Life of Pi by Yann Martel is the story of a young Indian boy who is thrown over the edge of an ocean-liner in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. He is sent adrift in a lifeboat with only a tiger, hyena, zebra and orangutan on board. While that sounds ridiculous, it actually fits perfectly. Pi’s family owned a zoo in India, however, they needed to move to Canada for his father’s job. Their animals were being shipped to American zoos, and as Pi saw it, he was being shipped to Canada. Along the way though, the ship sinks, with Pi and those few animals as the only survivors. It won the 2002 Man Booker Prize for Fiction.
The bulk of the plot takes place in the lifeboat with Pi and the tiger, whose name is Richard Parker. On the surface, the book is a tale of survival – and a captivating one at that. But Martel has created a story much deeper than that. I need to say this right now: I can only say so much about the book’s depth and impact without giving away the ending. Regardless, to state it simply, what makes Life of Pi so compelling on its deeper levels is the way it intertwines three different types of knowledge: religion, zoo-keeping and animal training, and survival tactics. Martel treats these three subjects encyclopedically at first, and then, the knowledge shifts into the practical realm. The shift is fascinating and written so well that the connection between knowledge and life experiences feels profoundly simple.
Why did I choose Life of Pi? It had an almost indescribable appeal to me from the first time I read it. It wasn’t literally indescribable, since I could talk about everything I love about it for hours – but I’d never been able to summarize why. Already in my research, I’ve found many underlying reasons, which in a sense proves Calvino: sometimes we are drawn to art without knowing why – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a reason. My first experience with it was in a 12th grade literature class. The teacher ended up being my favorite teacher, and Pi ended up being my favorite book. That experience might be among the reasons I began considering a teaching career.