Symbols, Symbolism and Significance in Yann Martel’s Life of
Pi: Specific Content Knowledge for Teacher Development
Visvaganthie Moodley
University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
Wits School of Education
Johannesburg
South Africa
Abstract
Symbols and symbolisms across literary genres are powerful rhetoric devices used to
enhance not only writers‟ style, but to convey richness in meaning that transcends narrative
descriptions. However, as its interpretations are context-bound, it causes anxieties for the
under-proficient language teacher who, firstmost, requires deep specific content knowledge to
drive instruction and enhance cognition amongst learners. Using qualitative descriptive case
study, this paper aims to provide specific content knowledge by examining the literary use of
symbols, symbolisms and significance in Yann Martel‟s „Life of Pi‟, which has been
prescribed as a set book for Grade 12 school-exiting learners in South Africa, for the year
2017 onwards. The paper will – by analysing arbitrary, cultural and personal symbolisms and
significances, mostly through psychoanalytical lens – unravel covert meanings and messages
in cultural, religious and environmental contexts whilst simultaneously showing how these
are pivotal to understanding major themes in the novel.
Key words: Life of Pi [Novel], literature, symbols and symbolisms, significance, context,
themes, specific content knowledge, higher order thinking
1. Introduction
World acclaimed post-modernistic Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is one of the newly
prescribed novels for study by approximately 120000 Grade 12, English Home Language
(EHL) learners across the nine provinces in South Africa. The combination of the
introduction of a newly introduced novel; its teaching by first and second language English-
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speaking teachers to linguistically and culturally diverse learners; lack of professional
development programs across the country for pedagogical content knowledge in literature
teaching; and the pressure of preparing grade 12 candidates for highstakes school-exiting
national examinations, raise debilitative anxieties amongst teachers in their efforts at
addressing the aims of literature teaching in the high-school classroom. In the introductory
paragraph of “Approaches to Teaching Literature” of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy
Statement (CAPS), Grades 10 – 12 EHL, which embodies the aims of literature teaching, the
following is stated (the use of italics is my emphasis for the purposes of this paper):
The main reason for reading literature in the classroom is to develop in learners a
sensitivity to a special use of language that is more refined, literary, figurative,
symbolic, and deeply meaningful than what of much else they may read. … [Writers‟]
imaginative use of language is an added method of revealing, reinforcing and
highlighting their ideas (DBE, p.11).
With the explicit focus on unearthing symbolic meaning for thematic understanding, the
teaching of symbols and symbolisms, and significances of objects, events and relationships is
particularly arduous for teachers as these are literary devices that transcend the ordinary,
literal, paraphrase language that is more accessible and more easily understood without
focused content knowledge enlightenment. In Life of Pi, Martel draws on various symbols
and symbolisms to convey hidden messages – names, colour, animals, objects and events – to
convey and add to important themes, and raise significant questions pertaining to religion,
philosophy and general attitude to life and death. Various objects, events and relationships
also bear significance for Pi and his ultimate survival.
In his interview with Ellen Killoran of International Business Times (IBT), Martel avers:
“Any work of art is half a thing. It is completed when it meets its reader. It‟s in that meeting
between the imaginations of the creator and the reader that art becomes whole.” Yet, while
much has been written about symbolisms in Life of Pi with the interpretative licence of the
reader, some interpretations require convincing when measured against criteria for symbolic
understanding such as those proffered by Perrine (1974) (provided further on). In making
interpretative symbolic relationships and significances in Life of Pi for the benefit of teacher
specific content development, I focus on events, major topics and themes, relationships and
recurring issues: the shipwreck, names of protagonists, Pi‟s swimming and religious training,
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Pi and Pondicherry Zoo, as well as objects, encounters and people that signify Pi‟s struggle
for survival.
2.
Theoretical sight
2.1
Symbols, symbolism and significance
“Symbolism” has established itself in modernistic and post-modernistic genres as a way in
which writers could express themselves in suggestive use of symbolized language. Whilst
various researchers on the subject such as Shaw (1881) and Perrine (1974)proffer subtle
variations in meanings, the common characteristic is its double entendre; a symbol is used to
represent and give value to something else. Thakur (1965), in making reference to its use
Symbolist literary movement, refers to its use as a way of adding a spiritual, mystical feature
to literature, with unstated, covert meaning. Similarly, on considering the effect of a symbol
on the psyche, Campbell (2013) proposes that a symbol is “an energy-evoking, and -directing
agent” and “when given a meaning, either corporeal or spiritual, it serves for the engagement
of the energy to itself.” He goes on to explain that, “a symbol, like everything else, shows a
double aspect”.
In their well acclaimed book, Style in Fiction, Leech and Short (2007 p.20) refer to
significance as “the total of what is communicated to the world by a given sentence or text”
and contend that to study a text well one must not be simply “looking at the text, but of
looking through the text to its significance.” In her discussion of the classification of
symbols, Rokni, in Faedee (2011 p.20) refers to “signification” as an arbitrary symbol which
is known in a particular facet of study. Kress (2010) uses the terms "signifier" and "signified"
– the “signifier” refers to the word or graphic entity and the “signified”; signification refers to
the meaning of signs and symbols. Jung, in Campbell (2013), however, draws a distinction
between “signs” and “symbols”: “the sign is a reference to some concept or object, definitely
known [and] the symbol is the best possible figure by which allusion may be made to
something relatively unknown.” On this note, Campbell (ibid.) specifies that there is “an
imprecise fusion of sign and symbol”; a symbol can be significant to a person or culture.
