LIFE OF PI - MOVIE ANALYSIS

LIFE OF PI - MOVIE ANALYSIS

Title: Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Genre: Fiction-Realistic fiction
Characters: 

·         Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi) -  The protagonist of the story. Piscine is the narrator for most of the novel, and his account of his seven months at sea forms the bulk of the story. He gets his unusual name from the French word for pool—and, more specifically, from a pool in Paris in which a close family friend, Francis Adirubasamy, loved to swim. A student of zoology and religion, Pi is deeply intrigued by the habits and characteristics of animals and people.

·         Richard Parker -  The Royal Bengal tiger with whom Pi shares his lifeboat. His captor, Richard Parker, named him Thirsty, but a shipping clerk made a mistake and reversed their names. From then on, at the Pondicherry Zoo, he was known as Richard Parker. Weighing 450 pounds and about nine feet long, he kills the hyena on the lifeboat and the blind cannibal. With Pi, however, Richard Parker acts as an omega, or submissive, animal, respecting Pi’s dominance.

·         Pi’s mother and protector, Gita  - A book lover, she encourages Pi to read widely. Raised Hindu with a Baptist education, she does not subscribe to any religion and questions Pi’s religious declarations. She speaks her mind, letting her husband know when she disagrees with his parenting techniques. When Pi relates another version of his story to his rescuers, she takes the place of Orange Juice on the lifeboat.

·         Pi’s father, Santosh - He once owned a Madras hotel, but because of his deep interest in animals decided to run the Pondicherry Zoo. A worrier by nature, he teaches his sons not only to care for and control wild animals, but to fear them. Though raised a Hindu, he is not religious and is puzzled by Pi’s adoption of numerous religions. The difficult conditions in India lead him to move his family to Canada.

·         Pi's older brother, Ravi -  prefers sports to schoolwork and is quite popular. He teases his younger brother mercilessly over his devotion to three religions.

·         Francis Adirubasamy or Mamaji-  The elderly man who tells the author Pi’s story during a chance meeting in a Pondicherry coffee shop. He taught Pi to swim as a child and bestowed upon him his unusual moniker. He arranges for the author to meet Pi in person, so as to get a first-person account of his strange and compelling tale. Pi calls him Mamaji, an Indian term that means respected uncle.

·         The Hyena or The Cook -  An ugly, intensely violent animal. He controls the lifeboat before Richard Parker emerges. In Pi's another version of story, he referred this animal as the Cook who killed his mom(orangutan) and the sailor(zebra)

·         The Zebra or The Sailor -  A beautiful male Grant’s zebra. He breaks his leg jumping into the lifeboat. The hyena torments him and eats him alive. Pi tagged him as the Sailor maybe because the animal was the first one who was with him in the boat. It's like he's the Sailor and Pi's the passenger.

·         Tomohiro Okamoto -  An official from the Maritime Department of the Japanese Ministry of Transport, who is investigating the sinking of the Japanese Tsimtsum. Along with his assistant, Atsuro Chiba, Okamoto interviews Pi for three hours and is highly skeptical of his first account.

Setting: Summer of 1977; India; Mexico; Pacific Ocean; Canada
Plot: Part One is narrated in the first person by Pi. Pi narrates from an advanced age, looking back at his earlier life as a high school and college student in Toronto, then even further back to his boyhood in Pondicherry. He explains that he has suffered intensely and found solace in religion and zoology. He describes how Francis Adirubasamy, a close business associate of his father’s and a competitive swimming champion, taught him to swim and bestowed upon him his unusual name. Pi is named after the Piscine Molitor, a Parisian swimming club with two pools that Adirubasamy used to frequent. We learn that Pi’s father once ran the Pondicherry Zoo, teaching Pi and his brother, Ravi, about the dangerous nature of animals by feeding a live goat to a tiger before their young eyes. Pi, brought up as a Hindu, discovers Christianity, then Islam, choosing to practice all three religions simultaneously. Motivated by India’s political strife, Pi’s parents decide to move the family to Canada; on June 21, 1977, they set sail in a cargo ship, along with a crew and many cages full of zoo creatures.

At the beginning of Part Two, the ship is beginning to sink. Pi clings to a lifeboat and encourages a tiger, Richard Parker, to join him. Then, realizing his mistake in bringing a wild animal aboard, Pi leaps into the ocean. The narrative jumps back in time as Pi describes the explosive noise and chaos of the sinking: crewmembers throw him into a lifeboat, where he soon finds himself alone with a zebra, an orangutan, and a hyena, all seemingly in shock. His family is gone. The storm subsides and Pi contemplates his difficult situation. The hyena kills the zebra and the orangutan, and then—to Pi’s intense surprise—Richard Parker reveals himself: the tiger has been in the bottom of the lifeboat all along. Soon the tiger kills the hyena, and Pi and Richard Parker are alone together at sea. Pi subsists on canned water and filtered seawater, emergency rations, and freshly caught sea life. He also provides for the tiger, whom he masters and trains.

