Life of Pi Group

Question:

zakuro
zakuro
Student
High School - 11th Grade

In "Life of Pi", what social strata are described in Pondicherry?  Where does Pi's family "rank" in terms of economics and status?  What are their motivations for moving to Canada?

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Posted by zakuro on Wednesday October 29, 2008 at 7:14 PM and tagged with characters, family, life of pi, plot, pondicherry, setting, social strata, socioeconomics, themes.

Answers:


  1. mrs-campbell Teacher
    High School - 11th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    On page 11 it mentions how the local government of the time sent his father to college, then on page 13, he ran a very large hotel before he founded a zoo.  Pi went to the best private schools (p. 21).  However, on page 79 Pi mentions that they weren't a rich family, according to Canadian standards.  They didn't own their house, just a lot of animals.  As for the social strata in Pondicherry, the book mentions it changing  hands several times, and political upheaval in the 70's.

    The explanation for why they moved can be found in chapter 7; the government switched hands, and Pi's father was worried and anxious about his business.  So, in hopes for a better chance of success, they decided to move.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/life-pi/historical-context

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    Posted by mrs-campbell on Sunday November 9, 2008 at 3:05 PM