LIFE OF PI

Title : LIFE OF PI
Genre : ADVENTURE, MAGICAL
Characters :
Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) -  The protagonist of the story.
Richard Parker -  The Royal Bengal tiger with whom Pi shares his lifeboat.
Ravi -  Pi’s older brother.
Santosh Patel -  Pi’s father.
Gita Patel -  Pi’s beloved mother and protector.
Satish Kumar -  Pi’s atheistic biology teacher at Petit Séminaire, a secondary school in Pondicherry.
Father Martin -  The Catholic priest who introduces Pi to Christianity after Pi wanders into his church.
Meena Patel -  Pi’s wife, whom the author meets briefly in Toronto.

Nikhil Patel (Nick) -  Pi’s son. He plays baseball.

Usha Patel -  Pi’s young daughter. She is shy but very close to her father.

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. 

Setting : Pondicherry, India; the Pacific Ocean; Mexico; Canada

Plot : 

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. 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.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. The hyena kills the zebra and the orang-utan. And then the tiger, whose name is Richard Parker, 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 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. 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.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."



1. What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole?
- The title means that life is precious. It is the wonderful gift God to us. So we should'nt waste it. Always remember that God is always there for us, so don't lose hope. Everything happens for a reason, God has a plan for us.

2. Among the characters, to whom can you relate to?
- Tiger, because I always want to get what I want. And when the first we met you can describe as a bad person but as long as we get to closer you will see my good attitude.

3. Which part of the presentation struck you the most ? Why?
- When Pi catch the big fish for the the tiger. Because it shows that even if he is afraid to the tiger, he didn't give up and he is still trying to be the friend of the tiger.

4. What is the movie's message?
- It tells that in life we have encountered problems and that's normal so, don't lose hope. We should fight to survive.

5. Did I like this in general? Why?
- Yes, because it is a beautiful movie. People can relate in this movie. And shows that life is precious.

6. Did I agree with the main theme/purpose? Why or why not ?
- Yes, because Pi makes his belief in and love of God. And he survive in his crazy journey because he believe that God will guide him and always there for him.

7. What specifically did I like/dislike? Why?
- I dislike the tiger when he walked away and does'nt look back to Pi. It is the saddest part for Pi.

8. Are there any aspects of theme which are left ambiguous at the end? Why?
Yes, Im doubting, why is it the tiger does'nt look back to Pi. This part is not clear for me.

9. How does this film relate to the things that are happening in your life?
- This film relate to the things that are happening in my life when I was young. When my father leave us. I am soo sad and I felt pity to my Mom because she's the one who works for us. But my Mom did'nt give up and we believe that we can survive without my father. And now, we are happy even if my father is not with us. We have a better life now and God is always there for us.