Lets talk about Piscine. Pi talks as if he has been on this earth for 80 years, with many views on many things. He is wise beyond his years, but is still learning much from various role models. Through thoughts and feelings we have learned that Pi is very religious, although not even he knows which religion he is religious to. Now we have just arrived to the infamous ship sinking scene. When the ship sinks, about 4 of the animals from the ship aboard the reserve boat. A tiger (Richard Parker) An orangutan, a hyena and a zebra. The zebra, hyena, and orangutan board the ship bringing just about no trouble with them. When Pi sees Richard Parker, he throws the tiger a flotation device. Of course, since the situation is life or death for the tiger, he grabs the device and boards the boat. Now, when the tiger first gets on, he is calm about the situation. Its not until its time for him to kill the hyena that he really makes his first "appearance". When the Tiger strikes out and kills the hyena, he kind of freaks out on Pi as well. Pi responds by hiding from the tiger, panicking and jumping into the ocean. After the tiger calms down, Pi returns to the boat, but is still scared of the tiger. Now, I'm not calling Pi a coward. In all honesty, I would have jumped right into the ocean as soon as the tiger boarded the boat. Now, a very good description of Pi's physical appearance in chapter 2.
"He lives in Sarborough. He's a small, slim man-no more than five
foot five. Dark hair, dark eyes. Hair greying at the temples. Can't be
older than forty. Pleasing coffee-coloured complexion. Mild fall
weather, yet puts on a big winter parka with fur-lined hood for the walk
to the diner. Expressive face. Speaks quickly, hands flitting about." -Life of Pi, Yann Martel, Pg. 7.
I wish I could say that I could relate to Pi, but when I think of his personality, all I can think of is the religious aspect of things. I have always been a Christian, and have never really considered any other religion as an option, and Pi has like, three religions at the moment. I guess that I could relate to him because he is so family driven. Family means a lot to Pi, and family means a lot to me. Also, Pi believes that there is one God and each religion just changes the back story and beliefs of that God. Now, Pi relies on God often for many big things in his life, as do I. So, I guess you could say that I do relate to Pi a little.
I believe that Martel did a great job creating the characters in this book. Martel, himself, has been to many countries and has traveled all over the world. He seems to have given every character in the book an important role, no matter how small. Pi, at the moment, is very impressionable and each character has inspired him in someway.
