What does the shipwreck mean?

In this next section, I want to discuss the ship wreck. As we have read, on the voyage to Canada the boat that Pi and his family is on wrecks. As far as we know, Pi is the only survivor. Through his struggle to survive, we see that Pi is a strong and determined young man. He refuses to let go of the oar that he hangs on in fear that he might die. I see this as being a strong symbol for the way that Yann Martel wants to display his character.

It is my opinion that the shipwreck is a metaphor. Before we read about the shipwreck we saw Pi go through troublesome times facing his religious views. He was teased by his brother and harrassed by his family because he was a follower of three different religions. I believe that the shipwreck is a strong comparison to where his life was when it happened. I see that no one is able to sympathize with Pi including his family and the three leaders of the religions that he followed. For a young boy, it would be tough to be going through such an identity crisis and feel that no one can understand your point of view. He was alone in his beliefs. Now that we have the shipwreck, Pi really is alone and he will have to rely on only himself to survive. I believe that the setting of the ocean also plays a key role in this whole situation. Pi is now independent and alone. For most of the story we see that Pi is wanting to go his own way and formulate his own ideas about his life. Being in the middle of the ocean and alone, Pi now has no regulations to where he can go. He is alone and has no other choice but to make his own decisions; wherever he goes he is now in charge of his own fate.