak at times, he always finds a way to modify his perspective and mentally strengthen himself.
"It's no use. Today I die. I will die today."
"I was all alone. All alone. I burst into hot tears. I buried my face in my crossed arms and sobbed. My situation was patently hopeless."
Person vs Society
Pi is someone who practices 3 different religions that contradicts each other, and our society are not familiar with people who follow more than 1 religion.
Pi does not like zoos because it restricts the animals in captivity a lot, whilst society views zoos to be a source of entertainment.
Pi had to change his original name as his school kept making fun of it, which tormented him a lot.
Themes
Concepts
Survival
Instincts
Loss
Faith
Hope
Fear
Morals
Boundaries
Religion
Lessons
Perspective changes everything
Don't give up
Always forgive
Always be grateful for what you have
Settings
Tsimtsum ship
Lifeboat
Algae Island
India
Zoo
Mexico
Pacific Ocean
Canada
Atmosphere/Mood
Calming mood with the orangutan
Malicious mood with hyena
Instinctive mood with the tiger
Anger and sadness whenever Pi has to strip away his morals
Astonishing and eerie atmosphere when Pi discovers that the island is carnivorous
Depressing atmosphere when the ship crashes
Suffering mood with the zebra
Constantly in chaos
