Life of Pi
Suggested memo for worksheets
Author’s note [p.3-7: 5 pages]
1. Explain fully what The Author means by ‘This book was born as I was hungry.’
He realised that despite a good theme, gripping plot, life-like characters, good dialogue and
descriptive detail and much research, the novel he was writing had no spark. It was emotionally
dead. This discovery was ‘soul-destroying’ and left him with a figurative ‘aching hunger’. It was
this state of mind that was the catalyst for Life of Pi.
2. The Author addresses the reader directly with:
‘That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to
bring out its essence.’
How does his five-page author note illustrate this point?
Instead of simply giving us the dry facts and background to writing the novel, The Author writes
himself into his work as a character and tells us a story about its origins. He ‘transforms reality’
as he blends fact and fiction about Martel’s inspiration for writing the book. For example,
Martel actually did write two less-than-successful books before this one, but the person, Pi
Patel, does not really exist. He creates an intriguing scenario that draws us in, and in essence
illustrates the central theme in the novel: the value of storytelling.
3. What is it that makes The Author listen to Francis Adirubasamy’s story?
He says he has a story ‘that will make you believe in God’ – it is this that intrigues him because it
is a most ambitious claim.
4. A warning is issued in the final sentence of The Author’s note. Paraphrase it (rewrite it in your
own words).
If we don’t champion and support artists, then we abandon our creative capacity. Instead, we
favour and venerate basic reality and by doing this we will end up losing faith in everything and
having hopes, goals and aspirations that ultimately have no value at all.
Part one: Toronto and Pondicherry
Chapters 1-6 [p.10 – 31: 21 pages]
1. In Chapter 1 we learn about Pi’s life before and after his devastating experience, but we are not
told exactly what happened. Discuss the effect that this technique has by referring to specific
examples.
Intrigue and suspense is created. Repeated references to Pi’s suffering, references to his ‘shattered
self’, his ambivalent feelings for the mysterious Richard Parker, descriptions of his dreadful physical
state, mention of how other patients reacted to his story and his memories of India all draw us in
Suggested memo for worksheets
Author’s note [p.3-7: 5 pages]
1. Explain fully what The Author means by ‘This book was born as I was hungry.’
He realised that despite a good theme, gripping plot, life-like characters, good dialogue and
descriptive detail and much research, the novel he was writing had no spark. It was emotionally
dead. This discovery was ‘soul-destroying’ and left him with a figurative ‘aching hunger’. It was
this state of mind that was the catalyst for Life of Pi.
2. The Author addresses the reader directly with:
‘That’s what fiction is about, isn’t it, the selective transforming of reality? The twisting of it to
bring out its essence.’
How does his five-page author note illustrate this point?
Instead of simply giving us the dry facts and background to writing the novel, The Author writes
himself into his work as a character and tells us a story about its origins. He ‘transforms reality’
as he blends fact and fiction about Martel’s inspiration for writing the book. For example,
Martel actually did write two less-than-successful books before this one, but the person, Pi
Patel, does not really exist. He creates an intriguing scenario that draws us in, and in essence
illustrates the central theme in the novel: the value of storytelling.
3. What is it that makes The Author listen to Francis Adirubasamy’s story?
He says he has a story ‘that will make you believe in God’ – it is this that intrigues him because it
is a most ambitious claim.
4. A warning is issued in the final sentence of The Author’s note. Paraphrase it (rewrite it in your
own words).
If we don’t champion and support artists, then we abandon our creative capacity. Instead, we
favour and venerate basic reality and by doing this we will end up losing faith in everything and
having hopes, goals and aspirations that ultimately have no value at all.
Part one: Toronto and Pondicherry
Chapters 1-6 [p.10 – 31: 21 pages]
1. In Chapter 1 we learn about Pi’s life before and after his devastating experience, but we are not
told exactly what happened. Discuss the effect that this technique has by referring to specific
examples.
Intrigue and suspense is created. Repeated references to Pi’s suffering, references to his ‘shattered
self’, his ambivalent feelings for the mysterious Richard Parker, descriptions of his dreadful physical
state, mention of how other patients reacted to his story and his memories of India all draw us in
