Section B: Prose
Life of Pi
Question: in what ways does Pi draw parallels between religious belief and the zoo?
X 1st paragraph
Point Pi’s peculiar fascination for animals
(as he majors in zoology) comes from
the fact that he lived in a zoo.
Evidence Indeed, he mentions at the start of
chapter 4, although Pi’s father did not
enjoy living in a zoo, that “it was
paradise on earth” to him.
Explanation This religious allusion both shows his
love for animals and indicates his
strong faith in religion. Following this
quote, Pi then proceeds to describe the
enchanting setting of the zoo through
the beautiful animals and scenes
portrayed. As the reader, one gets the
impression that he is walking in the
garden of Eden. Furthermore, this
might be a sign of foreshadowing
regarding his ‘interesting’ religious
open-mindedness.
Analysis As the author describes Pi’s keen
interest for the zoo, he does so by
using a hyperbolic metaphor
comparing his experience as a child
living in a zoo to heaven which
2nd paragraph
However, in the same chapter, Pi draws
a similar parallel but to describe
agnostics and people who think
animals are not happy in a zoo.
In fact, he mentions that “zoos are no
longer in people’s good grace. Religion
faces the same problem. Certain
illusions about freedom plague them
both.”
In his words, he suggests that people
nowadays say or think that majestic
creatures such as lions or tigers are
deprived of their freedom and thus
unhappy being in captivity while zoos
actually provide them shelter, food and
stability, the latter one being
considered as ‘paradise’ according to
Pi. He links this misconception about
zoo animals to agnostics (people who
do not have faith in anything such as
religion or science) who think that
being free from any beliefs is a form of
freedom and thus happiness. Pi says
that they live by a philosophy of “dry,
yeastless factuality” in that they lack
imagination and will not commit to a
story.
Martel uses this parallel between zoo
animals being in captivity and agnostic
to heighten the absurdity of some
people’s thoughts concerning a subject
that appears mysterious to them.
3rd paragraph
Also, Pi uses anthropomorphism (attributing
human traits to an animal) or equivalents of
it in order to pass a message just like a
parable from a religious book such as the
Bible
Indeed, Pi mentions the story of the
three-toed sloth in Chapter 1 which is often
given the attribute of laziness or slowness in
general. In the same harmony, in chapter 32,
Pi mentions a case of zoomorphism (similar
to anthropomorphism, when an animal
considers another species or human as its
own) with the vipers recognizing the mouse
as one of their own except for one: “[the
mouse] finally met its end in a curious way:
a young viper bit in it”.
The story of the sloth teaches Man to take
life at a much slower pace and that
sometimes, slowing down might save your
life as sloths survive by barely moving and
staying undetected. The story of the vipers
and the mouse teaches humans that the
boundaries between animal species can
easily be blurred out, so why not for
religious beliefs?
The author is trying to convey, through the
use of anthropomorphism, that messages can
be passed on in a simple way just like stories
in a religious book would do. As seen with
the story of the three-toed sloth or the case
 directly comes in contrast with
Santosh Patel’s distaste for the zoo
which shows Pi’s innocence as
opposed to the striking reality of being
an adult.
Link As a whole, the theme of faith or
religious belief is paralleled through
his interest in living in a zoo when he
was a child in this quote.
Indeed, one can imagine that people
who think that zoo animals are
unhappy might not be as qualified as Pi
to make a definite statement.
Moreover, the word “plague” suggests
that it is information that is spreading
fast and in a pejorative way according
to Pi.
Ultimately, Pi criticizes the lack of
faith and imagination in some people
through the depiction of zoo animals
and thus creating a parallel between
religious beliefs and the zoo.
of zoomorphism with the vipers and the
mouse, people might get inspired to change
their lifestyle.
In some sense, Yann Martel is drawing a
parallel between the zoo and religious belief
through the use of anthropomorphism in
order to pass a simple message just like a
parable from the Bible would do.