Life of Pi Part Two The Pacific Ocean

Life of Pi: Part Two (The Pacific Ocean) ~ Chapters 37– 42 HKASL ~ Literature in English

Summary The ship sinks Ø Pi finds himself in a lifeboat in the utter chaos Ø A Royal Bengal tiger named Richard Parker: Ø l l l Ø In the water, near drowning Urges Pi to save himself Boards the lifeboat Pi: l l Realizes the danger in sharing a tiny space with a vicious animal Throws himself into the roiling water

Summary Ø Back a few moments: just before the sinking of the Tsimtsum l l l Ø The boat: l l Ø A loud noise, perhaps an explosion, wakes Pi Tries to wake Ravi so they can go exploring together Ravi stays asleep Pi passes his parents’ cabin door and climbs up to the main deck Raining Listing considerably to one side Making awful groaning noises Pi: l l l Begins to feel afraid Trying to run back down to where his family is The stairwell is full of water

Summary Ø Going back up to the main deck… l l l Pi hears animals shrieking Three Chinese crewmen put a life jacket on him Throw him over the side of the ship He falls forty feet before landing on a tarpaulin partially covering a lifeboat hanging from the ship’s side A Grant’s zebra jumps into the lifeboat after him, smashing down onto a bench The lifeboat falls into the water

Summary Ø Just after Pi jumps from the lifeboat into the water l l l To escape Richard Parker A shark cuts through the water nearby Pi: • • Terrified Sees only the zebra, not the tiger in the boat Slips back into the water but sees another shark Quickly hoists himself up onto an oar hanging off the edge of the ship • Dangles a few feet above the water, holding on for dear life

Summary Ø The ship continues to sink… l l l It disappears No other survivors (as Pi can tell) Pi’s making decision that he needs to change position… • To prevent further soreness • To help him spot other lifeboats l Pi: • Climbs up onto the lifeboat’s tarpaulin cover (he believes Richard Parker is hiding under) • Frightened • Expects the tiger to appear and attack him at any moment • The tiger stays hidden • The zebra is still alive, but with a severely broken back leg

Summary Ø A hyena appears… l Pi’s conclusion: • • Richard Parker must have drowned A tiger and hyena could not both be on the lifeboat at the same time • He himself as bait for the hyena by the crew members • Hoping to clear the lifeboat for themselves • Fearful of the hyena… l The upfront aggression of a dog: preferable to the slyness and stealth of a jungle cat (Richard Parker)

Summary Ø An orangutan came… l l l Named Orange Juice A star animal at the Pondicherry Zoo Mother of two male orangutans Floats up to the lifeboat on a raft of bananas tangled up in a net Boards the lifeboat in shock Pi saves the net but the bananas sink

Analysis Ø The strongest message: The fierce, unrelenting power with which life will fight to stave off death l l Close calls and near-fatal incidents Life continually surprises us with its might and will power: • Pi: survives his forty-foot fall through the air and lands unharmed on the lifeboat’s spongy tarpaulin cover • Zebra: survives a much less graceful fall and a broken leg • Richard Parker: , swims through turbulent ocean waters to clamber aboard a lifeboat in a state of shock and panic • Orange Juice: magically appears out of nowhere to join this group of survivors

Analysis Ø “Had I considered my prospects in light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten. ” : l l Ø The sheer will to live outweighs logical thought Pi clings to the oar, and to life Stark contrast to the loss of lives — both human and animal — that the Tsimtsum’s sinking caused

Analysis Ø Appearance of Orange Juice l l The most humanlike of all the creatures that manage to board the lifeboat Emphasizing the loss of human life A maternal figure: having given birth to two boys at the Pondicherry Zoo The striking parallel between Orange Juice and Mrs. Patel (Both have two sons)

Analysis Ø Pi’s untenable position: the turning point in an adolescent boy’s life l l l l Having to navigate the rough waters: the security of family life Vs. the independence of adulthood Difficulty of growing up Teasing from childhood friends existential questioning of early adolescence Pi’s hesitation and walking past his parents’ cabin door just before the sinking of the Tsimtsum: his desire to become independent The loss of his family: A inconsolable and uncertain Pi Muscle aches Vs. Emotional pain: Pi must figure out how to fend for himself in a lonely, confusing, and even violent world