The life of Pi is a story about a young boy named Piscine Molitor Patel who experiences immeasurable hardships while at sea. Patel is a zoo keeper’s son born in Pondicherry, India. When growing up Piscine was always teased about his name that he decided to shorten it so that he was known as Pi, just like π, the Mathematical symbol. At age sixteen, Pi survives on a life boat while at sea for 227 days after a shipwreck that makes him lose all his family members. The story therefore centers on Pi’s attempts at survival and explores the dehumanizing situation the young Indian is locked in. His experiences, especially on the lifeboat have been used metaphorically to represent the human condition. The number Pi has been used as a symbol that represents the protagonist’s life; through it, the writer makes the story fascinating and helps the reader form his or her own understanding of the story.
Life of Pi is full of symbols that relate to a particular aspect in life. The writer uses various allegories to represent the human condition. A number of these include the animals, the Algae Island, and Pi’s life and ordeals. When giving the story concerning his encounter at the Pacific on a life boat to the Japanese maritime officials, Pi presents two totally different stories; one is the real story about how he was stranded on a lifeboat on the sea for 227 days with animals. The other story he tells resembles this one, only that it lacks animals. He recounts that, after the shipwreck, he, alongside his mother, ship’s cook and the sailor who had a broken leg were stranded on a lifeboat. In this story, Pi recounts that it is the cook who killed both his mother and the sailor and cut them to pieces to use as food and as bait.
Piscine Molitor Patel is the main character’s name but he prefers to be called Pi. The name Pi is an irrational number in the Mathematical world. It is often used in the calculation of the circumference of a circle. As a number, it has several decimal places that cannot be comprehended accurately by the human mind. Just like Piscine who shortens his name, the Mathematical Pi which has several decimal places is always shortened to 3.14. Pi experiences cycles of faith and doubt in his life, especially while on the sea. How this is related to the linear journey that gets him to North America can be explained to be a sort of Mathematical relationship. Pi tries to give his story in a logical and rational manner, although it seems unbelievable and is perceived as irrational by his listeners. This is contrasted with Mathematical relationships that are usually calculated and presented in a logical and rational manner through the use of the number Pi.
Just like the number Pi which has too many decimal places, and thus difficult for the human mind to accurately comprehend it, Piscine’s life is complex. He is a follower of three religions, which is a strange thing for an individual to undertake. As a Christian, he learns about suffering and how this relates to divinity. He combines all the three religions carefully and finds a harmonious fit between them. Apart from his thrill with spirituality, Pi also enjoys science matters. How these aspects relate is an issue that can boggle one’s mind. He is fascinated with the science of zoo keeping and tries to understand the psychology of animals. His childhood is magical as it is an opportunity not every other child gets to have a parent who manages a zoo, directly interacting with fauna. These present his life as unique and complex to a good extent.
The name Pi is a representation of the idea of irrationality in Mathematics. Piscine’s life is characterized by aspects of irrationality. For example, his decision to take up spirituality is considered irrational. This is because there are no material facts to prove that the religious beliefs explicated by these religions are correct. There’s no material evidence for the beliefs held by the various religions and one has to take it by faith. His exceedingly religious and spiritual inclinations are therefore deemed irrational. When alone with the Bengal tiger on the lifeboat, he turns to prayers for comfort, but this is irrational since he sends his prayers to an undefined god. The experiences that Pi undergoes from the time the ship is wrecked to the time he lands in Mexico show certain realities that are just too difficult to take in. He endures a lot; the loss of all family members, the struggle on the sea, the lack of food, hope and the fear of being eaten up by the tiger are too much to bear but he manages. Just like the number Pi which, as earlier said has several decimal places and is difficult to be comprehended fully and accurately, the challenges Pi has been faced with are just too terrifying for one to face.
Pi is also a Greek letter consisting of both alpha and omega. These have been used by the writer to refer to a dominant creature and a submissive one. In the story, Pi is being referred to as the Alpha. This is when he tries to ensure that Richard Parker is friendly to him and does not end up feeding on him. Pi is the sixteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, and so, it is not by coincidence that the writer presents to us a protagonist who is sixteen years old. Pi spends 227 days on the sea before reaching the Mexican coast. This as well relates to the Mathematical Pi which is presented as 22/7. It is not by coincidence that the writer chose the number 227. Pi finds a survival manual in a locker on the lifeboat. In this manual, he learns that standing on the lifeboat on a clear day, an individual of average height will see the horizon to be approximately 2 ½ miles from the lifeboat. This implies that, from the lifeboat, the distance Pi can be able to see in any given direction forms a 5 miles diameter circle. This is related to the number Pi, which is a ratio of a circle’s diameter to its circumference.
As an irrational number, the number Pi does not end but flows in a sequence that is not discernable. Apart from its use in Mathematics it is also used by engineers. This is because of its ability to provide a rational, scientific understanding of phenomena. It is helpful in making sense of complex things. Piscine is a name for a swimming pool in Paris, France. A swimming pool is rectangular in shape and therefore the volume of water it can contain is controlled. There’s thus a kind of relationship between the uncontrollable mass of water in the form of the Pacific and the boy who is named after a swimming pool whose water volume is rational. The uniqueness of the number Pi that make it useful in sciences can be contrasted with Pi who exhibits lots of creativity and take-chargedness in his life. Pi integrates three religions into his life with skill, is creative enough to shorten his name so as to evade the taunts he receives from school mates and it is creativity that ensures he endures the lifeboat ordeal. When alone with the tiger on the lifeboat, Pi takes charge using the knowledge he has of animals. He trains the tiger and makes him perceive him to be the key to his survival.
The number Pi is striking in various instances of the protagonist’s life with the effect of metaphorically presenting the human condition. Human condition entails certain unique features that are inherent in mankind and thus are inescapable. These are what define a human being in personal, social and cultural contexts. In the use of the number pi, the writer enables the reader to dissect through the story so as to obtain its real interpretation and make sense as to what is being communicated. There are quite a number of instances that the use of the number Pi relates to the protagonist’s real life, as shown in this paper. Symbols are useful in showing literary prowess and making a story fascinating. Through the use of allegory, the writer has been able to present a parallel meaning of the story to the readers effectively.
Works Cited
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Florida: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003.
