Sofiane Fellah Mrs. Kristan Independent Novel Study # 1 PART 1: INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION The novel I chose for my independent novel study is Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Published between the years 2001 and 2002, Life of Pi was researched in India and Canada and written in Canada in the late 1990s. The book can be characterized as a postcolonial novel, because of its post-Independence Indian setting as well as its Canadian authorship. Like many postcolonial novels, Life of Pi can also be classified as a work of magical realism, a literary genre in which fantastical elements, such as animals with human personalities or an island with cannibalistic trees, appear in an otherwise realistic setting. Martel’s novel could equally be described as a bildungsroman (a coming-of-age tale) or an adventure fiction novel. Piscine Molitor Patel is considered to be the protagonist of the story. He 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. On the surface, it would appear that the antagonists here are Richard Parker and Nature. Pi’s hardships at sea begin with the threat presented by the tiger, and progress to surviving starvation and the elements. However, the real conflict is an internal struggle. Pi must maintain his faith in order to survive, but he must compromise his beliefs in order to live. For example, he includes prayer in his daily routine at sea, but he must kill and forego vegetarianism to stay alive. Pi Patel is a seeker of knowledge and a seeker of God. He is striving to choose “the better story” for his life.
