Life of Pi Belief and Survival

Before we start… Plot summaries of the book and the film, as well as other useful information, can be found on the Life of Pi Fact Sheet.

Before we start… The success story of Ang Lee (the director of the film), which is very inspirational in its own right, is also included in the Fact Sheet.

In this lesson… Preview questions Storytelling devices Main themes Discussion

Preview questions What does it mean to have faith? Why do we believe what we believe? How do we distinguish true beliefs from false ones?

Storytelling devices Story within a story Multiple points of view Ambiguous ending Unreliable narrator The use of allegory

Main themes The nature of faith Faith vs. reason The will to survive The relativity of truth Survival cannibalism

The power of storytelling Life of Pi is a ‘story within a story.’ It is told from two alternating points of view, the main character Pi in a flashback and Yann Martel himself, who is a ‘visiting writer’ interviewing Pi many years after the shipwreck story.

The power of storytelling The story that Pi tells has two different versions: one very long, elaborate, fantastic, and awe-inspiring, and a second that is short and brutal. We are asked which one we prefer.

The power of storytelling U.S. President Barack Obama describes Life of Pi as “an elegant proof of God, and the power of storytelling.” Why does he say so? Do you agree with him?

The nature of faith Life of Pi challenges ideas on faith. Despite his family’s ideas of modern secularism, Pi is drawn to religion. For Pi, all religions – Hinduism, Christianity, Islam – can simply be seen as different paths leading to the same place – God.

The nature of faith Pi is comfortable with his firm belief in three seemingly disparate religions. He never feels compelled to choose one belief system over the others.

The nature of faith The problem is: the idea that ‘all religions are true’ violates a basic law of thought or logic – the law of non-contradiction.

The nature of faith Contradictions are impossible, like ‘a round square,’ or ‘My biological sister is an only child.’ Wherever beliefs contradict one another, only one at most can fit reality and be true.

The nature of faith For example, some Hindus believe that there are 33 million gods. But for Christians (and Muslims too), there is only one God. How possibly can a true believer reconcile the contradiction?

The nature of faith What do you know about the major faiths of the world? Do you think it is possible to follow more than one religion?

Faith vs. reason When the boy Pi begins meeting with the Catholic priest, he asks: “If God is so perfect and we’re not, why would He want to create all this? Why does He need us at all?”

Faith vs. reason The priest replies: “All you have to know is that He loves us. God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to suffer for the sins of ordinary people.”

Faith vs. reason Thinking back, adult Pi realizes that the priest’s answer does not make any sense: “Sacrificing the innocent to atone for the sins of the guilty? What kind of love is that?”

Faith vs. reason Pi’s father: You cannot follow three different religions at the same time, Piscine. Pi: Why not?

Faith vs. reason Pi’s Father: Because believing in everything at the same time is the same as not believing in anything at all. Listen, instead of leaping from one religion to the next, why not start with reason. In a few hundred years, science has taken us farther in understanding the universe than religion has in 10,000.

Faith vs. reason Reason is the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments logically. Faith, on the other hand, can be defined as a non-rational belief.

Faith vs. reason What is faith? Is faith really incompatible with reason? What is more important for survival – faith or reason?

The will to survive A definitive theme in Life of Pi is the primacy of survival. It can be read as a story about struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable odds.

The will to survive Put yourself in Pi’s shoes: your whole family died; you have been stranded on a lifeboat for months, switching from vegetarian to carnivore, having no clothes therefore having sores develop, etc...

The will to survive Pi: [on killing a fish] Thank you Lord Vishnu. Thank you for coming in the form of a fish and saving our lives.

The will to survive When Pi first has to confront the idea of killing an animal (a fish) and eating it, he weeps bitterly from guilt. This is because Hindus believe in reincarnation and that animals are sacred beings with souls.

The will to survive However, as time passes, Pi becomes more interested in survival then clinging to vegetarian ideals as a means of continuing to be a Hindu.

The will to survive Imagine if you were stranded in the middle of an ocean, could anything be more important than survival?

Unreliable narrator In both the book and the movie, Pi tells two different stories: one where he was on the lifeboat with animals (Story A), the other with humans, in which the French cook killed his mother, and Pi killed and ate the cook (Story B).

Unreliable narrator The author/screenwriter leaves us wondering which story is the truth. Neither the book nor the film tells us whether Pi is lying or confused.

Unreliable narrator Towards the end of the book/film, Pi is questioned by Japanese insurance investigators about the shipwreck. After telling them how he was trapped on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a Bengal tiger, the investigators say that Pi’s story is unbelievable.

Unreliable narrator Japanese investigator: We need a simpler story for our report. One that our company can understand. A story we can all believe.

Unreliable narrator There are latter moments of Pi’s tale that imply he is becoming an unreliable narrator due to starvation and dehydration. An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature or film, whose credibility has been seriously compromised.

Unreliable narrator Pi: Hunger can change everything you ever thought you knew about yourself. Pi: Everything mixed up, fragmented. Can’t tell daydreams, night dreams from reality anymore.

