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 practices his usual religious rituals, but he adapts them to his situation. He has solitary Mass without bread or a priest, prays to Allah without knowing where Mecca is, and uses turtle meat as prasad, a Hindu offering. These rituals give Pi comfort, but he still finds his faith sorely tested by his suffering. Sometimes he places himself within creation by labelling the sky “God’s ear” or Richard Parker “God’s cat.” Pi still has to battle regularly with despair, but always his faith overcomes.
Pi has become more animal-like in his diet and territorialism, but he also shows a very human adaptability in transferring his religious practices to the lifeboat. The repetition of constantly seeking food and water is a source of stress, but the repetition of religious ritual is a comfort to Pi. He shows the same resilience in his faith as in his will to live.
Themes