In classifying symbols, Shamisa, in Faedee (2011 p.20) proposes two types that are
noteworthy for teachers, viz., arbitrary symbols (also known as archetype or universal
symbols) and personal symbols (also known as private symbols). Arbitrary symbols are
common and familiar ones, the meanings of which the reader readily recognizes as they
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“represent common patterns of human life”. These, recur in the various genres – art, folklore,
myth, fairy tales, literature and so on, and derive from shared universal experiences – such as
death, love and survival – across cultures and races. Examples of archetype symbols found
cross-culturally include: (i) recurring symbolic situations, for example, the lady in distress
rescued by an eligible man who later marries her; (ii) recurring themes, for example, pride
preceding a fall and the inevitable nature of fate and death; (iii) recurring characters, for
example, evil witches, good fairies and the villain in black; (iv) symbolic colours, for
example, green as a symbol for vegetation and of life and red as a symbol of love, passion
and blood; and (v) recurring images, for example, water, the serpent, the dove and the cross
(ibid). Personal symbols however, are created by the writer who attributes his/her meaning
peculiar to it and is therefore not easily recognized and understood by the reader. Examples
of private symbols include Yeats‟ (1919) use of “gyre” to symbolize the cycles of history and
the “sphinx” in “The Second Coming” as an emblem of the antichrist; Donne‟s (1633) use of
“twin compasses” in “A Valediction: forbidding mourning” to symbolize the constancy of
love between lovers; and the letter “A” to mark the fallen heroine‟s adultery in Nathaniel
Hawthorne‟s (1850) The Scarlett Letter. In addition to the broad classifications of arbitrary
and personal symbolisms, is cultural symbolism which refers to meanings that are uniquely
attributed to a specific culture, for example, in western culture, wearing white at a wedding is
symbolic of innocence and purity and black symbolizes mourning; in Hindu culture, white is
symbolic of death and is the colour worn at funerals and considered ominous to be worn at
weddings. Unlike Thakur‟s (1965) contention that the symbol and its meaning must be
intuitively and instantly understood, Perrine (1974, p.214) cautions that when making
symbolic interpretations: (i) The reader should derive meaning from the clues that the story
furnishes, identified by repetition, emphasis or position;(ii) meaning must be established and
supported by the context of the story itself; (iii) a symbolic item must suggest a meaning
other than its denotative self; and(iv) a symbol may be attributed more than one meaning.
2.2
Allegory in Life of Pi
Allegory, interwoven with symbolism, is a rhetorical device that acts as an extended
metaphor “to convey hidden meanings through symbolic figures, actions, imagery, and/or
events, which together create the moral, spiritual, or political meaning the author wishes to
convey” (Wikipedia). In his short essay, How I wrote Life of Pi, Martel (2006) says, “I was
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in need of a story. More than that, I was in need of a Story” (my emphasis); and that it was on
the hills of Matheran, a hill station near Mumbai, that the premise of Moacyr Scliar‟s (1990),
Max and the Cats, sparked off Life of Pi. Scliar‟s political allegorical novel, in which a
young, ship-wrecked Jewish man seeks refuge in a lifeboat with a black panther, presents the
panther as a symbol of Nazism. The allegory in Life of Pi, however, is a philosophical and
spiritual one, and not as explicit; it is represented only in the alternative story, where the
animals are allegorical (Sielke, 2003, p.22) to the Japanese investigators who regard the
initial story with the animals in disbelief:
Mr Okamoto: “Mr. Patel, we don‟t believe your story.… We want a story without
animals that will explain the sinking of the Tsimtsum” (p.292).
In response, Pi relates a story that is not hard to believe; an allegorical representation of
the animals on the life boat, of pain, suffering, horror and cannibalism: his mother (the
maternally instinctive orang-utan) is killed by the French cook (the cowardly hyena); the
young sailor (the exotic zebra) is butchered and eaten by the cook; and Pi (the ferocious
surviving tiger) who kills and eats the cook. The story of pain and suffering are readily
believable, because it is a universally shared experience and because, “anyone who has
suffered wants their suffering to be accepted” (Martel, 2013).The horror of the brutal murders
are also readily accepted, because such actions are antagonistic to the morals and values of
society, universally. Even the cannibalistic behaviour of Pi and the cook are within reason;
one of the customs of the sea is the practice of shipwrecked survivors to draw lots to
determine who is to be killed and eaten for self-preservation (see Hanson, 1999).
3.
