Life of Pi: Chapter 6 - 10

These chapters describe Pi's biology teacher, Mr. Kumar, his experience with a tiger, and the nature of animals. Pi feels close to Mr. Kumar, despite the fact that he is an atheist. I like how he described atheists as being "brothers and sisters of a different faith" and that he is able to feel kinship to Mr. Kumar despite their differences. Later Pi talks about how he witnessed a tiger kill a goat, and how his father warns him about the danger of animals. The novel injects bits of zoology into the chapters, such as flight distance, "the minimum distance at which an animal wants to keep a perceived enemy" and how animals don't want to "escape to somewhere but from something." Judging from the cover and the back cover, the experience with the tiger and the information about animal behavior will be important later on.