Is Pi For Real?

I'd like to think that Pi's story is much like the story of any religion. Although Pi lacks direct contact from a divine power, he has somewhere deep within himself found his own power, and in doing so, Piscine has made a believer out of me. I had a strong connection with his voice; it was guiding me through his survival and discovery. In the beginning of the novel, I thought that this connection was just there because, well, Pi and I are both Indian, but as his tale unraveled, I noticed that I couldn't stop the turning of the pages. I was addicted to Pi, and appropriately at the end, I feasted upon upon a delicious pie as a tribute to Pi. But what was it about this book that I couldn't put it down? Was it Pi's emotional odyssey? I don't even know if that's a legitimate question. I thought Pi's story was simple, but now that I'm at the end of the whole thing, I find myself looking back at a complex and surreal story.
This isn't very simple...


So, what's confusing about Pi's tale? I don't think there's a single answer that can satisfy the question, but I'll make an attempt. Throughout the book, he's growing emotionally; he's connected to all of the other people and animals through his emotions, but towards the end, he turns to reason and his own fancies (which are kind of opposites of each other). Before Pi floats into the island, he has a conversation with Richard Parker about food. The man has a conversation with a tiger; if nothing in this story impresses you, then this should definitely do the trick! It seemed to me that Piscine had finally lost it at that point, but I could relate to all of the zesty dishes that he was listing out, and I began salivating. I could smell the dosai's and the sambar and that's all I could focus on. Every time the tiger interrupted, I grew irritated; as it turns out, I was the host of a talk show whose guest stars were Pi Patel and Richard Parker, and Parker opened with, "Let's have a conversation about food... " (Mendel, 307). Pi, just like that, abandoned my Conan O'Brien-Knock-Off Script, abandoned reason, and took to his sentiments. He was "addicted to indulgence in superficial emotion," and I, too, took part, but I guess that's what commercial breaks are intended for (Sentimentalism, Definition).
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During this short break, I connected with reality again. My room was getting dark, so I flicked the light switch and dived back into the novel. I decided to rush the next page and the next one, until I found the other side of Pi, the logic and the science side which is what the island is for. I guess it's kind of like the Island from Lost in that it has unique characteristics and is literally sinister in nature (this island actually digests its inhabitants). So, Pi explores this island, observes the meerkats, sleeps on the tree and analyzes the land. He doesn't assume anything until he has hard evidence to conclude from. He understands the acidity of the island only after he almost burns off the bottom of his own. The Pi from the first few chapters wouldn't be so analytical about such a marvel. Clearly, the tree can be seen as a symbol for the Tree of Life or the Tree of Good and Evil; maybe, the island with its green color and the association of that with Islam is in itself referencing the Garden of Eden. A spiritual being would be eager to make the connection, but Pi was more interested in training Parker to jump through some hoops. So, right then, my light began flickering due to some voltage inconsistency and I was back in Texas.

This island reminds of the Mystery Island


Pi always seemed to be a reasonable person. Everything he did had some sort of consistent logic to it, mostly spiritual logic, but here, all of that goes straight off the deck. Who is Pi? Is he indeed losing it as he appears to be in his talks with a tiger? Is Parker real? I don't know what to think, but I believe in numbers, and something just doesn't add up. Maybe this is a spin by Martel, or perhaps this is part of the original version from Pi Patel. With some of these events in the plot, I just have to know, "Is Pi for real?"

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