The shipwreck
The wrecking of the Japanese cargo ship on 2 July 1977, with its Japanese officers,
Taiwanese crew, Pi‟s family and their zoo animals, off the Pacific Ocean, midst its journey
from India to Canada, creates the scene for the castaway protagonist‟s struggle for survival
on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. The wreck embodies the unexpected adversities, and the
inevitable and inexplicable pain and suffering that people across nations and cultures must
endure as a natural progression in life. The narrator, however, contends that this premise is
not only true for mankind but for animals as well. For Martel (2002), the ship sinking was
“symbolic of the things, the accidents that happen to [people] in life, inexplicably.” The
wreck embodies too, the sympathetic flow of people toward the sufferer; hence, the Japanese
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investigators‟ acceptance of the second story with humans, and not animals, on the lifeboat.
The “reasonable” or more credible story not only heightens the reader‟s empathic impulse but
coerces him/her to see how the four surviving characters, ungoverned by the dictates of a
civilized and provident society, reveal their primal instinctive forces which drive their
actions. In addition, the wreck creates the space, through Pi‟s experiences, for the reader to
engage with the key philosophical-spiritual idea introduced by the elderly Mr Francis
Adirubasamy when he says to the author-narrator, “I have a story that will make you believe
in God” (p. xii). From these, the language teacher should discern that the shipwreck is crucial
for development of plot; analyses of character; examination of relationships between man and
man, and man and animal; and exploration of major themes in the novel – all of which are
key skills of literature study.
4.
Names in Life of Pi
4.1
Piscine (Pi)
In Hinduism, the birth-right of Pi, the naming of babies is a ritualistic process; guided by a
priest, an auspicious name that is charged with symbolic meaning is given to the newly born.
In literature too, the naming of characters by renowned authors is deliberate, and often
symbolic. The carefully chosen names of the man and animal protagonists in Life of Pi are
part of the celebration of Martel as prize-author. Pi, Piscine Molitor, was named by his
father‟s business acquaintance, Francis Adirubasamy (whom Pi called “Mamaji”, meaning
“uncle”, a mark of cultural respect in India)after the swimming pool, Piscine Molitor, “the
crowning aquatic glory of Paris, indeed, of the entire civilized world” and “a pool the gods
would have delighted to swim in”. However, because of its homonymic likeness to “pissing”
the name became a source of mortification for Pi at school; children taunted him: “It‟s
Pissing Patel!” and “Where‟s Pissing? I‟ve got to go”, and even the teacher acknowledged
Pi‟s hand up in class when volunteering an answer, with, “Yes, Pissing”. Like “the persecuted
prophet Muhammad in Mecca [who] planned his flight to Medina”, Pi plans his “escape and
the beginning of a new time” as he creates a holistic identity of “I am who I am” (pp.20–21).
Hence, “wearing [his] crown of thorns” (p.20) Pi wittingly chooses the abbreviated,
transcendental, irrational number „Pi‟ /paI/, identified by the 16th Greek symbol /π/ which
refers to the ratio of a circle‟s circumference to its diameter, equal to 3.1415926 …to infinity;
the transcendence of /π/ implies that it is impossible to square the circle and that it has no
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discernible pattern (Wikipedia).Yet, scientists use this number to make organized sense of the
universe. Martel compares this to religion, which though “irrational” holds people and the
universe together (International Business Times, 2013)– a major theme of the novel. The
control and respect that Pi elicits once he adds the signification of the mathematical /π/ to his
name is symbolic of a combination of his rationality and faith in God that will see his triumph
over his “grief, ache and endurance” (p.283) at sea.
4.2
Richard Parker
The name “Richard Parker” assigned to the Bengal tiger was a clerical error; the name of
the hunter who darted the mother of the cub, Thirsty, was Richard Parker –Thirsty, who
joined Pondicherry Zoo, was called Richard Parker. The immediate significance, of course, is
that the man-hunter and animal-hunter share the same name; an ominous prophecy of duality
in will, that Pi experiences on the lifeboat. However, the attribution of a human first name
and surname to the tiger, signifies the problem of “Animalus Anthropomorphicus, the animal
as seen through human eyes [where] … we look at an animal and see a mirror”(p.31).Pi‟s
credulous attempt at building an anthropomorphized, almost human-like relationship with
Richard Parker is by admission not without sensibility: “I may have anthropomorphized the
animals [at the zoo] till they spoke fluent English … But I never deluded myself as to the real
nature of my playmates” (p.34). Pi‟s practical understanding that “an animal is an
animal”(p.31), acquired at the tender age of 8, together with the training of animals at the
zoo, contributes significantly to his ultimate survival. If Pi is indeed Richard Parker, as the
allegorical interpretation avers, then Martel invites the reader to evaluate the moral conflicts
of those who, when under extreme physiological duress, become psychologically deviant; an
issue that teachers could explore in the classroom for developing higher order thinking
amongst learners.
4.3
Tsimtsum
The concept tzimtzum has evoked different envisions by theoretical kabbalists; however, I
draw on the Lurianic envisagement for symbolic understanding of “Tsimtsum” in Life of Pi.
