Life of Pi

Yann Martel: Life of Pi In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, a writer visits Pi Patel and asks him to tell his life story. Pi tells the story of his childhood in Pondicherry, India, and how he attained his nickname. Pi’s father Santosh Patel a zoo owner, decides to move to Canada, where the animals the family owns would also be sold. They board on a Japanese cargo ship along with the animals. One night there is a terrible storm, which causes the ship they all are on to sink. Pi is the only person ton the ship who survives in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena and a male Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Life of Pi explores many themes such as religion, science, survival, fear, and even human and animal relationships. Many of these themes are focused on as the story goes on as Pi is really pushed to his limits being stuck at sea with all these animals, especially the tiger Richard Parker. The themes that I believe are the most significant are religion, survival and fear. In the beginning of the book, Pi experiments with multiple religions. He is a Muslim, Christian, and Hindu at the same time. I think that Pi’s belief and faith are questioned many times during this story. Survival is a key turning point in this story as Pi is stuck at sea with this tiger and has to think of ways to keep himself alive not only from nature but from this beast. He is constantly at battle against the heavens and Richard Parker. Fear is the most significant out of all of these themes I believe. Without fear, Pi would have easily not have been able to survive.
Fear has kept Pi on his toes so to speak and has kept him alert. Pi talks about fear always being there in the back of your head in any circumstance. In chapter 54, Pi comes up with six different plans on how to kill Richard Parker, but stops every time because he his afraid. Fear at this time is a strong asset against Pi. In chapter 56, Pi says, “I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear