Introduction
Pi recounts the ordeal he faced in the middle of the pacific ocean after the ship wreck. Francis Adirubasamy, a close business associate of his father, a swimming champion taught him to swim. He also gave him his unusual name Piscine Molitor, a Persian swimming club he used to frequent. Pi is named after that swimming club (i.e) Piscine Molitor. Pi’s father once ran a zoo in Pondicherry. As the political situation in India was volatile, he decided to shift the family to Canada. They set sail in a cargo ship on June 21,1977.
A crew and many cages full of animals sailed along with them in that cargo ship.
Crisis in the mid ocean
When the cargo ship was sailing in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there was a huge storm. The ship started sinking. Pi jumped into a lifeboat. Very soon he found himself in the company of Richard Parker, a tiger, a zebra, and a hyena, all in a state of shock. Initially, the hyena keeps quiet and hides behind the zebra unwilling to confront the tiger. After two and a half days of drifting in the lifeboat, Pi discovered that Richard Parker was on board just below him. He was unusually quiet because of sea-sickness and the impact of heavy sedation given to him by Pis father.
Water, water everywhere but no water to drink
Pi felt very thirsty. His blood had thickened. His .legs had become stiff. He was afraid that he may die if he did not drink liquid life.
Search for drinking water
When he lifted the yellow tarpaulin, he found Richard Parker just two feet below his legs. Initially, he was scared of seeking the attention of Richard Parker. But his thirst was so much that he preferred to risk his life to find water. The narrator says, ‘thirst is worse than hunger’. Even Jesus Christ who died on the cross yearned for water only before dying. He opened the tarpaulin still further and found hyena looking at him. But Pi wasn’t afraid as much more formidable 450-pound heavy beast was there between him and the hyena
Analysis of the boat
Pi found that the boat was three and a half feet deep and eight feet wide and twenty-six feet long.lt was designed to accommodate 32 people. But it appeared to be cramped due to the presence of three animals (i.e.) zebra, Richard Parker, and the hyena. Tarpaulin, life jackets the lifeboat and the oars were also orange in color. Even the plastic headless whistle was orange in colour.
Discovery of drinking water
The narrator felt like a dried out lizard. He undid the hasp quietly. He pulled on the lid. It opened on to a locker. He looked down between his legs and got delighted because new things glistened. He experienced a heady mixture of hope, surprise, disbelief, thrill, gratitude all crushed into one. He was positively giddy with happiness. The wine of life was found in pale golden cans. Each can contained 500 ml. He felt that he was about to be released from the hell of thirst. He had water stock to last for 124 days.
Returning from the world of dead
He hit the other end of the can hard against the hook.At a stretch he gulped down 4 cans (i.e.) 2 litres of water. It was the most exquisite of nectars. His forehead was wet with fresh, clean refreshing perspiration, his skin relaxed. His joints moved with greater ease. His heart began to beat like a merry drum, blood flowed through his veins like cars from a wedding party honking their way through the tour. Strength and suppleness came back to his muscles. Truly, he was coming back from the world of the dead to life.
Parker and Pi
Richard Parker had finished off the hyena and the zebra. So, Richard Parker and Pi were literally and figuratively in the same boat. He wanted to tame Parker to stay alive.
Richard parker’s help
It was Richard Parker’s presence that shut off all the other memories of family tragedy and the tragic circumstances he was in. Richard Parker egged him to go on living. He hated Parker yet felt grateful to him. He admits that without Parker, he wouldn’t have been alive to tell the story of his survival.
Inevitable separation At last Pi’s boat reached an island. Richard Parker jumped and walked away without even looking back at Pi. Pi was found by a ship. He got reunited with the other family members.
Conclusion
The life of Pi teaches us the great lesson that one should focus on living even in the most adverse situation in life.
