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Reception
The Life of Pi received mostly positive reviews. For example, Reutter said "So believable is Pi's story telling that readers will be amazed." Stephens added that it "achieves something more quietly spectacular." Smith contradicted them both by saying that there was "no bamboozlement [t]here."

Stephens summarized the Life of Pi as a "story about a sixteen year-old polytheist who survives 227 days on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger."

Themes
Houser stated, "The two themes: all life is interdependent and that we all live and breathe via belief."

Cloete stated that Martel uses his book to "track the spoor of the tiger within recent literary imagination."

Self Summary
The fictional book, Life of Pi is about an Indian Boy who survives 227 days on a lifeboat. It starts off by the main character, Pi, telling how he got his name. His uncle loved pools and the cleanest pool that he knows is the Piscine Molitor in Paris, France. Because his uncle, Mamaji who is his swim teacher, speaks of it so highly, the main character is legally named Piscine Molitor Patel. During school Piscine is bullied because of his name sounds like “pissing”. Because of this, when the protagonist moves to a new school, he gives himself the nickname of Pi. The nickname sticks with him the rest of his life. Due to the fact that Pi’s father is the owner of an inn, he buys a zoo, thinking that complying to the needs of wild animals would be similar to tending to the needs of humans. During Pi’s term at the zoo, he is taught a lesson by his father that every animal is dangerous. Pi is forced to watch Richard Parker, the zoo’s new tiger, kill a tied up goat.

Because of political turmoil in India, Pi and his family decide to move to Canada. They have to sell some animals, mainly the large and high maintenance ones, to other zoos across the world so that they can afford to move to a new country. They leave India on the Tsimtsum, a Chinese boat. Pi and his family cannot interact with any of the other passengers due to the fact that they are all Chinese and do not speak English. During the beginning of their voyage the boat has to stop and get repairs due to engine trouble.

A few days after the repairs, Pi is woken up by a loud sound which he presumes in hind sight is the engine exploding. He goes up to the top deck, wanting to watch a brewing storm, and is tossed back and forth by the chaotic waves. He goes down stairs and finds out the boat is sinking because the hallways are flooded. Pi tries to save his family, to no avail, and is put onto one of the lifeboats by Chinese crewmen. Afterwards, he discovers that he shares his lifeboat with a hyena, tiger, zebra, and eventually an orangutan. The number of animals dwindle from five to two as the hyena kills the zebra and orangutan and the tiger, strategically eats the hyena.

Pi is left alone with a Bengal tiger for 224 days. During this time he learns how to fish and train the tiger. Hunger eventually leads him to give up his vegetarian ways. After most of their time at sea, Pi and Richard Parker, the tiger, find an island full of Meer cats. The island turns out to be carnivorous and the two leave in a rush. After a long journey, the two end up coming ashore in Mexico. Richard Parker leaves without looking back and Pi is rescued by a group of natives and then interrogated by people from the Tsimtsum’s boat company. Due to his miraculous tale, they do not believe Pi and eventually leave the frail Indian boy in peace.