Life of Pi
By Yann Martel
After a shipwreck, Pi is stranded on a lifeboat in the ocean with a tiger, struggling to survive while exploring themes of faith and storytelling.
Worksheets
As a teenager, Pi embraces Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam together, insisting that faith is about love and imagination rather than strict dogma or doubt.
Pi Patel recounts his childhood in Pondicherry, where growing up in a zoo nurtures his love of animals and his openness to multiple religions, shaping his belief in both science and faith.
Class 1
Class 2
Amid political unrest in India, Pi’s family decides to emigrate to Canada, selling their zoo animals and boarding the ill-fated cargo ship Tsimtsum.
Class 3
After the ship sinks, Pi survives on a lifeboat with animals including the orangutan Orange Juice, a zebra, a hyena, and the Bengal tiger Richard Parker, watching brutal violence unfold.
Class 4
Realizing he must coexist with Richard Parker, Pi begins taming him while learning survival skills and reflecting on fear as his greatest adversary.
Class 5
Pi descends into savagery while fishing and butchering turtles to survive, yet he also develops a fragile balance of territory and dominance with Richard Parker.
Class 6
Pi endures storms, near starvation, and failed rescues while strengthening his bond with Richard Parker and marveling at the terrifying and sublime beauty of the ocean.
Class 7
Weak and nearly blind, Pi faces despair, meets another castaway who tries to kill him, and survives only because Richard Parker kills the man instead.
Class 8
Pi briefly finds salvation on a mysterious carnivorous island teeming with meerkats, but after discovering its deadly secret, he chooses to leave with Richard Parker.
Class 9
Rescued in Mexico, Pi recounts two conflicting versions of his survival—one with animals, one with humans—and leaves his listeners to decide which story, like faith itself, is “the better story.”