In his in-depth study of key thinkers in the history of Jewish faith, Cohn-Sherbok (1997)
explains that according to Isaac Luria, a Jewish prophet of the 16th C, the act of Creation was
initially a negative one – God the Infinite “had to bring into being an empty space in which
creation could take place since divine light was everywhere leaving no room for creation to
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occur”. This was accomplished by the process of tzimtzum – the contraction of divine light so
that the process of creation could be initiated. However the resultant emanations or “vessels”
of empty space could not contain the pure divine light, causing it to break into two parts; the
elements in the lower part of the empty space expressed themselves as the power of evil and
the upper part, purity. The Jewish name of the Japanese vessel is therefore significant. Firstly,
it attributing a Jewish name that sounds Japanese, Martel succeeds in incorporating a fourth
religion in the novel rather subtly, and secondly and more significantly, it provides an
understanding of man‟s potential for harbouring and manifesting the conflicting forces of
good and evil. The latter is directly aligned with Sigmund Freud‟s psychoanalytic theory
which, at its most simplistic, suggests that man is in continual conflict between his instinctual
impulses and social expectations. Those impulses that are socially repugnant are repressed
and must by necessity be dealt with in rational ways (Freud, 1923). The name of the ship, as
well as its wreck which leaves Pi devoid of his family and in utter isolation to survive his
ordeal, symbolizes the space that is created in Pi‟s life wherein he will realize his potential
for evil and good – not only does he manifest his instinctual impulses by shifting from
vegetarian to cannibal for survival, but through the process realize his absolute belief in God.
It is through Pi‟s practice of both faith and reason that Martel creates a space for the
argument that Pi represses his barbaric instinctual behaviour by providing the story of
animals, so that each animal on the lifeboat is symbolic of a human character or that Pi‟s
prodigious strength can be attributed to the miracle of Divinity.
5.
Pi’s swimming and religious training
Pi‟s relationship with his aquatic guru, Mr Adirubasamy, and his three religious gurus; the
incident of the unexpected meeting between Pi, his family and the three priests; deities;
objects and colour are weighted in significance and symbolic rhetoric that contribute to
understanding Pi‟s religious growth as he, inspired by Gandhi‟s assertion that “all religions
are true”, aspires towards “just [wanting] to love God” (p.69). This liberated love is “the
standard through which Pi judges religion true” (Morse, 2013). Pi‟s espousing of Hinduism,
Christianity and Islam succours him during his calamity at sea and his life after survival; his
house “is a temple” enshrined with the images of Ganesha, Mother Mary, Kaaba, Shiva,
Krishna, the Cross, green prayer rug and the Bible.
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Pi‟s rigorous, ritualistic swimming lessons since the age of seven, from pool to sea, under
the religious eye of Mr Adirubasamy, bears significance as Pi‟s swimming prowess is
instrumental to his survival; had he not been such a skilful swimmer, Pi would have died
immediately. In addition, in his course of survival which involved strategically sharing the
lifeboat with Richard Parker, Pi needed to often get off the boat into the sea. The combination
of Pi‟s almost natural ability to swim is intrinsically interwoven with his love of life and
instinct to survive which he transfers onto Richard Parker; when the panic-stricken, drowning
tiger battles the wild waters having jumped overboard, Pi screams: “Don‟t you love life?
Keep swimming then! … Kick with your legs. Kick! Kick! Kick!”(p.98). Indeed, if Pi is
Richard Parker, it would be Pi‟s inner voice that urges him to “kick” and “keep swimming”,
in his choosing life above death. Pi‟s physical ordeals are accompanied by a spiritual journey;
it is in his calamitous space that he can manifest his faith and belief that “the true God exists
outside the confines of institutional religion” (Stephens, 2010, p.42). However, this is
achieved only over time.
The impact of Hinduism and Hindu deities on Pi‟s survival is perhaps best encapsulated in
his statement: “The universe makes sense to me through Hindu eyes”(p.48).Pi makes
reference to a number of deities – Shiva, Rama, Krishna, Shakti and Ganesha, among others –
but it is Lord Vishnu whom he mostly invokes. According to Hindu scriptures, Vishnu
derives from the root, vish, which means to spread. He appears as a solar deity whose rays
envelop the earth and is a symbol of providence. Depicted as a sky-blue four-armed God, he
denotes his cosmic dimensions and connection to the gods of thunder and rain, and his
relationship with the earth. The four hands, which hold a conch (symbolising eternity), a
discus (signifying the cyclic nature and duality of existence), a lotus (symbolic of creation
and fertility) and a mace (representing the power of time) express dominion over the four
spatial directions (Kumar, n.d.). Hence Pi‟s invocations to Vishnu signify Pi‟s conviction that
he owes his survival to, together with Allah and Christ, the provider Vishnu. When Pi is
exuberantly grateful on successfully catching a dorado, he shouts to Vishnu the provider:
“Thank you, Lord Vishnu, thank you! … Once you saved the world by taking the form of a
fish. Now you have saved me by taking the form of a fish. Thank you, thank you!” (p.185).
