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Summary Life of Pi essay and contextual Questions
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lOMoARcPSD|23479258ESSAY & CONTEXTUAL QUESTIONS
2019
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Author’s Note
1. What is suggested by the author’s comment about fiction being “the selective transforming of
reality? The twisting of it to bring out its essence”?
2. Why did the author go to India?
3. Why does the author mail his manuscript for the book about Portugal to a made-up address in
Siberia?
4. Who first tells the author about Mr. Patel’s story? How many storytellers does this make in the
book so far?
5. What is most significant about the story that the author hears?
EXTRACT A:
He took in my line of work with a widening of the eyes and a nodding of the head. It was time to go. I had my
hand up, trying to catch my waiter’s eye to get the bill.
Then the elderly man said, “I have a story that will make you believe in God.”
I stopped waving my hand. But I was suspicious. Was this a Jehovah’s Witness knocking at my door? “Does
your story take place two thousand years ago in a remote corner of the Roman Empire?” I asked.
“No.”
Was he some sort of Muslim evangelist? “Does it take place in seventh-century Arabia?”
“No, no. It starts right here in Pondicherry just a few years back, and it ends, I am delighted to tell you, in the
very country you come from.”
“And it will make me believe in God?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a tall order.”
“Not so tall that you can’t reach.”
My waiter appeared. I hesitated for a moment. I ordered two coffees. We introduced ourselves. His name was
Francis Adirubasamy.
“Please tell me your story,” I said.
“You must pay proper attention,” he replied.
“I will.” I brought out pen and notepad.
“Tell me, have you been to the botanical garden?” he asked.
“I went yesterday.”
“Did you notice the toy train tracks?”
“Yes, I did.”
“A train still runs on Sundays for the amusement of the children. But it used to run twice an hour every day. Did
you take note of the names of the stations?”
“One is called Roseville. It’s right next to the rose garden.”
“That’s right. And the other?”
“I don’t remember.”
“The sign was taken down. TH other station was once called Zootown. They toy train had two stops: Roseville
and Zootown. Once upon a time there was a zoon in Pondicherry Botanical Garden.”
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1. Place this passage in context by describing where the Author/narrator is and why he is (3)
there.
2. a) State the Auhtor/narrator’s line of work. (1)
b) What does the widening of Mr Adirubasamy’s eyes suggest to the Author/narrator
about his listener’s opinion of his profession? (2)
c) Is the Author/narrator’s interpretation of Mr Adirubasamy’s opinion of his profession
correct? Give a reason for your answer. (3)
3. Compare the Author/narrator’s religious beliefs to those of Mr Adirubasamy. Support your
answer by quoting from the passage. (4)
4. The Author/narrator refers to Christianity (“two thousand years ago”) and Islam (“seventh
century/Arabia”) as though they are two entirely separate belief systems. How does this
contrast to Pi’s beliefs depicted in the novel as a whole? (2)
5. Using what you know about Mr Adirubasamy’s role in Pi’s life, explain why it is fitting that
he be the one to lead the Author/narrator to Pi. (3)
6. “Once upon a time there was a zoo…”
Explain how this statement introduces the novel’s important theme of storytelling and the
listener/reader’s belief in these stories. (4)
7. What is the outcome of this encounter between the Author/narrator and Mr Adirubasamy? (2)
8. Why do you think the Author/narrator has included this encounter in the Author’s note? (1)
Part One: Toronto and Pondicherry
Chapter 1
1. What is suggested by the fact that the Author’s note was set in italics, and Chapter 1 is set in
normal text?
2. Who do we assume is the speaker of Chapter 1? What suggests this?
3. Why did the person speaking in Chapter 1 choose to study the sloth?
4. What we can infer about Mr. Patel from his tone?
5. What is significant about the cities Mr. Patel says he would like to visit?
6. What were Mr. Patel’s two majors in college? What connection does he make between the
two? How do they foreshadow what is likely to come later in the novel?
7. What can we infer about the narrator so far?
Chapter 2
1. What do the language and format of this chapter establish for the reader?
2. What is significant about the details the fictional author chooses to reveal about Mr. Patel?
Chapter 3
1. What might the origin of Patel’s name foreshadow?
2. What significant trait did the narrator and Mamaji share?
3. Who is the man Patel calls Mamaji, who teaches Patel how to swim? How have we already
met him?
4. What does the name “Mamaji” mean?
5. What distinction does Mr. Patel make between the ocean and the swimming pool? What is the
significance of this distinction?
6. In this chapter, we finally learn the full name of our narrator. What is it and how did he get it?
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7. What is significant about the narrator’s name?
8. What did Piscine’s father do for a living?
Chapter 4
1. What did Piscine’s father do before he became a zookeeper? What comment does Piscine
make about the transition from hotel owner to zookeeper?
2. How does Pi feel about growing up in a zoo? In terms of the Bildungsroman narrative, what
might the zoo symbolize?
3. What is Piscine implying when he says that the only “relentless imperatives” felt by animals is
avoiding enemies and securing food and water?
4. What is Piscine implying when he says that “a house is compressed territory, where our basic
needs can be fulfilled close by and safely”?
5. Does Piscine believe animals are better off in the wild or in a zoo?
6. What comparison does the adult Piscine make between the impulse to “free” animals and
invading a person’s home and “freeing” him? Why is this comparison significant?
7. What does Pi mean when he says that “certain illusions about freedom plague” both zoos and
religion?
Chapter 5
1. What might be significant about the name Pi chooses for himself?
2. What does Pi mean at the end of this chapter when he says, “in that elusive, irrational number
with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge.”
3. What personal characteristics does Pi exhibit in choosing to change his own name?
EXTRACT B:
I repeated the stunt with every teacher. Repetition is important in the training not only of animals but also of
humans. Between one commonly named boy and the next, I rushed forward and emblazoned, sometimes with
a terrible screech, the details of my rebirth. It got to be that after a few times the boys sang along with me, a
crescendo that climaxed, after a quick intake of air while I underlined the proper note, with such a rousing
rendition of my new name that it would have been the delight of any choirmaster. A few boys followed up with a
whispered, urgent “Three! Point! One! Four!” as I wrote as fast as I could, and I ended the concert by slicing
the circle with such vigour that bits of chalk went flying.
When I put my hand up that day, which I did every chance I had, teachers granted me the right to speak with a
single syllable that was music to my ears. Students followed suit. Even the St Joseph’s devils. In fact, the
name caught on. Truly we are a nation of aspiring engineers: shortly after, there was a boy named Omprakash
who was calling himself Omega, and another who was passing himself off as Upsilon, and for a while there
was a Gamma, a Lambda and a Delta. But I was the first and the most enduring of the Greeks at Petit
Seminaire. Even my brother, the captain of the cricket team, that local god, approved. He took me aside the
next week.
“What’s this I hear about a nickname you have” he said.
I kept silent. Because whatever mocking was to come, it was to come. There was no avoiding it.
"I didn't realize you liked the colour yellow so much."
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