The days pass slowly and the lifeboat’s passengers coexist warily. During a bout of temporary blindness brought on by dehydration, Pi has a run-in with another blind castaway. The two discuss food and tether their boats to one another. When the blind man attacks Pi, intending to eat him, Richard Parker kills him. Not long after, the boat pulls up to a strange island of trees that grow directly out of vegetation, without any soil. Pi and Richard Parker stay here for a time, sleeping in their boat and exploring the island during the day. Pi discovers a huge colony of meerkats who sleep in the trees and freshwater ponds. One day, Pi finds human teeth in a tree’s fruit and comes to the conclusion that the island eats people. He and Richard Parker head back out to sea, finally washing ashore on a Mexican beach. Richard Parker runs off, and villagers take Pi to a hospital.

In Part Three, two officials from the Japanese Ministry of Transport interview Pi about his time at sea, hoping to shed light on the fate of the doomed ship. Pi tells the story as above, but it does not fully satisfy the skeptical men. So he tells it again, this time replacing the animals with humans: a ravenous cook instead of a hyena, a sailor instead of a zebra, and his mother instead of the orangutan. The officials note that the two stories match and that the second is far likelier. In their final report, they commend Pi for living so long with an adult tiger.

Theme: 

The Will to Live

Life of Pi is a story about struggling to survive through seemingly insurmountable odds. The shipwrecked inhabitants of the little lifeboat don’t simply acquiesce to their fate: they actively fight against it. Pi abandons his lifelong vegetarianism and eats fish to sustain himself. Orange Juice, the peaceful orangutan, fights ferociously against the hyena. Even the severely wounded zebra battles to stay alive; his slow, painful struggle vividly illustrates the sheer strength of his life force. 

The Nature of Religious Belief

Each of Pi’s three religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, come with its own set of tales and fables, which are used to spread the teachings and illustrate the beliefs of the faith. Pi enjoys the wealth of stories, but he also senses that, as Father Martin assured him was true of Christianity, each of these stories might simply be aspects of a greater, universal story about love. To him, the important thing is to believe in something.

Symbolism: 

The Color Orange

The color orange symbolizes hope and survival. The whistle, buoy, and tiger all help Pi survive, just as Orange Juice the orangutan provides a measure of emotional support that helps the boy maintain hope in the face of horrific tragedy.

Sea and Sun 

These represent the harsh realities of real life, scrutinizing his faith. He was burned by the sun and got tumbled down by the waves of the sea.

The Algae Island

The survival manual tells Pi to look for green. Indeed, he found an island which is green but it turned out to be a hazardous one since it eats human or anything. It's like the Garden of Eden but has the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Since the island symbolizes religion and the meerkats are its followers, then the story must mean that we, the followers must keep our faith no matter what happens because after a dark night comes a brighter day.

1. What does the title mean in relation to the film as a whole?

The movie wants us to realize that every circumstances we face, don't give up face it with courage.  It also speaks about the journey of survival, trust and faith that no matter what happen there is always hope. Faith, hope and courage are needed to face every trials no matter how hard it is face it and never back down, bacause God loves you.

2. Among the characters, to whom can you relate to?

I can mostly relate to Pi because he's I could really relate to him. sometimes I lost hope in such circumstances but i always bare in mind that God never give me a trial if he knew i could not surpass it. because I know after i survive that trial i will become stronger.

3. Which part of the presentation struck you the most? Why?

 When the stormy seas become wild, I never imagined for my self if i were in the situation, will I be brave as Pi?

I admire him for being brave.

4. What is the movie’s message?

 There is still a long day ahead. Carpe Diem! that whatever trials we may encounter never lose hope, have courage to face it God love us and he will never leave us in a very deep situation.

5. Did I like this in general? Why?

Yes! I really like the movie. It has many lessons especially about life, it tell us to be brave, never give up, and don't drop the battle without giving a fight.

6. Did I agree with the main theme/purpose? Why or why not?

Yes! I agreed to the main theme of this movie all of the thoughts they were trying to send to the audience was clear.

7. What specifically did I like/dislike? Why?

Actually, I like the movie especially in the part when the storm was destroying the ship and Pi's boat as well. The waves and the thunder makes me realize that if Pi was able to survive that situation, why can't I? I must be brave as brave as Pi.

8. Are there any aspects of theme which are left ambiguous at the end? Why?

Nothing. Everything was clearly showed in the film.

9. How does this film relate to the things that are happening in your life?

everything that showed in the movie was so realistic, i mean all of us face problem, and we must struggle and fight it for us to survive, to become braver, faithful, hopeful and lastly to be self less, help each other  to survive. 

God give us Faith, Courage, Hope and Love, things to remember to surpass every trials!