Life of Pi by Yann Martel: Character Analysis

In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, The author touches the reader’s emotions with it's story and it's importance paid to the each character. Piscine Molitor Patel is the main character for most of the novel and he is also the narrator. The main character Pi is described as a young shy man. He tells the author about his early childhood and the awful shipwreck that changed his life. This narrative distances the reader from the truth. The reader does not know if Pi’s story is accurate or which part is believable. As a child he a lot and embraces many religions and rich narratives that provide meaning and create new dimensions to his life. In his interviews with the Japanese investigators after his rescue, he offers first the more unrealealistic version of his time at sea. But later on they're request he then provides a different version that is more realistic but ultimately less appealing to both himself and his questioners. The main point of this novel is that if you keep some faith in god and keep some hope you can get through every obstacle no matter how big it is and that is evident in this book because It is hard to believe that a boy can survive 227 days at sea but the way the author presented the story it forces the reader to believe the authors perspective.

The story is about Pi a boy who survived more then two hundred days at sea. Being the loved son of a zookeeper, he constantly interjects facts about animals and animal behavior into his story. His attitude is respectful, honest and generous .He adopts two new religions, Catholicism and Islam, on top of his native Hindu, practicing all three in effort to experience God. Pi is an eager, outgoing, and energetic person and he is dependent on his family for protect...

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...ave a deeper connection and started sharing a health loving bond.. The reader does not know whether Pi’s story is accurate or which part is believable. The author changed both the character's personalitty from beggining to the end of the story. Both started very frustrated and not very loving to each other but as the story progressed they started becoming calmer and started a new relationship of friendship. The author did this change gradually throughout the book because he did not want to leave the readers confused. The author kept changing the personality of the characters otherwise the story would of gotten boring and dull. The main focus of this novel is that if you keep some faith in god and keep some hope you can get through every obstacle no matter how big it is.

Works Cited

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.