Liang 1 Shirley Liang Ms. Crawford ENG3Ub 07 October 2019 Life of Pi by Yann Martel There are many novels we read that give us insight into the bigger picture. Themes, ideas, and values that are exhibited throughout the novels can be life lessons for different people. Life of Pi by Yann Martel is an amazing novel that describes the journey of a young man named Piscine Molitor Patel, or Pi. Pi is faced with many hardships when he finds himself stranded on a lifeboat with a dangerous Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. There are three main themes and values that Pi has learned throughout the novel that helps us understand how he survived this event and why he did not kill Richard Parker but used him for survival.One of the main ideas in this novel is knowing fiction from reality. Throughout the novel, it is revealed that Pi’s life has been marked unusual from its beginning, starting with him being born in a zoo. A key value that Pi has taken on in this novel is choosing faith or reason over religion. Pi has a history of extensive religious interests, which was forced onto him at an early age from his parents. This leads to Pi exploring other religions and finding what is comfortable for him. Finally, another value that Pi has picked up was respect for non-human animals. Pi demonstrates a connection with animals from his father’s zoo and learns to respect and care for them. The first idea is knowing fiction from reality. Fiction and reality are two completely different things but in the Life of Pi, it is something that has to be understood by Pi and his family. There are many instances throughout the novel where Mamaji tells Pi that he is going to tell him the most incredible story, but he only uses the word incredible to state that it is
