Characters
What does Pi's father do for a living?
He's a zookeeper
Who does the author meet in a cafe in Pondicherry and what does he claim about the story he wants to tell the author about?
Mamaji or Francis Adirubasamy; "I have a story that will make you believe in God."
Which religion is Pi born to?
Hinduism
What characteristic of Bengal tigers helps Richard Parker survive much longer on the lifeboat?
They can drink small amounts of saltwater
Who says, "driven by the extremity of my need and the madness to which it pushed me, I ate some of his flesh" and whose flesh are they talking about?
Pi and the other blind castaway (or the French cook)
Which character is represented by the Hyena
The French cook
What is the most believed "story" on Earth?
Christianity (2.4 billion followers), or as Pi says, "Their religion had one story"
What does Pi say drew him to Christianity?
The story of Jesus
Which animal does Pi describe as, "they eat their own kind"?
Hyenas
Pi says, "There are many examples of animals coming to surprising living arrangements." What does this statement foreshadow later on in the book?
Pi and Richard Parker sharing a lifeboat
What is Pi's brother's name?
Ravi
"The circus lions don't care to know that their leader is a weakling human; the fiction guarantees their social well-being." In Life of Pi, what other "fictions" help those who believe them?
What do the meerkats crowded around a freshwater pool on the island, staring into the water remind Pi of?
Muslims at prayer
What does Pi say is the most dangerous animal in the zoo?
Man
There are two characters in the book who Pi says, "taught me biology and Islam," "led me to study zoology and religious studies at the University of Toronto," and "were the prophets of my Indian youth." Who were they?
Mr. Kumar and Mr. Kumar
Which character is represented by the orangutan, Orange Juice?
Pi's mother
What are we meant to understand about belief when, on the very page in which we learn the Tsimtsum sinks Pi yells (to Richard Parker, none the less), "Can you believe what has happened to us? Tell me it's a bad dream. Tell me it's not real."
What do the three religious leaders each tell Pi about his other two religions?
Some version of, "it's not real" or "don't believe it"; each claims to be "the one true religion"
What sound does Richard Parker make in his nostrils that makes Pi decide the cat can be tamed?
Prusten
What does Pi mean when he says, "I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both."
That animals shouldn't be caged in zoos because they're not free (after several lengthy paragraphs about how good zoos make better habitat for wild animals than their natural habitat), and that religions restrict the freedom of the believer to a single story (while Pi goes on to collect three religions simultaneously). In other words, no believer's freedom need be curtailed by one religion any more than an animal's is by its zoo enclosure (or lifeboat).
How does Richard Parker get his name, and what was it supposed to be?
The hunter who brings him to the zoo is named RP and fills the wrong name in on a form. The tiger's name was supposed to be Thirsty.
The "real" story (the one without the animals) is horrible, and serves no purpose, other than the truth. The fictional story (with animals) consistently gives the reader who believes it a sense of wonder, awe, spiritual fulfillment. In the end, we get to choose which one we "believe" because it does not matter in any practical sense which one we choose. In the end, the results are the same. Perhaps this what religion offers: the same world with more inspiration in the explanations for how we got where we are.
Does Pi respect agnostics or atheists more? Why?
He respects atheists (like Mr. Kumar) because they know what they believe, whereas agnostics are not sure.
What is biologically unique about the island Pi finds?
What's not unique about it? De-salinating algae, growing large enough to form a floating island populated by a million meerkats. Oh, and the algae is flesh-eating.
The island. Pi's whole story.