Life of Pi Study Guide

What did the main character think about the animals in the zoo?

1. They are better in the zoo

Who is Mamaji?

1. Mamaji is Francis Adirubasamy who was a good friend of the family and uncle/mentor to Pi, also a competitive swimmer (Mama=uncle, ji = suffix showing respect)

What animal do zookeepers think of as the most dangerous animal in the zoo?

1. Man

Who was Mr. Satish Kumar?

1. Pi’s biology teacher, a communist, and atheist OR Muslim baker

Pi and Mr. Kumar agreed on what?

1. That the zoo is a sacred place; importance of faith; need for meaning

According to Pi, when have successful zookeepers created a healthy environment for the animals?

1. When zookeepers replicated the original habitat & fulfills all animal’s needs

According to Pi, when do animals try to escape from the zoo?

1. When the enclosure/habitat is bad

Explain the black leopard that escaped from the Zurich Zoo?

1. A black leopard had escaped and was fine, not attacking anyone for 2 months before being found in the city and not the zoo

According to Pi’s father, what kind of an environment do animals seek?

1.  A controlled environment that has a fixed routine

According to Pi, why will a lion in a zoo attack?

1. Because you invaded it’s territory

Why must a circus lion trainer establish that he is the alpha male with respect to the lion?

1. To show that he is the leader and to have a good relationship with the lions for safety

How important is religion to Pi?

1. Religion is an important part of his life, identity, and 

Who is Antieji?

1. Pi’s foster mom from Canada

Discuss Pi's visit to a Christian church and his meeting with Father Martin?

1. Pi went on a vacation and stumbled on a church. He didn’t go in until the next day, when he asks about Christianity with Father Martin, who tells him a story

How did Pi first learn about Islam?

1. When Pi accidentally walked into Muslim part of town and Mr. Kumar feeds him before praying, which Pi falls in love with

Discuss Pi’s visit with the Muslim shopkeeper.

1. Pi visited Mr. Kumar where they prayed, sang, talked about God, and do religious practices

Who were the two men Pi called the prophets of his youth?

1. Mr. and Mr. Satish Kumar

When did Pi feel that God was very close to him?

1. When he was walking back home, he felt the unity of nature and when he saw Virgin Mary in Canada

What was the reaction of Pi's parents to Pi's explorations and practices of various religions?

1. They are surprised but support him faintly though they hope that he becomes normal

Explain Pi’s parents’s practice of their religion?

1. Father doesn’t believe in religion, just business, Mother had a Hindu upbringing but a Baptist education, cancelling them and leaving her neutral

What happened at the meeting with Pi’s parents and his three religious teachers?

1. The three religious teachers try to convert Pi while dissing each other’s religions, Pi stops all arguments when he says, “I just want to love God.”

What did Pi say at the meeting of his parents and his religious teachers?

1. I just want to love God, All religions are true

What happened after the meeting of Pi's parents and his religious teachers?

1. Some people in the religious institutions shoo Pi away

What did Pi do when he didn't feel as welcome to his interfaith practices as before?

1. He changes churches, times to go to pray, and found alternative ways

What was the response of Pi's father to his request for Christian baptism and a prayer rug?

1. To ask his mother

What was the response of Pi's mother to his request for a Christian baptism and a prayer rug?

1. To ask his father, to read a few books, and then that he cannot have multiple religions like you cannot have multiple “nations”, then she gives in

What do Pi's parents think about his being so religious?

1. They hope that it’s just a phase that will pass but they allow it

What happened to Pi’s prayer rug?

1. He lost it

Describe Pi’s baptism. What happened and who attended this baptism?

1. Mother and Father were there, Ravi wasn’t, it was an awkward affair but Pi loved it (“It was as refreshing as monsoon rain”)

Why did Pi's father decide to move the family to Canada?

1. India isn’t going to modernize because of Mrs. Gandhi so they were going to move to a nation that does

What happens when the two Mr. Kumars in Pi's life meet by chance at the zoo?

1. They both feed zebras and tour the zoo together

Explain the reaction of Pi’s mother of the departure from India?

1. Pi’s mother is sad, hesitant, and is scared that there will be nothing familiar there

How did Richard Parker end up in the lifeboat with Pi?

1. Pi encouraged him to swim and threw a buoy to help him, it worked but Pi tried to push him off

How did Pi end up in the lifeboat?

1. He was pushed in by the sailors (To get rid of the hyena, because he was Indian)

Why did Pi throw himself out of the lifeboat?

1. Richard Parker entered the lifeboat so Pi tried to get away

Which major event occurred before the ship sank?

1. There was an explosion/storm that woke Pi up

What event showed that fortune was with Pi?

1. Pi was the only one that woke up from the explosion and got out before the flooding occurred and was able to be pushed into a lifeboat and then leave without those who are trying to use him

What was the reason why Pi decided to get back into the lifeboat?

1. There were sharks and he was tired of just hanging on the side of the lifeboat

As night fell on his first day in the lifeboat, why did Pi become scared?

1. Pi is scared because he is alone in the dark, in unfamiliar place with animals

During the first night on the lifeboat, what did the hyena do?

1. It stayed under the tarpaulin

How did Pi spend his second night on the lifeboat?

1. HIs eyes on the horizon for a ship and alert of the animals around him

When Pi saw a sea turtle near the boat, what did he do?

1. He asks the turtle to send a ship to rescue him

What made Pi re-evaluate his position in the lifeboat?

1. Realizing that he and Richard Parker are the only survivors

As Pi was losing hope, his courage rose and what did he no longer fear?

1. He is no longer scared of the hyena (page 136)

Why does Pi think that the hyena did not attack him?

