Life of Pi

Theme:

Life of Pi by Yann Martel explores the themes of spirituality and religion, self-perception, the definition of family, and the nature of animals

Summary:

This novel revolves around a teenage Indian boy, Pi, who becomes lost at sea after a shipwreck. Pi finds himself struggling for survival against the torrential ocean with his only companion, a Bengal tiger. Life of Pi encompasses Martel’s perspectives of how spirituality is perceived in the physical world.

Famous Quotes:

“I had no idea a living being could sustain so much injury and go on living.”

“And so it goes with God.”

“The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn’t that make life a story?”

“Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life. It is like an end game in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldn’t be more simple, nor the stakes higher.”

“The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar.”

“When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival.”

“Yes. The story with animals is the better story.”

“You might think I lost all hope at that point. I did.”

“Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen.”

“Something in me did not want to give up on life, was unwilling to let go, wanted to fight to the very end. Where that part of me got the heart, I don’t know.”

“Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love—but sometimes it was so hard to love.”

“Survival had to start with me. In my experience, a castaway’s worst mistake is to hope too much and do too little.”