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Chapter 20
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Life of Pi, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival
Religion and Faith
Storytelling
Boundaries
Summary
Analysis
The author sits in a café after talking with the adult Pi, and he thinks about their conversation. He notes Pi’s words about “dry, yeastless factuality” and “the better story.” The author feels that his own life seems mundane compared to Pi’s. He considers Pi’s religious philosophies, which value moral truth above intellectual truth, and elevate love above all else.
These two quoted phrases are some of the most important in the book, and they will be repeated again. “Dry, yeastless factuality” is the boring reality of doubt, the agnostic’s universe (to Pi), while “the better story” is a reality brought to life through the imagination and faith.
Themes
