Life of Pi

Pi’s commitments to vegetarianism and pacifism erode with his increasing need to eat. Following yet another near-death encounter with Richard Parker, Pi is saved by a school of flying fish that are evading a dorado. Pi throws the fish to Richard Parker to tame him and kills the dorado to satiate his hunger. Pi thanks Lord Vishnu for “taking the form of a fish,” and reflects matter-of-factly on the ease with which he was able to bludgeon the dorado to death. As his sense of time erodes, Pi is ecstatic and beyond belief that his solar stills have produced drinkable water. Pi also lists other famous shipwreck survivors and calculates that he ends up surviving for 227 days. Key to his survival is his focus on daily routines, although his forgetting of time jumbles his memory.

Pi attempts to learn navigation through a survival manual, but he has no knowledge of spherical coordinates or constellations. He decides to let the winds and currents dictate his direction and focus on what he can control: his routines and mental state.

Pi’s willingness to kill and eat whatever is available becomes more pronounced. Pi butchers a sea turtle, eats crab, shrimp, and algae, and drinks fluid from barnacles.