Chapters 9-21

Summary:

Pi uses his knowledge and understanding of zoos to explain an animal's perception of territory and social ranking.  He explains how a ringmaster in a zoo establishes dominance and proves that he is the alpha male.  He is foreshadowing how he is able to survive on a small lifeboat with a tiger for company.

Pi then explains the role of religion in his life.  He was born and raised as a Hindu.  Just like any religion, Hinduism is a unique faith.  This video explains the basics of Hinduism (the end of the video was cut off but the last part covered Buddhism, not Hinduism):

When he was fourteen years old, he went exploring in a town where his family was vacationing.  He entered a church where he met Father Martin who related to him the story of Jesus Christ.  This video explains the story that Father Martin told Pi:

There were many things that Pi did not understand about Jesus.  He did not understand how God could let His Son die.  Why not leave death to humanity?  Why does Jesus suffer, unlike the powerful gods of Hinduism?  What inspiration can the Son provide to humanity?  Why does he appear only once for a brief time; isn't that selfish of God?  The priest answers all his questions in one word: love.  While there was still much that Pi did not understand about God and His Son, Pi could not forget about Him, and the more he thought about Him, the more he understood and loved Him.  Before his family was to go home, he ran to the church and told Father Martin "I would like to be a Christian, please." (Martel 56).  Pi was overjoyed when Father Martin answered that in his heart, Pi already was a Christian.

A year later, Pi was exploring his hometown and came upon a Muslim mosque.  He met a Sufi, a Muslim mystic, named Satish Kumar.  Mr. Kumar was teaching Pi to make bread when he suddenly started to pray.  He was fascinated by this sudden necessity for prayer.  He came back to visit Mr. Kumar several times with the desire to learn about Muslim religion.  This video explains Islamic religion and where the separation between Muslim and Islam lies (This video is long because it also goes into the political power of Islamic religion.  The first 7:42 is the part that explains the religion itself):

Characterization:

Yann Martel uses direct and indirect characterization in Life of Pi.  The book is always told from the 1st person point of view.  However, certain chapters are written from the author's point of view.

 When the book is told from the author's perspective, he directly characterizes Pi.  For example, in chapter 12 he says "At times he gets agitated. ... I worry that he'll want to stop.  But he wants to tell me his story" and "He's a sweet man." (Martel 42).  He directly characterizes Pi as a kind man with a difficult past that he has the courage to share with the world.

The majority of the book is written from Pi's perspective and much of what the reader understands about Pi's character is derived from the way he tells his story.  For example, when he says "The presence of God is the finest of rewards." we can derive that he is a devoutly religious man who honestly desires to do the right thing.

Works Cited:

Crash Course Hinduism.  Dir. John Green.  11 Sept. 2012.  Youtube.  Web.  3 Mar. 2015.

Islam, the Quran, and the Five Pillars.  Dir. John Green.  19 Apr. 2012.  Youtube.  Web.  3 Mar 2015.

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Orlando: Harcourt, 2001. Print.

What is Christianity.  Dir. not available.  n.d. Christianity Explored.  Web.  3 Mar. 2015.