A Thematic Analysis on Life of Pi
By: Faizan Anwar
Tags: Philosophy, Life Of Pi, Essay, Morals, Analysis

Life of Pi was written by the Canadian writer Yann Martel in 2001. The storyline is based on an Indian Boy, Piscine Patel (aka. Pi), a boy with a zeal to explore the notion of spirituality.

His father is a zoo owner in the Indian state of Pondicherry. Due to a national crisis, he decides to sell his zoo and immigrate to Canada with his family. During their trip, a storm hits their ship, leading to a wreckage, and bringing death to everything on the ship except a zebra, a hyena, a monkey, a tiger, and Pi. These lives are left in a small boat in the middle of the ocean where there is no one to come to their aid. The writer eloquently articulates the conditions, circumstances, thoughts, feelings, environment that was with Pi in the middle of the ocean, with nothing but animals and a survivor kit until he reaches the border of Mexico.

The theme of the book introspects into the concepts of belief, spirituality, hope, and perception that humans adopt to lead their lives. One idea that springs very prominently in the book is that spirituality and an optimistic view on life not only enhance human tendency to survive in adverse conditions, but also alleviate the pain that humans endure during their life term. It also explores the notion of morality and cognitive dissonance in situations where humans are forced to take action contradictory to their moral standards. The author uses personification, contradictions, figurative language and other rhetorical strategies to convey these ideas and make the reader question the various demanding and dictating phenomena that influences their decision making, and life is, alas, all about taking a decision.

1. Nature of Humanity

With his work, Life of Pi, Yann Martel reflects a light upon the perpetual quest of humans to comprehend the spiritual phenomena that affects and rules their lives. The novel demonstrates the immense capability of humans to adapt. The point when Pi becomes zealous to explore different religions sheds light upon that humanistic curiosity which always ponders the question — What could be happening on the other side?

Yann Martel via Pi gives out a very bewildering image of a human. He reveals the different characters within a single person in different circumstances such as the transformation of Pi from a religious priest to a savage. He conveys that humans are subject to influence and are in a continuous struggle to survive and flourish. Martel manifests this idea that humans are not a plain surface of logic and reasoning, but are complex sophisticated beings that exhibit impervious (and sometimes implausible) behavior. It is an ambiguous state when one says that people are “no damned good”.

When we look upon the progress of the society and civilization, centuries upon centuries, it is the humans who have developed, created, and expanded over time, but, on the other hand, it has also been the reason for the destruction of its own species, of its own home. Humanity is obscure; it could be cruel and be polite at the same time; it is a complex system of cognition and emotion that can neither be constant nor consistent. With the novel, Martel does not seem to believe in the redeeming qualities of humans as seen with Pi. Nobody compensated for his loss but everybody forced him to tell an alternate lie about his journey. This indicates that humans shun their level of morality in the quest of being satisfied with their own beliefs. The flawed side of humanity is shown through the disbelief that the two inspectors show towards Pi when he narrates his story to them. This disbelief shows the nature of humans, who judge others and only choose to believe that part of the story that satisfies their logic and reasoning; while ignoring the other parts which are necessary to create the real picture.

2. The Nature of Society

Humans have this ability to connect with each other. The bridge of this connection could be either language, or emotions, or body movements, or phenomena of the complex silent communication. With all these traits and characteristics, humans come together and work coherently to form what we call a society. Society plays a huge role in influencing, and in determining the attitude and behavior of a person.

In his book, Yann Martel portrays Pi as a deviation to the societal norms. He displays a kid with the overwhelming characteristics of curiosity and questioning, which lead him to turn to multiple cultures — Islamic, Christianity, Hinduism — to find the Omnipotent that somehow dictates the path of his life. The writer clearly paints the picture of the conflicts and the upsurging of the humans. Are these societal norms, culture detrimental to or enhancing life? Not necessarily. The consequences are all dependent on the state of mind and the perception that the person takes which is also dependent on another factor — situation.

The character depicted by the writer is in a state of stalemate where he wants to explore all the factions, but also wants to be faithful to his original faction. But as it is the societal rule that one can either be affiliated with one or other (there is no middle space). And deviating from the social norms does cause a dissonance within the members of each faction (the scene where the Muslim priest, Hindu Pundit, and Christian father end up in a conflict when they find out that Pi is following all their religions). In a way, Pi is seen to get more entrapped in this society rather than escaping it. This is evident in the prayers that he prays, in all the ways, to reveal his inner subconscious self to his conscious self; to realize his actual beliefs which still seems to be ambiguous.