Pi‟s introduction to Christ, the “story-telling”, “talking”, “pedestrian” Son of God, by
Father Martin, bothered Pi: “Every day [he] burned with greater indignation against Him,
found more flaws to Him” (p.56). Pi compares the all-powerful compelling divinity of
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Vishnu with the suffering, humiliated Christ and is gently led to accept that the “The death of
the Son [is] real” and that “divinity [cannot] be blighted by death” (p.54). He gradually
perceives the Cross as a symbol of love and redemption in present time. The power of life
over death, manifested in the resurrection of Christ, spurs Pi‟s will to survive at a subconscious level. Of significance too, is Pi‟s comparison of the beheaded orang-utan, Orange
Juice, to “a simian Christ on the Cross” (p.132); using psychoanalytic theory, Pi perceives his
mother who is killed by the cook whilst protecting him, as the self-sacrificial Christ.
Similarly, Pi‟s imaginative faith and “just [wanting] to love God” (p. 69) leads him, a year
after being led to the Church, to the mosque where his first experience makes him think that
“Islam is nothing but an easy sort of exercise” – subsequently, in performing the prayer by
bringing his forehead to the ground, Pi immediately feels “a deeply religious contact” (p. 61).
Mr Satish Kumar, a Muslim mystic, like Father Martin, provides Pi with the imaginative
space within which he can realize his potential to love God through Islam, “a beautiful
religion of brotherhood and devotion” (p.61).
The fateful meeting of the three “wise men” (the pundit, priest and imam) with Pi‟s family
at the esplanade is significant in “othering” the historical enmity of Hinduism, Christianity
and Islam (Cloete, 2007) and foregrounding the limitations of institutionalized religious
practice whilst simultaneously highlighting the quiddity of spiritual practice. In espousing the
three religions unequivocally, Pi calls upon all three “Gods” to succour him in times of his
fears and physical deprivations. For example, (i) when he sees Richard Parker struggling to
stay at the surface of the water he shouts: “Jesus, Mary, Muhammad and Vishnu, how good
to see you Richard Parker!” (p. 97); (ii) when Pi is in disbelief about the reality of the
shipwreck, he calls: “Vishnu preserve me, Allah protect me, Christ save me, I can‟t bear it!”
and (iii) when he sees Richard Parker close to the life boat: “Jesus, Mary, Muhammad and
Vishnu!” (pp.7–8).Of significance too, is Pi‟s respect of atheists cultivated by his relationship
with Mr Kumar, his school biology teacher, “the first avowed atheist [he] ever met” (p.25).
Mr Kumar‟s perception of Pondicherry Zoo as his “temple” and paradoxical denouncement
of religion as “darkness” prompts Pi to believe that “atheists are [his] brothers and sisters of a
different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith” (pp.26–8). Despite Pi‟s vacillation
in religious worship, his belief in faith is epitomized in “the evidence of things not seen”
(Hebrews 11, The New King James version).
6.
Pi and Pondicherry Zoo
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Pondicherry Zoo, which provides the anchorage for the story of faith and reason, is
weighted with significance with regard to, among other motifs, the efficacy of Pi‟s training
and lessons as the son of a zookeeper in keeping Richard Parker as a companion on the life
boat; respect for animals as animals; and the place of the auspicious meeting of Mr Kumar
(the Biology teacher) and Mr Kumar (the Islamic priest).
The story that was meant to make the author, Martel, believe in God, begins in
Pondicherry, India. For Pi, Pondicherry Zoo, founded and directed by his father Santosh
Patel, was “paradise on earth” (p.14).Pi has an awareness of the behavioural patterns of each
of the animals, and his love, respect and knowledge of them cause him to challenge the
stereotypic notion of zoos as animal prisons and in turn raises the question of the meaning of
freedom. His comment that, “animals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity
within an unforgiving social hierarchy in an environment where the supply of fear is high and
the supply of food low and where territory must constantly be defended and parasites forever
endured” (p.16),signifies both Pi‟s own instinctual animal behaviour on the lifeboat in his
fight for survival as well as his carefully crafted plan to keep Richard Parker alive. His indepth knowledge and understanding of animals – their spatial relations (“An animal inhabits
its space … in the same way chess pieces move about a chessboard – significantly” (p.16); its
territorial nature exhibited by its urine and other secretions; and its contentment within a
ritualistic and safe environment – are key to training Richard Parker on the lifeboat. Pi‟s first
successful mock circus training of Richard Parker determines Pi‟s plan number seven – to
keep the tiger alive. Thus, he garners all he had learnt about animals and animal training to
engineer his plan.
The graphic lesson of Mahisha‟s brutal attack of the goat, by Pi‟s father – as well as the
tragic stories of the foolishness of man in pitting himself against animals such as the lion,
bear, hippos, hyenas and orang-utans – are critical in making Pi understand that “an animal is
an animal, essentially and practically removed from [man]” (p. 31).In addition, the mirror
beyond the ticket booth that reflects man as the most dangerous animal in the zoo is symbolic
of the negation of God‟s ordinance of man‟s dominion over animals, (Genesis 1, The New
King James Version)instead of, as Stephens (2010) notes, “putting animals back at the centre
of our secular and religious imaginations”. A further significant lesson that Pi learns from his
father is that there is another animal more dangerous than man – “the redoubtable species
Aniamlus anthropomorphicus, the animal as seen through human eyes. Here, we look at an
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animal and also see a mirror and by putting ourselves at the centre of everything” (p.31)
foster a delusion of the real nature of an animal. Having learnt this pragmatic truth, Pi sees
the Bengal tiger for what it is – a predator that will not hesitate to pounce on him at slightest
agitation or pang of hunger. Hence, his careful and conscious design of Richard Parker‟s
training: maintaining a diminished animal flight distance and painstakingly providing water,
food, shelter and protection for the tiger; in so doing, agenting self-preservation.
