City News
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
Review by Lauren
The life of Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) starts out in Pondicherry, India, with his mother, father, and older brother named Ravi. His family’s involvement in the Pondicherry Zoo causes Pi and his brother to grow alongside all kinds of animals, from tiny chimpanzees to ferocious tigers. Pi, a precocious boy, seeks answers to big questions: “What is life?” “Does God exist?” and growing up, he’s influenced by his biology teacher and a Muslim mentor, who shape him into devoutly practicing Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.
Yann Martel’s Life of Pi explores the rawness of human nature and how one ultimately challenges the adversaries of life through a harrowing voyage across the sea. Martel weaves a story full of existential crises and true character insight into a young boy troubled by the burdens of loneliness and harsh survival. When Pi reflects, “I must say a word about fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life” his courage and determination to venture into the tiger’s den and gather the food reserves rather than quake in fear and starvation outshine the internal panic he was facing. I found the issues of morality explored in the novel interesting as Pi was pushed to extremes. He confesses using “his flesh as bait” and because of the intensity of his hunger and insanity, he admits that he “ate some of his flesh.”
Martel also explores the concept of anthropomorphism, which is when human traits are projected onto something that is not human. During Pi’s fight for survival on a lifeboat with a ferocious Bengal tiger, he ends up anthropomorphizing said tiger as a way to cope. “I love you, Richard Parker. If I didn’t have you now, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t think I would make it. No, I wouldn’t. I would die of hopelessness. Don’t give up, Richard Parker, don’t give up. I’ll get you to land, I promise, I promise!” While reading through the chapters where Pi talked to Richard Parker as if he was human, I realized that loneliness can take a huge toll on someone’s mentality. Not only did Pi see the Bengal tiger as a dear friend, he wished him a farewell and said he loved him. Knowing Pi’s history with Bengal tigers (his father forced him and his brother to watch one eat a live goat when they were younger), him showing clear affection towards a wild animal shows that his time on the lifeboat has drastically changed him.
The novel intrigues me because it portrays the tenacity of a young boy in a life-threatening situation. Pi is able to apply what he learned as a child to help him brave the countless days and nights on the boat and ends up surviving in the end. The author’s descriptive passages and insightful comments lets the readers live vicariously through Pi, experiencing the fatigue and frustration he felt along the way. The young boy’s bright mind inspires me as well. While Pi floated on an empty ocean with a Bengal tiger for company, he often battled with the urge to give up and let himself die. His strong willpower to see his family once more and touch the welcoming shores lead Pi to keep going.
Near the end of the novel, Pi finally touches land and is rescued by locals who take care of the young boy. A couple of years fly by. Two reporters visit Pi to interview him about his harrowing journey and how he survived it. But they refuse to accept his story, believe that Pi is lying, and seek to uncover an elusive truth. They are dismissive of Pi because of his younger age and believe they know better than just a boy. Just because someone is older and supposedly wiser does not enable him to trample on another’s personal boundaries and belittle their opinions, an observation I made about the scene that irked me. Rather, the reporters should have been open-minded and patient with Pi to let him express himself since a reporter’s role is to represent the individual’s story, not to alter it to fit his own agenda.
The Life of Pi is not a story about beating the odds or utilizing excellent survival skills, it is about winning a battle against yourself. The theme of “your greatest enemy is yourself” is front and center as Pi overcomes his terrifying fear of being hungry and alone. It’s been an eye-opening read. Instead of being rational and setting aside time to think, we often worry about life’s “what ifs” and all that could go awry. For teens like me, the pressure to excel is one such burden we carry, but Pi’s journey helps us see that the first step in anything is not to rage in frustration or wallow in despair, but to take a step back and settle one’s mind. In a world of modern technology and lightning-fast communication, it is difficult to take a break and relax but by doing so, like Pi had done, we can achieve a sense of tranquility and obtain unwavering endurance. This valuable takeaway alone makes it worth the read.