Life of Pi

Pi Becomes a Tiger

Monkeys are, genetically, very similar to humans. They share ninety-seven percent of our DNA. We are more related than that though. In times of extreme pain or pleasure, both ends of the spectrum, humans literally become animals. The recent reading displays this perfectly, because Pi is in so much pain that he reverts to a primal state. In the end, humans are just animals with intelligence.

When fishing one day, Pi, who had previously been close to death for lack of food, catches a large fish that he begins to eat raw, sharing bits of it with Richard Parker. He looks over to see that he is eating the fish in the exact same way as Richard Parker. Pi realizes how much of a savage he has become, first with eating meat, then with taking lives, and this poses as a metaphor of how humans are really just savages when pain or pleasure becomes unbearable. When we are confronted with large amounts of pleasure, like a feast full of rich food, we tend to overreact and literally "eat like a pig", or when we become engulfed with rage and pain, we normally respond in an a primitive way. These are both things we would like to deny, saying that we're humans and have levels or sophistication above animals, but that's only an illusion, a mask that we hide behind. In actuality, we are the no better than the most gruesome of animals.

Though a human and a yak or a gecko may look completely unrelated, there are only minor differences that separate us. Technology and the ability to utilize our thumbs in a productive way is really the only thing that puts us on a level above the animal kingdom. Even so, we can't change what we Truthfully are: animals.





Mr. Kumar

We make qualitative assessments of our world all the time; he looks tall, strawberries taste good, thorns feel painful. Depending upon our perception and opinion though, these assessments can be radically different. Therefore, just because we take something to be a fact doesn't make it so. Mr. Kumar uses only his senses to form his opinions, leaving margin for error. He lost his faith in God when he was racked with polio and God let him suffer; only allowing the pain to judge his choices. To Pi, Mr. Kumar is the scientific challenge of his religion.


When Pi first describes Mr. Kumar, he is viewed as being geometric -- constructed out of simple shapes. Math and science are textbook subjects because there is always a reason behind the answers to their questions. Faith and religion rarely have a reason behind their answers, but they are generally accepted just the same, though we must use greater amounts of imagination to accept them. Though there is no physical proof, we are asked to take a leap of faith in believing religion, as opposed to science which is based strongly on physical proof and facts. Mr. Kumar lacks the faith needed to believe in God, but believes in his senses and sciences enough to be able to put his trust in them.

Pi at first feels intimidated my Mr. Kumar, but then he grows to respect him, because, Pi realizes, atheists also have to use faith, putting the trust in the belief that there is no God. With this new view of atheism, Pi begins to dislike agnostics because, "To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a mode of transportation. (p. 28)" Mr. Kumar is a strengthening force on Pi's religious views, but he also teaches Pi to accept other religions because we all have to take a leap of faith.