Life of Pi Themes

At times, Life of Pi reads like a defense of religion. Has science proved religion wrong? Here's a protagonist who believes passionately in both zoology and religion. What about the fact of multipl...

In his essay "How I Wrote Life of Pi," Yann Martel says, "I had neither family nor career to show for my 33 years on Earth. [...]. I was in need of a story. More than that, I was in need of a Story...

There's an interesting blurring of divisions between man and the natural world in Life of Pi. Human beings become more animalistic; animals become more human. The novel warns against projecting hum...

This theme often brings to mind more ethereal subjects like the soul or the soul's rebirth. You'd be both right and wrong applying such lofty thoughts to Life of Pi. In this book, spirituality grou...

Suffering brings out the best and the worst in Life of Pi's characters. On the one hand, the characters care for each other when they very well could have killed each other. On the other hand, suff...

Don't get us wrong. The protagonist of Life of Pi loves science. Science, along with reason, helps us control and manipulate the world. It's how we survive in the world. But Pi points out that like...

If we have nothing to fear but fear itself, what about the fear of fear itself? Does that count as two fears or is it still one fear? It's this type of mind game our protagonist has to avoid on the...

The protagonist in Life of Pi battles death for so long, his relationship with death becomes very complex. Death is the thing he must push as far away from himself as possible. Death is also part o...

You knew we were going to say this: madness is a little complicated in Life of Pi. Is faith a form of madness? Is the madness that causes animals to leave a warm, secure home the same as the madnes...