As a writer, I can imagine how difficult it would be to write a full-length novel about a boy on a boat with a tiger for 227 days.īut upon seeing the movie, I gained a different perspective of that proceeding narrative. At first, I thought this was a way to pad the story. In the pages leading up to that, it describes Pi’s upbringing, his family life, and his discovery of different Gods. In the book, we don’t get to the boat until page 130. This is represented by the skeptical Japanese officials who state in their closing report that Pi survived 227 days at sea with a tiger. By the end, he has turned the skeptic into a believer. Either you believe in things that can be explained rationally, or you allow room for such things as miracles and God.Īt the onset, Pi claims that his story will make a person believe in God. Whatever story you prefer, is intended to gauge your belief in God. The author leaves the question unanswered for the audience to draw their own conclusion, almost as if we are the Japanese men. So although the human story makes a lot of sense, it was not intended to be a twist ending. After all, what reason does Pi have to make that up, especially when he is willing to tell both versions? This leads me to believe that the animal story is the real story. In the novel, it almost seems like Pi is annoyed with the two men and tells them a much more “believable” story in order for them to complete their report. This may lead people to believe that the human story is the real story however, this look is not present in the book. In the movie, when the now grown-up Pi describes the human story, there is a great deal of anguish on his face. The orangutan represents his mother, the zebra represents some wounded Japanese sailor, the tiger is Pi, and all the other fantastical elements of the story were stripped away leaving a much more disturbing, but believable depiction.Īfter describing both stories to the men, he asks them which version of the story they prefer. Then instead of the tiger killing the hyena, it is Pi who kills the cook out of revenge or self-preservation. Instead of the hyena killing the zebra and sweet orangutan, it was the cook. He tells them a different version of the story: one that uses humans instead of animals. Pi then says, ‘Fine, let me tell you a different version of what happened.’ The Japanese men are reluctant to write the story they have been told because it is too unbelievable. Pi proceeds to tell the Japanese men this improbable story of him and the tiger, and how they stumbled upon a mysterious island. Then the tiger, named Richard Parker, kills the hyena. On the first day, the hyena kills the already wounded zebra and the sweet orangutan. Pi tells his story-he is stranded on a small lifeboat with the aforementioned animals and remains adrift for 227 days.
During his recovery, two Japanese officials interview Pi so they can complete their report on the sinking vessel. Pi eventually drifts to the shores of Mexico where he is taken to a Mexican hospital. Much like the book, the ending is left open for interpretation. The only survivors are Pi, a tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan.
The movie closely follows the book-a young Indian boy and his family travel across the Pacific on a giant shipping vessel, when unexpectedly the ship sinks in a horrific storm, killing nearly everyone onboard. Yesterday, I watched the movie, Life of Pi, based on Yann Martel’s novel by the same title. If you type in “ Cloud Atlas Explained” in Google, my blog is the first one that populates. You can read that post here: What They Didn’t Tell You in Looper. With the first one, I found myself in a debate with the Writer/ Director of the film via twitter. In the past, I have only written three posts on movies.