Pondicherry Zoo is also the meeting place of the two prophets of Pi‟s Indian youth, Mr
Kumar, the Biology teacher, and Mr Kumar, the Islamic priest, signifying the fusion of Pi‟s
interest and study of zoology and religious studies. It is at the zoo, and not the classroom, that
Pi learns that Mr Satish Kumar was an “avowed atheist” who perceived “nature as a whole
[as an] exceptionally fine illustration of science”. Mr Kumar visited the zoo “to take the pulse
of the universe”. Ironically, he says that the zoo is his temple but that “religion is darkness”
as it was not God who had cured him of polio but science. In claiming that “reason is [his]
prophet”, Mr Kumar‟s religion is science and his respect and love of animals is an expression
of what spiritualists might describe as godly love. It is perhaps this attitude towards animals
that nurtures Pi‟s kinship with Mr Kumar: “It was my first clue that atheists are my brothers
and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as
far as the legs of reason will carry them – and then they leap” (pp.25-8).
The incidental meeting of the two Kumars at the zoo and their feeding of the carrot to the
zebra marks the similarities between the biologist and prophet; both are in awe of the zebra
even though each praises science and God, respectively:
Mr. Kumar said, “Equusburchelliboehmi.”
Mr. Kumar said, “Allahuakbar.”
I said, “It‟s very pretty.”
We looked on (p.84).
This is a momentous occurrence for Pi: firstly, the “we” signifies the shared feelings of the
three in admiring the zebra; secondly, it marks the fusion of Pi‟s love for science and religion
and his subsequent academic study; and thirdly it highlights the theme of the balance between
science and religion in Pi‟s survival at sea. Balancing science and religion although complex
in principle and pragmatics appears to be a natural phenomenon for Pi. Neither a Darwinian
nor fundamentalist, he intermingles logic with faith such that one cannot exist independently
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of the other; Pi uses reason as the swords of battle being “fully equipped with latest weapons
technology”, and hope and trust, reason‟s allies (pp.161–2).
Objects and eventssignifying Pi’s struggle for survival
7.
Pi‟s every trial and state of mind bear significance– a full discussion of which is
constrained due to the spatial dimensions of this paper. I therefore engage with symbols,
symbolism and significance of what I consider to be important objects and major events
crucial for understanding Pi‟s physical ordeals and spiritual enlightenment as well as the
author-narrator‟s philosophical offerings: the lifeboat and its paraphernalia; the four animals
on the lifeboat as symbolic of human traits; Pi‟s encounter with the blind Frenchman; the
carnivorous algae island and the interrogation by the Japanese officials.
7.1
The lifeboat and its paraphernalia
The lifeboat
The arbitrary symbolism of the lifeboat is one of hope, the promise of life, the connection
with land. Subjected to the terrifying expanse of vicissitudinous waters and its mercy, the
lifeboat with its two occupants creates the space for Pi‟s spiritual development through
physical enervation; in ultimately surviving, Pi gains the realization that faith means seeing
oneself in God and seeing God in oneself. As rhetoric, the incredible events on the lifeboat
serve to further Martel‟s desire to appeal to the reader‟s poetic faith, an “aesthetic suspension
of disbelief” (Wolf, 2004, p.118), thereby coercing the reader to opt for the “better story”; the
appeal to the reader‟s poetic faith in eliciting meaning urges belief in the “better story”.
The orange whistle
Various items on the lifeboat such as the lifejackets, food supply, book and pens, hatchets,
rain catchers, the dream rag and whistle accumulatively symbolize survival – but of particular
significance is the orange beadless whistle. As a universal symbol, the small whistle with its
shrill sound emblematizes control, “a good whip with which to keep [Richard Parker] in line”
(p.164). In training Richard Parker, Pi uses the whistle to create a zoo-like environment and
establish his own place as a zookeeper and psychological bully (p.211). At the
psychoanalytical level, the orange whistle is the watchdog of Pi‟s conscience and instinctual
motivation for survival. It is a personal symbol of guarding Pi‟s sanity: “Cradled in the palm
of my hand was all that remained between me and death: the last of the orange whistle”
(p.229). Pi uses the whistle to discipline himself with all the stints for survival including
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resisting the urge to commit suicide by drowning. Of significance too is the colour of the
whistle – orange, “such a nice Hindu colour – is the colour of survival because the whole
inside of the boat and the tarpaulin and the life jackets and the lifebuoy and the oars and most
every other significant object aboard was orange” (p.138). In Hinduism, the auspicious
orange symbolizes “the inner fire that drives a person to excel and renounce certain worldly
pleasures for the sake of greater good” (Bhatta, 1984).The “orange whistle” then, represents
Pi‟s self-discipline in his perseverance in choosing life over death.
