Life of Pi is a novel written by Yann Martel. I just finished reading the book, and I watched the movie in 2012. I remember trying to read the book a few years after watching the movie, but I only read a fourth of it. I was waiting for the famous part of the book, the part where Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel is stranded on a lifeboat with a 450 pound Bengal Tiger. The first part of the book, which is about Pi’s life, was testing my patience at the time. Now, however, I was finally able to come back to the book and appreciate the novel in its entirety.

The first part of the book is about Pi’s life in Pondicherry, India. Pi recounts how he learned to swim, how he got his nickname, and how he learned about animals. Pi learned about many species in the zoo his father owned. He learned how animals thought, what different animals’ temperaments were, and most importantly, he learned how dangerous animals were. All the stories he tells in the first part of the book are quirky, witty, and full of heart. When Pi was a teenager, he was introduced to Christianity. He was already Hindu, but he developed a love and curiosity of Jesus Christ. The next year, he was introduced to Islam, and he loved how Islam made him feel close to God. He was effectively Hindu, Muslim, and Christian by the time he turned 16. There was one scene in the book where all three of his religious leaders came up to Pi and his family at the same time. The conversation they had was very funny as each religious leader threw insults at the other religions, and they were really going in. Eventually they all looked at Pi for an explanation and he said “I just want to love God.” After that they settled down, but Pi’s parents were still confused. They eventually got Pi his own prayer mat and they baptised him, but it took a while. Something to note about Pi is that he’s a fighter.

Then, Pi’s dad decided to move to canada. They boarded a cargo ship, which held the animals they brought along, and they had a decent time on the boat. When the Tsimtsum sinks, Pi is the only human survivor. On his boat, at first, is a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and Richard Parker. He survives seven months in the Pacific Ocean before finally finding land.

Something I find interesting about this book is that Yann Martel implies that God was always with Pi, even during the worst months of his life. I feel like many people can’t believe that a God could exist when there are people in terrible conditions. However, Pi never questioned God’s presence in his life. There are also many times in the book when a seemingly inconsequential or negative action saves Pi’s life. The most obvious example is when he is by himself on the lifeboat and he is trying to help Richard Parker get on the boat as well. When RP is about to get on the boat, he realizes that he’s cheering on an adult Bengal tiger, and Pi quickly tries to kill Richard Parker. Anyways, RP gets on the boat, and Pi says that he knows he wouldn’t have survived if RP was never on board. RP gave him motivation. Another example of this idea is when Pi takes the net holding the bananas the orangutan floated on.

Something else I find interesting is Pi’s thoughts on reason, science, and religion. Pi believes in science, as he eventually becomes a zoologist, and he’s also reasonable. He wouldn’t have survived on a lifeboat for seven months if he wasn’t reasonable and smart, but he is also religious. An example in the book of science and religion intersection comes from two adults in his life. The two Kumars have different opinions about God, but they have similar views on Pondicherry Zoo. Mr. Kumar, the biology teacher, likes going to the zoo to see how perfect and well balanced evolution made the animal kingdom. The other Kumar, the Muslim mystic, likes seeing how perfect and well balanced God made the world. Pi himself is a scientist but he thinks solely relying on reason for decisions is fools’ gold.

At the end of the book, Pi is having an interview with two men about the sinking of the Tsimtsum. When Pi tells them his story, they don’t believe it. Pi and the two men argue about what really happened to Pi, and eventually Pi asks if they want a different version of the story. The men say yes. Pi then tells another version of the story, but this time with no carnivorous island, no animals, and no floating bananas. The men thank him for the story, even though it didn’t answer their question. Pi asks which version was a better story, since neither story answered why the Tsimtsum sunk. They said the first story was better. That whole time, Pi was frustrated that the men refused to believe his story because it wasn’t what they expected. Later, it was found that the main skeptic of the two men eventually believed Pi. He said that Pi was courageous, tough, thin, bright, and that he managed to survive for seven months on a lifeboat with an adult Bengal Tiger.