Ratings

Content Ratings based on a 0-5 scale where
0 = no objectionable content and
5 = an excessive or disturbing level of content

Guide to Rating System

LANGUAGE

VIOLENCE

SEXUAL CONTENT

ADULT THEMES

Ratings Explanation

Language: Mild profanity and uses of the name of deity.

Violence: There are descriptions of abuse from uncaring visitors towards animals living in zoos that leads to their illness or death. Pi’s father forces his two sons to witness a tiger attacking and eating a live goat to teach them the danger of the animals in the zoo. Several instances of animal kingdom violence and gore are mentioned as animals kill each other for protection or food. On three occasions, an animal kills a human being to protect their territory. Because of the survival theme the author describes the slaughtering of sea animals for their salt-free blood to drink and meat to eat. Cannibalism is also used as a source of food. At the end of the book a story is told of a demented ship’s chef. Pi tells the following story to two navel officers from Japan who will not believe his original story of survival. The chef amputates the infected broken leg of a life boat passenger. The amputees does not live long after this. The cook butchers the body for food (scalping the head and face, using the intestines and genitals). The cook later fights with Pi’s mother stabbing her to death and throwing her body overboard. A few days later Pi stabs the cook to death in anger, pulls out the heart and eats it.

Sexual Content: Abuse is mentioned to have happened to zoo animals by sexual deviant visitors. The author explains that certain animal sounds indicate the animals desire to mate. A religious man criticizes circumcision by describing it as “having the end of your pecker cut off.” A shape in a religious painting is described as a “phallic stump“. Pi observes the genitals of a rat as it soars through the air.

Adult Themes: When Pi’s ship sinks, he loses his parents and brother and grieves heavily for them. Pi explores the main religions in his area and speaks to religious leaders who explain their beliefs but also demean the beliefs of others. There is also a graphic description of the crucifixion of Christ. Pi uses a damp rag to induce asphyxiation to help pass the time during the dreadfully long days. Pi becomes desperate enough to drink urine and eat feces. Pi faces the tough ethical decision of eating the flesh of a dead man because of his extreme hunger. Pi experiences excruciating suffering as part of daily survival.

Synopsis

Sixteen year old Piscine (Pi) Patel has enjoyed a unique childhood growing up in India as a zookeeper’s son. He learns much from the animals surrounding him, as well as the divers religions that draw him in and pull at his soul. As the political scene in India changes, Pi’s family decides to sell the zoo and relocate to Canada along with some of the zoo animals. Unfortunately their ship sinks in the middle of the Pacific Ocean leaving Pi the soul human survivor along with a 450-pound Bengal Tiger as his companion. As hours turn into days and weeks, a rescue does not seem likely and Pi must learn to survive the elements and live peacefully with the tiger on a twenty foot long lifeboat.

Yann Martel’s talented use of the English language brings the reader directly into the story with words which awaken all of the senses. This also means the reader suffers the excruciating experience of survival on the sea including extreme fear, hunger, thirst , mind numbing boredom and difficult ethical decisions. There are several pages I found difficult to stomach because of this. After agonizing along with Pi page after page, I was exhausted and disappointed with the ending. Definitely a book for the strong stomached older reader. I recommend high school age or older.