Ambiguous ending In all fairness to Pi, bananas do float on water. So the investigator is wrong – it is not a hole in Pi’s story. Moreover, contrary to common belief, creatures like flying fish, glowing jellyfish and carnivorous algae do exist.

Ambiguous ending The trouble with Story A (the one with animals), however, is that if the events narrated are, in principle, possible, they become increasingly improbable.

Ambiguous ending It is quite likely that Story B (the one with humans) is closer to the truth, and Story A is just a myth Pi creates to help him bear the overwhelming horror of his family’s death and the suffering he had to endure.

Ambiguous ending In short, although both stories involve suffering, pain, and loss, Story A is magical, fanciful, and hard-to-believe, whereas Story B is much more logical, reasonable, and easy to believe.

Ambiguous ending As Pi says: “[either way] the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer… So which story do you prefer?”

The use of allegory An allegory is a metaphor with hidden meanings. As a storytelling device, an allegory conveys its hidden message through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or events – characters or events in the story symbolize or represent something else.

The use of allegory Writer (Martel): So... the stories... Both the zebra and the sailor broke their leg. And the hyena killed the zebra and the orangutan. So... the hyena is the cook. And the sailor is the zebra, mother is the orangutan... and you’re... the tiger.

The use of allegory Perhaps the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, symbolizes Pi’s primitive survival instinct – it was necessary for him to kill the French cook to keep himself alive.

The use of allegory Perhaps the true events of Pi’s sea voyage are too horrible for him to think about directly. Perhaps he chooses allegory over reality in order to cope with his abandoned morality.

The use of allegory How would you interpret the two stories? Which one is more likely to be an accurate account of what really happened?

The relativity of truth Relativism is the view that reality does not exist apart from a person’s beliefs about it. Relativists believe that truth is relative (subjective), not absolute (objective).

The relativity of truth For example, the King of Rock ’n Roll, Elvis Presley died of heart attack in 1977. Many of his fans, however, refuse to believe that their idol is dead. They believe that Elvis is still alive – he just went into hiding for some personal reasons.

The relativity of truth If truth is absolute and objective, whether Elvis is dead or alive has nothing to do with what his fans might think. If he is dead, he is dead. His death is an objective fact.

The relativity of truth Relativists would say, however, that the statement ‘Elvis is dead’ is not an objective truth as long as people holding different views cannot reach agreement on whether Elvis is alive or dead.

The relativity of truth In the last part of the novel/film, after giving two different accounts of the events, Pi asks the Japanese investigators: “Which story do you prefer?”

The relativity of truth This question itself implies that truth is not absolute; the investigators can choose to believe whichever story they prefer, and that version becomes ‘the truth.’

The relativity of truth Pi: I’ve told you two stories about what happened out on the ocean. Neither explains what caused the sinking of the ship, and no one can prove which story is true and which is not. In both stories, the ship sinks, my family dies, and I suffer.

The relativity of truth Perhaps Story A (the one with Richard Parker and other animals) sounds like a better story than Story B (the one with a murderous cook and cannibalism). Should we therefore accept Story A as true simply because it makes us feel better?

Survival cannibalism In the more believable version of the shipwreck story (Story B), Pi had to catch his own food and then eventually turned to killing and cannibalism in order to survive.

Survival cannibalism If Richard Parker the tiger really symbolizes Pi’s animal instincts, it is because the desperate boy found himself becoming more and more like an animal in his behavior.

Survival cannibalism In fact, ‘survival cannibalism’ has happened enough that by the 19th century, it was an unspoken fact of life in the event of a shipwreck.

Survival cannibalism The story of the Francis Mary (1826), for example, is typical of what is encountered in shipwreck disasters. At first the dead are buried at sea, but soon their blood is drunk and they are eaten; if there are no dead available for consumption, killing begins…

Survival cannibalism In almost none of the cases of seagoing cannibalism were any charges brought against anyone. The authorities and general public usually accept the argument that it was necessary for one (or a few) to die so that any (or more) could live.

Survival cannibalism It is interesting to note that ‘Richard Parker’ is the name of several people in real life and fiction who became shipwrecked, with some of them subsequently being cannibalized by their fellow seamen.

Survival cannibalism In an interview, Yann Martel says: “I didn’t just pull the name out of a hat… So many victimized Richard Parkers had to mean something. My tiger found his name.”

Survival cannibalism Do you think it is morally acceptable to kill and eat people if there are no other means to stay alive in an inhospitable environment?

Discussion questions Why would a story about a shipwrecked boy trapped on a lifeboat with a hyena, an orangutan, a zebra, and a tiger make us believe in God? Does the story make you believe in God? Why or why not?

Discussion questions Because Pi himself is the only witness of the events, does it really matter which version of his shipwreck story is true? Which version (Story A or Story B) do you believe to be true? Which story do you want to be true?

Discussion questions What does Pi mean when he says that Richard Parker has kept him alive? If there really is a benevolent God, why would He allow tragedies like this to happen?

The End