The origin of this system of society is all connected to the prophecy and holy books, and perhaps belief. The most prominent factor for this kind of society are the beliefs people hold onto which weres passed to them from their predecessors. And this tradition of passing down adds a sacred value to that belief, to that idea that it persists to sustains itself in the society, and keeps on growing irrespective of the opposition and resistance. Looking from the modern perspective, the society that Pi lives in(1900’s India) seems to be still enveloped by the orthodox ideas and beliefs which are certainly flawed in one or the other way. Being orthodox may not be detrimental or disastrous for any life, but it could hinder the development of the person. It could put restrictions and barriers which may prevent one from breaking that wall that stands between them and success. Society certainly is one of factor or reason that can either annihilate us or make us reach for the stars.

4. The Nature of our Ethical Responsibilities

Morals and Ethics are the subjective notions that one has developed or has gained. These notions are responsible for guiding the person on a path of truth, peace, and tranquility.

In the story, Pi is always seen to be in conflict with his morals and ethics. The first conflict is created by the interest in all three different religions at the same time. He faces various criticisms that lead him to question himself but later, he finds a moral compass between all these religions.

The second conflict is when he is forced to eat fish in order to survive on the boat. His ritual behavior, that of a Brahmin vegetarian, comes into conflict with his action causing a cognitive dissonance and stress which Yann Martel eloquently articulates. Pi has the choice to adhere to his morals and not eat flesh and not kill the tortoise, fish, shark, or meerkats; but the situation and the human instinct to survive lead to an action which directly opposed his morals.

But the question arises — do humans always seek to adhere to their morals, or they become flexible in order to suffer the least? In his book, the writer portrays the double standards of humans when they are trapped in a dilemma of life and death. Morals are ambiguous, and subject to change in order to adjust according to the circumstance and consequences. A human can be very persistent and consistent, but life is not. Life is an indefinite journey which twists and turns, and to tolerate these sudden twists and turns, humans adapt and change every second. Sometimes one has to choose something which is wrong according to their morals and ethics but the situation forces them to take that choice, leaving the human in a state of ambiguity. Similarly, there may be situations where they have to choose the best but not the right option.

Moral choices are flexible and are based upon each person’s perception. Pi’s traditional morals come into conflict with his actions, but considering his situation, it seems to be appropriate. The consequence of the decision are borne by the decision maker, who is responsible for the outcome only to the extent where, if one would have gone the other way, the situation could have been different. In the case Pi, he was partially blamed for his actions as it was completely his decision to follow all three religions at the same time, which had never been witnessed by the society he dwells in. Moreover, his decisions of eating meat and flesh, although conditional, are completely his action due to his instinct to carry on with his life and survive. Pi is responsible for the final outcome as he seems to deliberately take every action into consideration that would guarantee his survival.

4. Conclusion

Looking it as a whole, the moral center of the work seems to be inside Pi himself. His morals and ethics were indeed derived by the religious affiliations that he had, but he was the ultimate player who allowed those ethics and morals to foster inside his spirit. The center of spirituality, morality, humanity was all evident when he struggled to survive in the vast ocean where he was not only physically but also morally, spiritually, and mentally challenged. Moreover, the story picked up the motive that it would make one believe in the superpower that surrounds and influences us. The whole story is narrated from Pi’s point of view, one which is vivid and peculiar. The other characters are there to challenge this model in order to reveal the value of the belief, the value of hope, and the value of life. The moral center embodies the idea that there is a presence of that aura which encompasses human spirit even after death; the idea of hope that there is always someone looking after us; the idea that life is limited and the only thing that is important is what one does with it.

Yann Martel has carefully crafted this moral center that it persuades the reader to question their own existence and morals. It persuades one to deliberate, especially on the flaws that co-exist with the existing behavior and beliefs. Pi does not seem to be flawed as the moral center of the work as he holds onto his faith, his belief, and his morals until necessary for his survival. Although it seems to be wrong to shun morals in the order to survive but without survival, there would be no morals, that is, morals are subject to change. Pi himself not only affects the belief system of his parents, religious priests, and his teacher but also on the tiger itself. He works to raise the question of spirituality that lingers in the reader’s mind, thus affecting the reader.