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| How is the Life of Pi a story about struggling to survive bad odds? | Pi eats fish to stay alive even though he is a vegatarian. Living things do extraordinary things to survive. They also do shameful and barbaric things. The hyena's treachery and the blind Frenchman's turn toward cannibalism show just how far creatures will go when faced with the possibility of extinction.PI himself is responsible for some of the horrific events he has narrated and is replaced by the fierce tiger. |
| What true story was revealed at the end of the book? | There were no animals at all and Pi had spent those 227 days with other human survivors who all eventually perished, leaving only himself. |
| Why does Pi create the character of Richard Parker? | So that Pi can disavow the ferocious, violent side of his personality that allowed him to survive on the ocean. He believes that the tiger-like aspect of his personality and the civilized side of his personality stand against and with each other just as the boy Pi and Richard Parker are both friends and enemies. |
| How is storytelling a means of survival for Pi? | The true events of Pi's sea voyage are too horrible to contemplate directly; any young boy would go insane if faced with the kinds of acts that Pi tells his interrogators about. By using humanlike animals, Pi does not have to face the true cruelty that human beings are capable of. |
| What does the color orange symbolize in this book? | The color orange symbolizes hope and survival. Pi's daughter, Usha, carries an orange cat. The little orange cat recalls the big orange cat, Richard Parker who helps Pi survive. Pi is given a lifejacket with an orange whistle and finds an orange buoy on the boat. |