7.2
The four animals on the lifeboat as symbols of human traits
I have already mentioned the allegorical interpretation of Life of Pi, for the want of
choosing “the better story”. Drawing on psychoanalytic theory, each of animals – the tiger,
orang-utan, hyena and zebra – symbolize the characteristics of people of their allegorical
representation. Drawing on Freud‟s psychoanalytic theory, the tiger, Pi, symbolizes man‟s
deep dark forces; the orang-utan, Pi‟s mother, the maternal nurturing figure; the hyena, the
cook, man‟s greed; and the zebra, the sailor, the innocent victim. According to Freud‟s
psychoanalytic theory, more specifically his structural theory of personality, the mind
comprises three components, the id, ego and superego. The id is the house of
unconsciousness which concerns itself chiefly with instant gratification of physical needs and
urges; the superego is the consciousness of a person‟s behaviour, resulting from society‟s
rules and expectations and serves as the conscience; and the ego is the rational pragmatic part
of the self which strives at creating a balance between the id and superego (Thomson,
1968).Given favourable circumstances, such as Pi‟s desperate need for survival in his state of
isolation, unchecked by Society, their could rise to the surface. Using this theory, Richard
Parker is, as Burns (1785) states, “Pi‟s doppelganger, an unconscious projection within
himself.” The tiger, Richard Parker, is Pi‟s a projection of his fierce, dark energies and as
Mensch (2007) suggests, a way of suppressing the horrors he had committed and could not
face in ordinary life. Such horrors include Pi‟s temptation to drink his urine and eat his
excrement, butchering turtles and resorting to, like the cook, cannibalism. Mensch (2007)
proposes, however, that Pi harbours the characteristics of not only the predatory tiger and
revolting hyena, but also the loving orang-utan and exotic zebra. These latter qualities and his
faith set him apart from the cook (Morse, 2013, p.20) despite his growing insanity. The tiger
also represents Pi‟s inner impulse for survival; when a passing ship fails to see him, he says:
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“Don‟t give up Richard Parker, don‟t give up. I‟ll get you to land, I promise, I promise!”
(p.236).
The hyena is a strong-jawed carnivorous, predatory animal reputed as “a scurrilous and
sneaky scavenger”; for preying on as large an animal as the zebra and for its characteristic
maniacal giggle (Animal Facts Encyclopaedia) – the hyena and the cook are coextensive. The
cook contextually symbolizes man‟s potential for evil and denouncement of God when
motivated by gluttony –one of the seven deadly sins proffered in the Bible (Proverbs 16, The
New King James Version)He, who was “right away … in a holy terror of hunger” and whose
“mouth had the discrimination of a garbage heap” devours flies even though it was only the
first day on the life-boat when supplies were still ample; eats the rat; secretly eats the biscuits;
steals food and water when Pi and his mother scan the horizons for an island; and slaps Pi for
not being able to hold onto a turtle when they were starving. The cook deceitfully convinces
Pi and his mother of the necessity of amputating the sailor‟s injured leg when, in fact, he
wanted to use it as bait: when Pi makes to throw the leg overboard, the cook says, “Don‟t be
an idiot. We‟ll use it as bait. That was the whole point.” When the sailor dies, he “promptly
butcher[s] him” and cuts up his body; scalps him and openly relishes cannibalising the sailor
to defy Mother when she marks his monstrosity. The depth of the cook‟s dark soul is evident
when he mercilessly stabs Mother several times, decapitates her and hurls her head to Pi, and
throws her body overboard after drinking her blood: “I looked up. I could not see him. He
appeared when he threw my mother‟s body overboard. His mouth was red” (pp. 304 –10).
The manifestation of such deep dark forces that lurk in the id in man is an active resistance to
everything that is humane.
The zebra, signifying the sailor, in its innocence, meekness and beauty represents the
antithesis of the hyena. At Pondicherry Zoo, the zebra draws the attention of both the biology
teacher and Islamic priest for its beauty and wonder. The nameless sailor too is “beautiful”
and “elegant”, and his suffering which makes him vulnerable and helpless like a child
symbolizes the large majority of people who are powerless to protect themselves against the
powerful. Drawing on the political history of India, when the French took occupation of
Pondicherry (1674–1947), the sailor is contextually symbolic of the Indians and the French
cook, France. In addition, the sailor‟s suffering is significant in highlighting the contrasting
qualities in and of man: it evokes the sympathetic virtues of Pi and Mother – they offer him
as much comfort as possible and attempt at easing the inexorable pain of having to watch his
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amputated leg being drained by the cook; and it evinces the bestial cruelty of the cook who
barbarously butchers him for the sake of his own survival.
The orang-utan which bears her gift of bananas as she approaches the lifeboat signifies
Mother who embraces the universal symbolism of “mother” the nurturer, comforter and
protector. This is classically portrayed in the behaviour and attitude of Pi‟s mother,
particularly on the lifeboat. She comforts the young sailor by holding his head on her lap;
gives him water though it was in scarce; silently reproves yet understands Pi‟s furtively
eating the biscuits with the cook; courageously confronts the cook on his greed and savagery;
and displays indomitable spirit in protecting her son against the cook, resulting in her
butchery.