1. Pi thinks that the hyena didn’t attack him because the hyena thought Pi was the tiger’s food

What did Pi plan to do with Richard Parker the night after he finished the raft?

1. Kill Richard Parker

What did Pi do when the sun rose the day after he built his raft?

1. He fell asleep again before waking up to realize that his plan will not work

What is life's only opponent, in the eyes of Pi?

1. Fear

What did Pi plan to do with the tiger once the tiger expressed friendliness and harmlessness?

1. Pi plans to train Richard Parker to see Pi as the leader

What did Pi first use to communicate with the tiger after his hope returned?

1. He uses the whistle

What did Pi do to modify the raft?

1. Ties another rope from the raft to the lifeboat, makes a canopy and a mast

When Pi awoke in the middle of the night and saw the huge moonlit sky before him, what did he think about himself and the rest of the sea?

1. He thinks that he is so small compared to other things in the world like the sea, which seems limitless and he thinks that his suffering doesn’t matter

Since Pi had no bait, what did he cut up to fish with in the morning, after his leather shoe was unsuccessful?

1. He uses the flying fish's head (page 184)

What did Pi bring to the tiger in the morning after they had both had a restless night's sleep?

1. A bucket of drinking water mixed with salt water (page 188)

What did Pi make the lifeboat more and more into?

1. A zoo enclosure (Page 189)

What did Pi spend a lot of time in the manual reading about and studying?

1. Navigation (page 192)

What did Pi do to keep Richard Parker satisfied?

1. Give Richard Parker fish (page 196)

What happened to the underside of Pi's raft?

1. It began to host lots of sealife like crabs, algae, shrimp, worms, slugs (page 197)

What did Pi do each time he thought he saw lights in the distance?

1. He shot a flare (page 199)

What did he do to provoke the tiger during training?

1. Noisily go into the neutral zone by blowing a whistle (page 203)

What was Pi careful to maintain with the tiger in his quest to be known by the tiger as the alpha male?

1. Eye contact, respect, and understanding

What did the tiger associate with trespassing to remember to avoid it?

1. Noisy whistles and seasickness

What did Pi use, lose, and re-create, to protect himself while training the tiger?

1. Shields made of turtle shells (page 205)

What did Pi find solace in, even though he had to continually reconsider his place in God's universe?

1. He does religious rituals such as say this is God’s hat or God’s attire

What was an act of deference by the tiger to Pi?

1. Hiding or trying to hide his poop from Pi

What emerged for Pi through the darkest times?

1. His faith

What did Pi do to exert his dominance over the tiger?

1. Blow the whistle 

What did Pi start to follow after his food supplies ran low?

1. He reduces his intake to only 2 biscuits every 8 hours (page 211)

What happened as starvation began to set in?

1. He begins to think about meals through fantasy

What did Pi always feel at the center of?

1. The sea, the wind, the sky, nights, moons (page 216)

What were the greatest contradictions, according to Pi?

1. Boredom and terror

After Pi was nearly starving, what did a storm of flying fish bring onto the boat?

1. A speacial dorado that’s fat and fleshy (page 221)

What did the crouching tiger do when Pi turned to face him after the storm?

1. Just stare at him (Fact check please)

What two things does Pi attribute his survival alongside Richard Parker with?

1. He was the source of food and water and he exploited Richard’s weak sea legs

Why did Pi give generously to the tiger at the cost of his own hunger and thirst?

1. Understood that if the tiger was hunger long enough, it would kill Pi

Where was Richard Parker's territory?

1. Under the tarpaulin

What did the great storm one afternoon take with it?

1. The raft

What did Pi manage to salvage after the great storm?

1. Tarpaulin, whistles, bucket, oars, and life jackets and solar stills

What did Pi and Richard Parker come eye to eye with after the great storm?

1. A massive whale

What was one method of Pi's escapism?

1. Using a dream rag to do gentle asphyxiation (stopping oxygen from getting to your brain)

What was a 'dream rag'?

1. Piece of cloth from a blanket

Once Pi's suffering became intense, what did he do with the greater part of his days?

What did Pi discover, days after the tiger started rubbing his eyes and meowing?

1. Richard Parker was blind

What happened after Pi discovered he was blind?

1. Pi began to hear voices

Whose voice did Pi start to hear after he discovered he was blind?

1. Richard Parker’s and then another blind survivor

What did Pi find when he boarded the other man's boat to scavenge for food?

1. Little turtle meat, dorado head, some biscuit crumbs, water (page 255)

What did the tiger do when he and Pi landed on the shore of the small island?

1. Go off to explore and kill meerkats

After spending a night in the trees, what did the fruit of one tree reveal to Pi?

1. Teeth of a human, showing that the island is carnivorous

Where did Pi, Richard Parker, and the lifeboat, finally land?

1. Mexico

Where were the two men from who were dispatched to the town where Pi recovered in an effort to interview him?

1. Long Beach, California (before the interview)

What did the interviewers want to know first?

1. What happened to Pi, in detail

What did Pi tell to the interviewers?

1. His story

What did the interviewers do after Pi finished telling them what he told them?

1. They give him a cookie and take a break

What did the interviewers tell Pi they thought about his story?

1. The interviewers don’t believe Pi’s story

What did Pi tell the interviewers after they gave their impressions of Pi's story?

1. Pi says that they want a story that confirms their suspicions, don’t want the truth, they want the predictable so he gives them a story without animals

What did the interviewing men decide had caused the ship to sink?

1. A hull breach

What did the officials say to the author about the interview with Pi?

1. It was “difficult and memorable”

What did the final report say about Pi's knowledge of the reason the ship sank?

1. He could “shed no light” on why it sank