LIFE OF PI

Movie Analysis

TITLE:  LIFE OF PI

GENRE: FICTION- REALISTIC FICTION

Setting:  The story is initially set in India in the late 1990’s. The author has traveled to Pondicherry, a coastal town in the former French territory of India, which joined Independent India in 1954. The territory of Pondicherry still has many French citizens, as well as an unusually wide variety of churches/places of worship. The author then travels to Canada to interview Pi Patel, the narrator of the story, but little of the actual story is set there, save the author’s observations of the adult Pi’s home. Pi grew up in Pondicherry in the mid-1970, but the setting for the greater part of his story is the Pacific Ocean, specifically along the equatorial counter-current which runs east to west along the equator. The last pages are set in Mexico where Pi recovers from his 227 day ordeal at sea.

Theme: -Life of Pi is a story about struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable odds. The shipwrecked inhabitants of the little lifeboat don’t simply acquiesce to their fate: they actively fight against it. Pi abandons his lifelong vegetarianism and eats fish to sustain himself. Orange Juice, the peaceful orangutan, fights ferociously against the hyena. Even the severely wounded zebra battles to stay alive; his slow, painful struggle vividly illustrates the sheer strength of his life force. As Martel makes clear in his novel, living creatures will often do extraordinary, unexpected, and sometimes heroic things to survive. However, they will also do shameful and barbaric things if pressed.

Belief in God is clearly a major theme in Life of Pi, and has been the most controversial in reviews of the book. Throughout the novel, Pi makes his belief in and love of God clear—it is a love profound enough that he can transcend the classical divisions of religion, and worship as a Hindu, Muslim, and Christian. Pi, although amazed by the possibility of lacking this belief, still respects the atheist, because he sees him as a kind of believer. Pi’s vision of an atheist on his death bed makes it clear that he assumes the atheist’s form of belief is one in God, without his realizing it until the end. It is the agnostic that truly bothers Pi; the decision to doubt, to lack belief in anything, is to him inexcusable. This is underscored in that essential passage in the novel when Pi asks the Japanese officials which of his two stories they preferred—he sees no reason why they should not believe the better story.

Plot:

Though it raises complex philosophical and religious questions, Life of Pi's plot is almost ridiculously easy to summarize. We'll take you through the main events, but remember much of the novel happens through digression and in Pi's meditations sprinkled throughout the novel.

The book doesn't begin with Pi, but with an "Author's Note." We learn how the "author" (who shares some of Yann Martel's biography) found Pi's story. We should note one point of complexity: the author admits any mistakes in the narrative are due to him and not Pi, since he's presumably put together Pi's story from interviews, notes, and Pi's diary. What we read, then, in Part 1 and Part 2 is Pi's voice as the author has written it. And then, without further ado, we launch into Pi's story.

Part 1 details Pi's childhood in Pondicherry, India. His father owns a zoo and Pi spends a lot of his time thinking about animals. But zoology is only one of Pi's passions: he also loves religion. He's a Hindu from birth; then at fourteen he adds Catholicism to his repertoire; at fifteen he adds Islam. He's inquisitive, joyful, and an all-around wonder of a human being. Things, however, aren't so swell in India. The Prime Minister, one Mrs. Indira Gandhi, institutes martial law (this is in the mid-1970s – see "Setting" for more). Pi's parents decide to leave India. They sell most of the animals and pack up their belongings. They board, along with some of the animals they're selling to North American zoos, a Japanese cargo ship. They're headed for Canada.

All of Part 2 takes place at sea, but without many of the characters we met in Part 1. Tragedy strikes and the ship sinks halfway to the Midway atoll. No one survives except Pi and a menagerie of animals: a zebra, a hyena, an orang-utan, and a Bengal tiger. All these creatures, including Pi, are packed into a 26-foot-long lifeboat. Before long, as you'd expect, there's some bloodshed. The hyena kills the zebra and the orang-utan. And then the tiger, whose name is Richard Parker (a.k.a. RP), kills the hyena. 

Richard Parker and Pi, however, work out an uneasy living arrangement. And Pi slowly trains RP until he's more or less master of the lifeboat. Pi is often despondent, though Pi and RP seem to do well for a while. Pi catches fish and he has a few tools (like solar stills) from the lifeboat's locker. It's true that Pi's survival skills develop, but it's also true that he's just lost his entire family. Pi is alone except for a man-eating tiger. He endures through cleverness, prayer, and willpower. 

At the end of Part 2, however, some strange things happen. Pi meets another castaway on this gigantic ocean who tries to eat him. Instead, RP eats the castaway. And then Pi lands on an island made entirely of algae. Pi and RP are malnourished at this point and it's not far-fetched to think Pi has gone mad. The chapter ends with Pi and RP landing in Mexico. RP bounds off into the jungle without so much as a goodbye.

