Life of Pi

Author: [Canada] Yann Martel
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Pi, adrift on a lifeboat in the Pacific, with the only companion being a 450-pound Bengal tiger. The first challenge is how to deal with this tiger named Richard Parker.
Plan 1: Push him off the lifeboat. What's the benefit? Tigers are excellent swimmers; he'll climb back on.
Plan 2: Use six morphine syringes to kill him. He'll accept six syringes of morphine obediently.
Plan 3: Attack him with all the weapons you can find. Absurd. Is that possible?
Plan 4: Strangle him. A smart suicide plan.
Plan 5: Poison him, burn him, electrocute him. How to implement? What to use?
Plan 6: Wage a war of attrition. As long as you obey the merciless laws of nature, you will be saved. But the tiger won’t. As he gradually weakens and dies.
But Plan 7: Let him live!!! This book won the 2002 British Booker Prize; was ranked as Amazon's Best Book of 2002, The New York Times' Outstanding Book of the Year, Publishers Weekly's Best Book of the Year, and The Los Angeles Times' Best Novel of the Year; and also won the German Book Award in 2004. From any perspective, this book is a peculiar novel. It is a gripping adventure story, an allegory about humanity's place in the universe, and an engaging metafiction that is more vibrant with wit and more intriguing with terror. I cannot say this novel is a great work of literature, nor can I call Martel a great writer, but he is a master storyteller. The preface to the novel is partly true and partly false, narrated in the first person, telling mostly Martel's own experiences: After the novel was published, it was like a stone dropped into water—only a few hundred copies were sold, and then it was forgotten. The second novel was just beginning when Martel ran out of ideas, so he left Canada for India to seek inspiration. In a café at the foot of the Himalayas, he met an Indian sage who said, "I have a story that can make you believe in God." Then he introduced Patal, a lifelong friend of their family now living in Canada. Martel returned to Canada, found Patal, and listened to his life story, which formed the basis of this book. Part of the novel is about "the author" interviewing Patal in Canada, Patal's memories of his youth in India, his parents, brothers, and cousins, his school teachers and family friends, and the various animals in their family zoo. In Canada, every time "I" goes to interview him, he gradually discovers some private aspects of Patal's life. First, he discovers that Patal is not alone—he has a wife. Then, he discovers that he also has a ten-year-old son. As the interview nears its end, people realize that Patal has a lovely four-year-old daughter. "I" reflects, "At least, this story has a happy ending." However, much of this section is quite tedious. It is worth mentioning Patal's name—his full name, Piscine Molitor Patel, is named after a swimming pool in Paris, France. But "Piscine" sounds like "piss" in English, so he was often teased by classmates at school. Thus, he decided to shorten his name to Pi, thinking it was cool. The best advice for reading this novel is patience. Once the section ends, Patal's father decides to take the family and animals to immigrate to Canada. When the Japanese freighter they are on drifts in the Pacific, Martel's narration becomes utterly captivating—you can't refuse or let go. The Japanese freighter sinks, and Patal is thrown into the lifeboat as bait for hyenas by two sailors. He miraculously lands on the lifeboat's hatch cover and survives, beginning his 227-day journey at sea. Besides the hyena, the lifeboat also carries a zebra with a broken leg, an orangutan, and an adult Bengal tiger. Due to a customs official's mistake, the Bengal tiger is registered under the proper name of a gentleman: Richard Parker. In the first three days on the lifeboat, the hyena kills the orangutan, eats the zebra, and Richard Parker kills the hyena. Then, the story of the 16-year-old Patal's survival at sea is about how to deal with Richard Parker. At first, Patal is obsessed with putting the tiger to death and reclaiming his space on the lifeboat. He thinks of six ways to deal with the tiger: , push him off the lifeboat; second, use six morphine syringes from the lifeboat's storage room to kill him; third, attack him with all the weapons he can find; fourth, choke him with something; fifth, poison him, set him on fire, electrocute him; sixth, engage him in a war of attrition. However, after careful consideration, none of these plans work. Patal realizes that if he fights Richard Parker, he will only lose. He notices that after the tiger eats the remains of the animals on the lifeboat during calm seas, he behaves like a cute big cat, showing friendliness toward him. Eventually, Patal concludes that his only way to survive is to ensure Richard Parker has food and water. As long as the tiger isn’t hungry, he won’t be a threat. Patal finds a fishing rod and a desalinator from the lifeboat’s storage room. This boy raised on a vegetarian diet begins to excel at sea fishing, dissecting sea turtles and various fish. Additionally, based on his childhood experience growing up in a zoo, Patal starts to tame the tiger. He takes advantage of the tiger’s seasickness and makes the tiger understand that he is the source of food and water. He even defeats the tiger’s arrogance by playing with Richard Parker’s feces. Gradually, Richard Parker finally realizes that Patal is the leader of the lifeboat, and he is second in command. Martel’s depiction of taming the tiger is so meticulously researched that it makes you want to become a circus animal trainer after reading it. More importantly, this process of taming the tiger is also the process of the teenage Patal transforming into an adult man.