Life of Pi

A Story of Survival, Faith, and Storytelling • by Yann Martel

About This Book

Pi Patel survives a shipwreck and 227 days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Martel's novel explores faith, storytelling, and the will to live—and asks which story we choose to believe when the truth is unbearable.

This mind map guides you through Pi's journey from Pondicherry to the Pacific, his survival with Richard Parker, and the final question about truth and meaning. Each chapter reveals how faith, routine, and the stories we tell ourselves can sustain us through the impossible.

And so it goes with God. — Pi Patel
LIFE OF PI
And so it goes with God.
THE STORY
Chapter 1
Author's Note & Pondicherry
Pi grows up in Pondicherry at his family's zoo. He explores Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam—and decides he wants to love God through all of them.
Chapter 2
The Pacific
The ship sinks. Pi finds himself on a lifeboat with a zebra, a hyena, an orangutan—and Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger. The ocean becomes his world.
Chapter 3
The Lifeboat
Pi must survive with Richard Parker. He establishes territory, tames the tiger with the whistle and seasickness, and learns to fish and collect rainwater.
Chapter 4
The Island
Pi and Richard Parker reach a strange island of meerkats and carnivorous algae. Pi realizes it is not safe. He leaves and drifts until he reaches Mexico.
Chapter 5
Mexico & the Story
In Mexico, officials want a report. Pi tells the story with the tiger. They don't believe it—so he tells another story. The question which story do you prefer?

Core Stoic Principles