Life of Pi
Title: Life of Pi
Genre: Fiction(Fantasy)
Characters:
Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) - The protagonist of the story. Piscine is the narrator for most of the novel, and his account of his seven months at sea forms the bulk of the story. He gets his unusual name from the French word for pool—and, more specifically, from a pool in Paris in which a close family friend, Francis Adirubasamy, loved to swim. A student of zoology and religion, Pi is deeply intrigued by the habits and characteristics of animals and people.
Richard Parker - The Royal Bengal tiger with whom Pi shares his lifeboat. His captor, Richard Parker, named him Thirsty, but a shipping clerk made a mistake and reversed their names. From then on, at the Pondicherry Zoo, he was known as Richard Parker. Weighing 450 pounds and about nine feet long, he kills the hyena on the lifeboat and the blind cannibal. With Pi, however, Richard Parker acts as an omega, or submissive, animal, respecting Pi’s dominance.Read an in-depth analysis of Richard Parker.
The Author - The narrator of the (fictitious) Author’s Note, who inserts himself into the narrative at several points throughout the text. Though the author who pens the Author’s Note never identifies himself by name, there are many clues that indicate it is Yann Martel himself, thinly disguised: he lives in Canada, has published two books, and was inspired to write Pi’s life story during a trip to India.
Francis Adirubasamy - The elderly man who tells the author Pi’s story during a chance meeting in a Pondicherry coffee shop. He taught Pi to swim as a child and bestowed upon him his unusual moniker. He arranges for the author to meet Pi in person, so as to get a first-person account of his strange and compelling tale. Pi calls him Mamaji, an Indian term that means respected uncle.
Ravi - Pi’s older brother. Ravi prefers sports to schoolwork and is quite popular. He teases his younger brother mercilessly over his devotion to three religions.
Santosh Patel - Pi’s father. He once owned a Madras hotel, but because of his deep interest in animals decided to run the Pondicherry Zoo. A worrier by nature, he teaches his sons not only to care for and control wild animals, but to fear them. Though raised a Hindu, he is not religious and is puzzled by Pi’s adoption of numerous religions. The difficult conditions in India lead him to move his family to Canada.
Gita Patel - Pi’s beloved mother and protector. A book lover, she encourages Pi to read widely. Raised Hindu with a Baptist education, she does not subscribe to any religion and questions Pi’s religious declarations. She speaks her mind, letting her husband know when she disagrees with his parenting techniques. When Pi relates another version of his story to his rescuers, she takes the place of Orange Juice on the lifeboat.
Satish Kumar - Pi’s atheistic biology teacher at Petit Séminaire, a secondary school in Pondicherry. A polio survivor, he is an odd-looking man, with a body shaped like a triangle. His devotion to the power of scientific inquiry and explanation inspires Pi to study zoology in college.
Father Martin - The Catholic priest who introduces Pi to Christianity after Pi wanders into his church. He preaches a message of love. He, the Muslim Mr. Kumar, and the Hindu pandit disagree about whose religion Pi should practice.
Satish Kumar - A plain-featured Muslim mystic with the same name as Pi’s biology teacher. He works in a bakery. Like the other Mr. Kumar, this one has 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 in the novel. Never given a name, he is outraged when Pi, who was raised Hindu, begins practicing other religions. He and the other two religious leaders are quieted somewhat by Pi’s declaration that he just wants to love God.
The Hyena - An ugly, intensely violent animal. He controls the lifeboat before Richard Parker emerges.
The Zebra - A beautiful male Grant’s zebra. He breaks his leg jumping into the lifeboat. The hyena torments him and eats him alive.
Orange Juice - The maternal orangutan that floats to the lifeboat on a raft of bananas. She suffers almost humanlike bouts of loneliness and seasickness. When the hyena attacks her, she fights back valiantly but is nonetheless killed and decapitated.
The Blind Frenchman - A fellow castaway whom Pi meets by chance in the middle of the ocean. Driven by hunger and desperation, he tries to kill and cannibalize Pi, but Richard Parker kills him first.
Tomohiro Okamoto - An official from the Maritime Department of the Japanese Ministry of Transport, who is investigating the sinking of the Japanese Tsimtsum. Along with his assistant, Atsuro Chiba, Okamoto interviews Pi for three hours and is highly skeptical of his first account.
Atsuro Chiba - Okamoto’s assistant. Chiba is the more naïve and trusting of the two Japanese officials, and his inexperience at conducting interviews gets on his superior’s nerves. Chiba agrees with Pi that the version of his ordeal with animals is the better than the one with people.