7.3
Pi‟s blindness and encounter with the blind Frenchman
Pi rates the day he went blind as “the day [his] extreme suffering began and his „[resolve]
to die”. He concludes that he could no longer take care of Richard Parker, prepares to reunite
with his family in the life after death and “leave matters in the hands of God”(pp.241–2). In
his delirium and delusion he hears another voice – that of the blind Frenchman on another
lifeboat. “For Pi to call him „my dear brother‟ is to admit implicitly that the animality with
him is both tiger and hyena” (Mensch, 2007, p.141). Their theme conversation is food, from
Indian vegetable delights to “sacrilegious recipes” to the inedible. While Pi‟s blindness is a
direct result of nutritional deprivation, it is symbolic of his conscience; he struggles with the
conflict between his religious teachings, upbringing and the gentle essence of his being, and
his acts of butchery, murder, cannibalism and becoming a “carnivorous rascal” for survival.
The blind Frenchman is the means by which he engages in dialogue for, paradoxically,
gaining sanity in his insanity. This episode is critical in signifying Pi‟s assertion of the true
inner self, the identity of his former self: “„MY NAME,‟ I roared to the elements with my last
breath, „IS PISCINE MOLITOR PATEL.‟ ….„Do you hear me? I am Piscine Molitor Patel,
known to all as Pi Patel‟” (p. 249). Hence, when Pi survives he is able to reconcile his
horrendous acts for survival with his true inner-self.
7.4
The carnivorous algae island
Like the episode of blindness, the floating algae island symbolizes Pi‟s conflict between
his vegetarian and carnivorous self; the conflict between the spirit and the body. In his
derangement, chiefly induced by hunger, Pi sees an island of “chlorophyll heaven” (p.258)
which he later describes as a “vegetable ship” (p.279). This is symbolic not only of the
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nourishment that his body craves, but also the spiritual nourishment (green, the symbolic
colour if Islam) that Pi needs to keep up his journey of survival. However, the life-giving
diurnal vitality that returns Pi to life starkly contrasts with the nocturnal forces of the
predatory algae that forces him to flee the island. His resolution to seek refuge in the lifeboat
springs from his discovery of the mysterious ambivalent activities on the island – and the
discovery of human molars at the core of the fruit of a tree. The latter is symbolic of Pi‟s
confrontation with his conscience; finally facing up to his anti-spiritual deeds, he is
sufficiently spiritually nourished to continue his fight for life. As a structural device Pi‟s
episode on the carnivorous island demonstrates Martel‟s clever preparation for Pi‟s survival:
Pi is set in developing from a loss of will to live to grappling with his conscience to returning
to his former state of vegetarianism to facing up to conscience. He artfully introduces Pi‟s
perception of the island as Gandhian, returning to Pi‟s desire to lead a spiritual life
unshackled by the boundaries of religious practices; that which the author witnesses in Pi‟s
home.
7.5. The Japanese officials
Entangled in the dispute over the origin of the bones found on the lifeboat, the Japanese
officials make clear their purpose in interviewing Pi: “„We are here because a Japanese cargo
ship owned by Oika Shipping Company, flying the Panamanian flag, sank in the Pacific‟”;
and that while they liked the first story “very much”, for the purposes of their investigation,
they “would like to know what really happened”[my emphasis](p.301).The Japanese officials
represent what Shadurski (2013)refers to as the “time-tested dichotomy” of the relationship
between religion and science; they represent the dichotomy in the philosophical debate
“about the modern world‟s privileging of reason over imagination, science over religion,
materialism over idealism, fact over fiction or story” (Stratton, 2004, p.6). They also
represent the voice of the rational reader who might disengage himself from rhetorical
imagination and who responds with disbelief to the first story. An alternative, plausible story
is thus offered with both stories sharing the cruel reality: “… the ship sinks, my entire family
dies, and I suffer” (p.317). In culminating the story with: “So tell me, since it makes no
factual difference to you and you can‟t prove the question either way, which story do you
prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?”,
Martell provokes the reader to engage in the philosophical debate of faith and reason in the
complexity of human existence.
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8. Conclusion
This paper has focused on symbols, symbolism and significance as specific content
knowledge for English language teachers whose task it is to teach Life of Pi at the home
language level. It provides an understanding and discussion of these rhetorical devices by
focusing on explanation of the concepts, key names of characters, objects, events and
relationships that are critical for making valid literary interpretations. The paper furthers such
discussion by developing major themes, albeit non-exhaustively. While it was not possible to
discuss the symbolism of every object, animal, colour and event, it is hoped that this paper
will advance teacher specific content knowledge; provide teachers with insights for foci for
teaching the novel; provide prompts for teachers to ask questions and set activities that
heighten higher order thinking in the classroom; use thematic statements to encourage debate
and present a point of view; provide a platform for philosophical, spiritual and expositional
debates; and suggest how teachers could act as agents for critical reading. Given the
expansive scope and “multitudinous layers” (Cloete, 2007, p.323) of the novel, such teacher
responsiveness will inadvertently engage learners in a meaning-making process; stimulate
reading for pleasure and cognitive building; and help in achieving the aims and objectives of
literature teaching as set out in the EHL curriculum.
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