Interview Response

Author's Note:

This is my response to "the idea of a religious boy in a lifeboat with a wild animal struck me as a perfect metaphor for the human condition. Humans aspire to really high things, right, like religion, justice, democracy. At the same time, we're rooted in our human, animal condition. And so, all of those brought together in a lifeboat struck me as being... as a perfect metaphor.".

I find that this statement couldn't be more wrong.  I do not believe that his examples of high things are valid.  Religion and democracy are our beliefs than do not often change, forcing us to stay the same.  Staying the same for your entire life is a very easy task that I do not find to be a "highly thing".  On the other hand, justice is something that we can strive for our whole lives and never achieve, thus a higher thought. 

In the book, I do not think that it explains Pi's animal condition very well.  The tiger, orangutan, zebra and hyena exhibit strong animal instincts, but Pi doesn't.   Pi stays, mostly, a holy, kind, worried, sixteen year old boy that doesn't really turn animalistic.  Also, how did the author think of the lifeboat?  He doesn't explain how he thought of that and I honestly do not get it.  Overall, I did not find the story to be a perfect metaphor for the human condition.