The Cook - The human counterpart to the hyena in Pi’s second story. He is rude and violent and hoards food on the lifeboat. After he 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. He is young, beautiful, and exotic. He speaks only Chinese and is very sad and lonely in the lifeboat. He broke his leg jumping off the ship, and it becomes infected. The cook cuts off the leg, and the sailor dies slowly.
Theme:
The Will To Live
Life of Pi encountered many troubles that makes him suffered and struggled. Pi able to catch and eat fish and abandoned his vegetarian just to survive from hungry.
The Nature of Religious Belief
Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are both religions of Pi, but for him the three religions illustrates the belief of Faith.
Symbolism:
Pi
Pi is an irrational mathematical number, used to calculate distance in a circle. Often shortened to 3.14, pi has so many decimal places that the human mind can’t accurately comprehend it, just as, the book argues, some realities are too difficult or troubling to face. These associations establish the character Pi as more than just a realistic protagonist; he also is an allegorical figure with multiple layers of meaning.
Pi is an irrational mathematical number, used to calculate distance in a circle. Often shortened to 3.14, pi has so many decimal places that the human mind can’t accurately comprehend it, just as, the book argues, some realities are too difficult or troubling to face. These associations establish the character Pi as more than just a realistic protagonist; he also is an allegorical figure with multiple layers of meaning.
The Color Orange
In Life of Pi, the color orange symbolizes hope and survival. Just before the scene in which the Tsimtsum sinks, the narrator describes visiting the adult Pi at his home in Canada and meeting his family. Pi’s daughter, Usha, carries an orange cat. This moment assures the reader that the end of the story, if not happy, will not be a complete tragedy, since Pi is guaranteed to survive the catastrophe and father children of his own. The little orange cat recalls the big orange cat, Richard Parker, who helps Pi survive during his 227 days at sea. As the Tsimtsum sinks, Chinese crewmen give Pi a lifejacket with an orange whistle; on the boat, he finds an orange lifebuoy. The whistle, buoy, and tiger all help Pi survive, just as Orange Juice the orangutan provides a measure of emotional support that helps the boy maintain hope in the face of horrific tragedy.
1.What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole?
The title mean in relation to the film as a whole, refers to Pi the protagonist in the story, who encountered and face horrific tradegedy together with the the four wild animals, the hyena, zebra, orange juice and Richard Parker in 227 days at the sea.
2. Among the characters, to whom can you relate to?
Among the characters I can relate to is Pi. Pi is a joyful son that never gives up in every situation in life, like me even there are many problems that comes in my life, I never surrender and I always believe that I can surpass all the trials that comes in to my life with my big Faith in God.
3.Which part of the presentation struck you the most? Why?
The part of presentation that struck me most when Pi and Richard Parker landfall in Mexican coast and they are so malnourished. Pi become so weak while Richard Parker just disappeared in the jungle and never came back again. It makes me sad in this presentation, because even we have many friends in our life some of them forget you when they dont need you anymore in their life, but you are still happy for those memories that you shared to each other and the lesson that you've learned together. Sometimes we need to understand that people may leave in our side for some reasons but never leaves in our heart.
4.What is the movie’s message?
The message of the movie in me is to develop the value of friendships, never judge the person in physical like Richard Parker even he has a wild face deep he bacame a good friend of Pi. Lets not judge the attittude somebody in his or her physical appearance, because the real beauty and goodness of the person is in the inside of his or her heart.
5. Did I like this in general? Why?
Yes, I like the story in general because the story speaks about faith in self and faith in God like Pi he never lose his faith to surpass all the trials that comes in his life. The story tells about friendship that makes me remind to value my friends and every people that sorrounds me because time will come that we will separate and depart from each other and only those memories that will remain.
6.Did I agree with the main theme/purpose? Why or why not?
Yes, I agree with the main purpose because even Pi have three religions his faith in God never disappeared.
7.What specifically did I like/dislike?
Why?
The specifically I like in the story, it speaks how we are going to handle different problem situation in our life and how we may able to surpass or solve it.
8. Are there any aspects of theme which are left ambiguous at the end? Why?
Yes there are any aspects of the theme left ambiguous at the end because, the story may not able to clear which the story is prefer it's either the story of the animals or story about human
that make us the viewer doubt because both of them are correct.
9.How does this film relate to the things that are happening in your life?
The film relate to the things that are happening in my life by having strong faith in my self and never give up in the different trials I may encounter because it makes me strong and helps me to become a better person. :)
