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Life of Pi Part 2, Chapter 61 Summary

How It All Goes Down

  • Pi wakes up feeling good. He decides to fish with some of the lifeboat supplies.
  • He doesn't have much luck at first: the fish keep making off with his "bait" which, actually, is only bits of a shoe.
  • Suddenly, a school of flying fish pass over the boat. It's manna from heaven! Pi gets hit in the face, fish are flopping around, and RP is a master yogi at one with himself as he bats these things into his mouth.
  • Pi kills one of the flying fish and feels guilty. (He's been a vegetarian his whole life.) He decides to use the flying fish as bait. It works!
  • With his snazzy new bait, Pi catches a dorado, which is much larger than a flying fish. He kills it. We think this is one of the most beautiful passages in the book.
  • Pi throws the dorado to RP and blows the whistle to remind him who provides him with such tasty meals.
  • Pi falls asleep.