Life of Pi's Emphasis on Origin

 Spoiler alert for the book Life of Pi  

Life of Pi written by Yann Martel is a book about a man stranded at sea with a bengal tiger. The story follows Piscine Molitor Patel as he struggles to survive on the Pacific Ocean with barely any resources. The main story follows 227 days of Pi’s journey before he is eventually found on a Mexican beach. However, the book is split up into three significant parts, and the main storyline of being stranded in the ocean is just a third of the whole book. The first third consists of a buildup to the actual story: Piscine’s childhood growing up in Canada and India. Only 37 chapters into the book does Pi start his hero’s journey. Before this section, the known world is not left (although it could be argued that it is), and instead summarizes childhood anecdotes. Pi grew up in India and his father owned a zoo. He was raised as a Hindu, but later discovers Christianity and Islam. He was named after an olympic swimming pool, was bullied in school, and was conformed to believe that all animals are dangerous. All the included stories of Pi’s life as a kid promote his character and help the reader understand who Pi is as a person. Yann Martel’s buildup of Pi’s journey through showcasing uniquely crafted childhood incidents allows the reader to better understand his hero’s journey as a whole.

Through every single memory displayed, Pi learns a lesson or grows as a person. Although some may seem unimportant at first, they later lead up to important character development skills. An example is how growing up in a zoo has fostered Pi’s fascination with animals and zoology. If you hadn’t seen the cover of the book or heard about it before, you may think that this characteristic of Pi doesn’t matter too much. Later in the book when he is stranded on a raft with a tiger and other animals, he is able to understand how they interact with each other and is able to claim his own territory upon the lifeboat. He eventually even establishes dominance over the tiger, Richard Parker. All of these lessons come full circle, even when they aren’t as obvious. How Pi got his name seems very trivial at first. At first the reader wonders why being named after an olympic swimming pool is relevant to the story, but as the narrative progresses we see Pi get bullied for his name sounding like the word ‘pissing’. Quickly he finds a way to change and gives himself the name ‘Pi’. He quick-wittedly improvises to make the best of the struggling situation that he was in: just like how he adapts at sea. Some lessons he learns are the opposite of how he acts. His father implanted into his mind the policy that all animals are dangerous and will try to hurt you, but Pi stays calm when stranded with the animals, and as they fight each other to survive, he understands their actions and knows what to do. Most lessons of personal growth mainly contribute to Pi’s personality and how he acts in the second part (the unknown world). The final story worthy of addressing in this summary is Pi’s discovery of different religions. He is originally raised as a Hindu, but before he sets off on his hero’s journey he learns about Christianity and Islam, and accepts them just as much. These peaceful religious virtues that he gains also add to his personality and personal values. 

We know now as readers why Yann Martel decided to include so much of Pi’s childhood into the story, but how much does this background info really affect our understanding of Pi as a hero? Throughout the process of reading Life of Pi, readers are met with multiple round-trip epiphanies where they connect the dots and understand how Pi’s life as a kid influences the decisions he makes on his journey. When I was reading the book, it felt like I personally grew up with Pi and saw him develop into the intellectual and creative character that he is. Knowing background information helps the reader to understand what the character has gone through, and therefore how he is influenced to make decisions. This is a very important aspect in storytelling: especially when a third of the book consists of a narrative with only one human in it. Connecting deeply with the main character also helps the reader to feel complex emotions of stress and hope when reading through this rollercoaster narrative. Yann Martel’s inclusion of the childhood of the main character helps us to understand Pi for where he comes from and who he truly is as a hero.