Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
We've already bombarded you with the idea that nothing in Life of Pi is straightforward allegory. And the goes for Pi's ordeal on the Pacific. There's a lot of religious symbolism, and the whole deal sometimes seems like an allegory for the soul's spiritual journey.
Want proof? Sure thing:
- Orange Juice floats up to the lifeboat looking like the Virgin Mary. Pi spends three days and three nights on the extended oar. Christ figure, anyone? In the New Testament Jesus is dead for three days and three nights before being resurrected.
- Pi smears fish scales on himself like Hindu tilaks.
- He slaughters and eats fish, turtles, etc. in semi-ritualistic ways.
- He suffers like the mystics.
However the minute specific details complicate the allegory, much of Pi's Pacific ordeal strikes us as very real. Sure, you can interpret Pi's journey as implicitly spiritual, but you can't forget he's also a castaway, with all the tools and problems of a castaway. Somehow, Martel inhabits this middle ground.