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Chapter 4
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
Pi reflects further on his name and all the teasing he got as a child because of it. The other children called him “Pissing,” which they took from “Piscine.” Eventually Pi decided on a nickname, and when he moved to a new school he trained the teachers and his classmates to call him “Pi.” In each class on the first day he wrote “Pi” on the chalkboard, as well as the first few digits of the number pi. The name stuck.
Pi then shows how similar humans are to animals, as he basically trains his teachers and classmates to accept his new name. Rote repetition and confidence are the most important elements of this “training.” Pi’s nickname refers to the number π, representing the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The number is irrational and unending, an interesting contrast to Pi’s love of harmony and order.
Themes
Literary Devices
