Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Life of Pi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival
Religion and Faith
Storytelling
Boundaries
Summary
Analysis
Pi doesn’t see any supplies at first, so he assumes they must be under the tarpaulin, in Richard Parker’s “den.” Pi feels the urgency of his thirst more than his fear of the tiger, so he unrolls the tarpaulin a little bit and looks underneath. Pi gets his first glimpse of Richard Parker’s full size, and he shivers with awe and fear. He sees a lid on the bow’s bench, and carefully opens it to find a locker full of supplies.
Much of the following sections concern the details of Pi’s struggle for survival. He finds again and again that his will to live cannot be overcome by fear, as he braves the tiger’s presence and enters his territory to look for water.
Themes
Pi is ecstatic to find many cans of water, and he greedily drinks a few of them. There are packages of biscuits as well, and he eats some even though they contain animal fat (he has always been a vegetarian). Pi then calculates his rations, and figures that he has enough food to last 93 days and enough water to last 124 days. He joyfully mumbles “thank you!” aloud.
It has only been a few days but already Pi is ecstatic at the most basic of human necessities – he has quickly gone into survival mode, like an animal in his constant quest for food and water. Pi’s vegetarianism is one of the first civilized parts of himself he must give up.
Themes