Part 3 isn't long at all. Two civil servants for the Japanese Maritime Department in the Ministry of Transport interview Pi to try and shed some light on the sinking of the cargo ship. While they don't get any answers about the ship's sudden shipwreck, they do get Pi's story. When they question the more implausible portions of Pi's story, Pi delivers an impassioned defense of "the better story." To prove his point, he tells a version of his story without any of the animals mentioned above. It's an utterly ghastly story since human beings, instead of animals, literally tear each other to shreds.

Pi asks the investigators which story they prefer. They prefer the story with animals. There's some wrapping up, but the book basically ends there. The reader has to decide if Pi has concocted a totally elaborate story with animals instead of human beings to explain the horrific events on the lifeboat. Or if, like Pi suggests, she should believe "the better story."

CHARACTERS:

• Piscine Patel (Pi) – The main character and narrator of the story in the novel, Pi is a teenage Indian boy. His father ran a zoo and he practices three major religions – Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. The knowledge his father gives him about animals is key to his surviving in a lifeboat with Richard Parker, the 400 pound Tiger.
• Richard Parker – The 450 pound tiger and 227 day companion to Pi on the lifeboat, Richard Parker becomes not only Pi’s arch nemesis, but his closest friend and only reason to stay alive on the boat. Often taking on numerous human characteristics, Richard Parker is an ambiguous silent character throughout the novel.
• The Author – Only present as a voice in the first Chapter (directly) the author here is a narrator as well as a man seeking a story, which he finds in Pi. He later describes bits of Pi’s life as well as interacting with the adult Pi as he tells the story.
• Francis Adirubasamy - A close friend of the Patel family and a world class swimmer, it is Francis who is responsible for Pi’s name as well as sending the author to Toronto to hear Pi’s story.
• Pi’s Father – A zookeeper with strong political views and a habit of teaching his son all that he can about animals and their psychology. He dies after the ship sinks.
• Pi’s Mother – A caring woman and a natural educator, Pi’s mother reads a lot and shares what she can with her son. In Pi’s first story she dies on the boat. In his second, she is one of the survivors who eventually die on the boat.
• Ravi – Pi’s brother who becomes everything that Pi is not, popular and athletic. They are very close before he dies in the shipwreck.
• Satish Kumar' – Pi’s biology teacher and a masterful scientist who teaches Pi much of his thirst for knowledge. He is a natural atheist and teaches Pi the faith of an atheist as well as the desire to study zoology in college.
• Mr. Satish Kumar (Sufi) – The other Satish Kumar is a shopkeeper in the Muslim part of town and introduces Pi to Islam.
• Father Martin – A catholic priest who introduces Pi to Jesus Christ and the Catholic faith. They meet often and talk of Christ’s works, breeding in Pi the desire to accept multiple faiths.
• Tomohiro Okamoto and Atsuro Chiba – The two men from the Japanese Ministry of Transport who arrive on behalf of the Tsimtsum sinking to question Pi about his story of survival. They do not immediately believe him but consent to writing his story up in their report.

SYMBOLISM 

• Tiger- Richard Parker is a very important part of the novel. Without him in the book, Pi would not be able to survive because the animal forces him to be the dominant, more aggressive character in the book.
• The Algae Island-The dangerous island Pi reaches while lost at sea is a very important setting in book two. This island brings much needed excitement to this extremely boring novel. This island is an "island of adventure" for Pi, as he finds numerous exotic creatures and begins to have daily interactions with them. He also finds human teeth on the island which brings a sense of hope in young Pi's mind. 
• The Ocean-The ocean also plays a very intricate role in The Life of Pi because water usually represents some sort of cleansing or new start. Pi was on that raft for more than 200 days; in which he had tons of time to think. 
• The Color Orange-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. 

Questions and Answers: 

1.What does the title in relation to the film as a whole?

Answer: The relation to the film as a whole in our daily life that means don’t lost faith in God, believe in him and face the reality.

2. Among the characters, to whom can you relate to?

Answer: I can relate to Pi because, even though his parents are not there his still have faith, presence of mind that he can face the struggles in his life without his parents and he can survive without depending with other people.

3. Which part of presentation struck the most? why?

Answer: The life boat because, that’s the only thing that it can protect in his struggles in his life.

4. What is the movie message?

Answer: It means that in every struggle in our life we don’t have to lost our hope, have faith in God just believe in him because his always there to protect us against evil. He is the one who guiding wherever we go whatever we do. To accept the reality and treasure everything that he creates for us. LIFE MUST GOES ON.

5. Did I like this in general ? why?

Answer: Yes, because in his situation his family is not there. He is the one who makes struggles, he know what to do how to survive and how to take good care of an animal. It’s a lifetime routine.

6. Did I agree with the main theme purpose? Why not?

Answer: I agree because based on my experience in my life, just go on, never give up and have faith in God.

9. How does this film relate to the things that are happening in your life?

Answer: Don’t be so dependent with other people esp. my parents. Because not always they are here at my side just to help my problems, to sustain my needs of course I need to help them also. Everything’s are not temporary they will be gone in a blink of an eye, we really do not know what will happen to us and Papa God only knows what is our destiny. Just have faith and believe in him.