There are exactly 32 of these “fruits” on the tree. As he peels the leaves away layer by layer, he discovers that in the center of each ball is a single human tooth. Pi discovers that what he sees on the tree is not fruit but compact balls of leaves. Just like his Genesis counterparts, the knowledge Pi gains from this tree expels him from the paradise he has found. Immediate allegoric images of the garden of Eden are realized as Pi finds that every tree on the island is barren save for one huge tree in the center. Pi and Richard Parker both first return to the moored boat to sleep, but after some time, Pi ventures into the trees at night. He and Richard Parker return to health simultaneously and Pi does tasks that are an unheard of waste of energy when one does not have an abundance of resources, such as purging the life boat of the accumulated filth of the journey. He gorges on algae, relishing the luxury of again being a vegetarian. Pi spends weeks on the island recuperating. The meerkats eat the scraps as the pools become fresh in the daylight.

Pi further discovers that at night, the pools becoming acidic and draw in fish from the sea who die there. He also discovers that due to a complete absence of predators, the meerkats fear nothing, even though Richard Parker is parading through them devouring all he can reach. He discovers that the algae desalinizes the sea water in the pools.

Pi finds that the algae is edible, with a sweet outer layer and a salty inner core. There is zero animal life on the island with one glaring exception: it is overrun with meerkats. Within the algae mass are deep pools of fresh water. It is a gigantic mass of vegetation, an algae that grows without soil, with trees that grow from the algae. The island, however, is far from ordinary.

When he is nearly dead from starvation, Pi happens upon a island. Pi’s ordeal at sea culminates with what is by far the most bizarre passage in the novel, though one that reconciles all three of the major themes.

Life of pi full name