“Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
This week I read pages 220 through 335. I continue to find Pi’s journey on the boat to be fascinating. In my opinion, be has acted in a very level headed manner. He did not panic and scream when he discovered he was alone in a lifeboat. He did not jump overboard when he found that a zebra, hyena, and tiger were on the lifeboat with him. He has not gone crazy from being alone in a lifeboat for days. I would say he is doing very well. Pi tried to construct a fishing device so he could catch fish to feed to Richard Parker, the tiger. He made the device out of fishing equipment that he found on the boat and he used a piece of his leather shoe as bait. The device didn’t work and Pi was left without a shoe. He loses confidence, thinking to himself, “’Stupidity has a price. You should show more care and wisdom next time’”. I think Pi is being way too hard on himself. He has already achieved far more than is expected of a teenager trapped on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean; he has survived. He says that he has acted stupidly, but I don’t think he has. He had the thought of getting himself food and looking on the boat for a box of food. He also came up with a way of training the tiger, to give him fish as rewards. Both thoughts were very necessary for his survival and he intelligently came up with them. I think that Pi’s insecurity could be his worst enemy. He has demonstrated the creativity and intelligence necessary to survive, but if he doubts himself, he won’t survive.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Blog #6
“Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
For this blog, I read pages 150-220. In this passage, the hyena kills the zebra, then Richard Parker, the tiger on the lifeboat, kills the hyena. If I were on the boat, I would have found this incredibly frightening, as Pi does. He is concerned for his safety. I would be frightened beyond thinking and would scream and be beside myself. A good thing that happens to Pi is that he finds a locker full of supplies. He is overjoyed to find water and biscuits, which he quickly consumes. This makes me wonder if I would be able to survive in this situation. I’m a picky eater, which I would immediately have to overcome. I think I could force myself to eat the rations, but I think the larger problem would be to overcome mental obstacles. I would have to stay positive and sane on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger. I don’t think I could do this. Interestingly, Pi decides he will train Richard Parker. I’m glad to see Pi’s background as a zookeeper’s son come in handy. Pi will use a whistle to train the tiger and a fish as a reward. He deduces that there is no way for him to overcome the tiger since it is much larger than him. Pi thinks he needs a companion to keep him sane so the best solution is for him to train the tiger. I obviously wouldn’t have thought of this solution since I don’t know anything about training or being around exotic animals. Instead, I would have tried to stay as far away from the tiger as possible until it ate me.
For this blog, I read pages 150-220. In this passage, the hyena kills the zebra, then Richard Parker, the tiger on the lifeboat, kills the hyena. If I were on the boat, I would have found this incredibly frightening, as Pi does. He is concerned for his safety. I would be frightened beyond thinking and would scream and be beside myself. A good thing that happens to Pi is that he finds a locker full of supplies. He is overjoyed to find water and biscuits, which he quickly consumes. This makes me wonder if I would be able to survive in this situation. I’m a picky eater, which I would immediately have to overcome. I think I could force myself to eat the rations, but I think the larger problem would be to overcome mental obstacles. I would have to stay positive and sane on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a tiger. I don’t think I could do this. Interestingly, Pi decides he will train Richard Parker. I’m glad to see Pi’s background as a zookeeper’s son come in handy. Pi will use a whistle to train the tiger and a fish as a reward. He deduces that there is no way for him to overcome the tiger since it is much larger than him. Pi thinks he needs a companion to keep him sane so the best solution is for him to train the tiger. I obviously wouldn’t have thought of this solution since I don’t know anything about training or being around exotic animals. Instead, I would have tried to stay as far away from the tiger as possible until it ate me.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Blog #5
“Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
This week I read pages 100-150. Pi’s family decided to leave India because of turmoil in the country. They boarded a cargo ship with many of the animals from Pi’s father’s zoo. One night, Pi woke up in the middle of the night to find that the ship was sinking. He escaped on a lifeboat, but he couldn’t find any other survivors after the ship sank. There was also a zebra and hyena on Pi’s lifeboat. I cannot imagine what I would do if I were in Pi’s position. First, he was thrust into a lifeboat by crewmembers. I would have started freaking out and not been able to stay calm as he seemed to do. I would have been too worried about what was going to happen to me and where my family was to be able to function. When Pi first got on the lifeboat he saw a tiger in the water, struggling to stay afloat. He helped the tiger swim to the lifeboat, but then realized he didn’t want a tiger on his lifeboat. I wouldn’t have tried to help the tiger in the first place because I would have been too shocked to do anything. I think Pi only helped to tiger because he was so accustomed to animals that they were like family to him. Also, Pi was afraid of the hyena onboard his lifeboat. I would be very frightened too since hyenas are very dangerous animals. I don’t think I would have stayed as levelheaded as Pi. He thought to stay away from the hyena and not to make sudden movements. I probably would have tried to run away or jumped off the lifeboat if I saw a hyena. Overall, Pi’s actions were admirably thoughtful in the chaos of the sinking ship, despite his fear. He acted much more rationally than I would have.
This week I read pages 100-150. Pi’s family decided to leave India because of turmoil in the country. They boarded a cargo ship with many of the animals from Pi’s father’s zoo. One night, Pi woke up in the middle of the night to find that the ship was sinking. He escaped on a lifeboat, but he couldn’t find any other survivors after the ship sank. There was also a zebra and hyena on Pi’s lifeboat. I cannot imagine what I would do if I were in Pi’s position. First, he was thrust into a lifeboat by crewmembers. I would have started freaking out and not been able to stay calm as he seemed to do. I would have been too worried about what was going to happen to me and where my family was to be able to function. When Pi first got on the lifeboat he saw a tiger in the water, struggling to stay afloat. He helped the tiger swim to the lifeboat, but then realized he didn’t want a tiger on his lifeboat. I wouldn’t have tried to help the tiger in the first place because I would have been too shocked to do anything. I think Pi only helped to tiger because he was so accustomed to animals that they were like family to him. Also, Pi was afraid of the hyena onboard his lifeboat. I would be very frightened too since hyenas are very dangerous animals. I don’t think I would have stayed as levelheaded as Pi. He thought to stay away from the hyena and not to make sudden movements. I probably would have tried to run away or jumped off the lifeboat if I saw a hyena. Overall, Pi’s actions were admirably thoughtful in the chaos of the sinking ship, despite his fear. He acted much more rationally than I would have.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Blog #4
“Life of Pi” by Yann Martel
This week I read pages 63-100. In these pages Pi goes more in depth about his religion and how he came to have his religion. Neither of Pi’s parents are religious. They don’t attend any type of service or observe religious practices at home. This is quite different from Pi. He participates in three religions: Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. It is strange that he comes from an environment with no religion, but he himself is very interested and involved in religion. Personally, I first got involved in religion because of parents. They are both religious. As they’ve attended services and celebrated religious holidays at home I’ve done the same. I’ve gone to church and celebrated with them. They’ve guided me in my religion. I can’t imagine how I would have gotten involved in religion without my parents leading me. Pi, on the other hand, found his religion totally independently without his parents. He found Christianity while he was on vacation. Pi went to a church alone and simply walked into the priest’s office. Pi asked the priest to explain his religion and from that the two began talking. Pi learned about Christianity and found that he liked it a lot. Pi found Islam by going into a town and talking to a Muslim mystic. They had long conversations and Pi learned he also enjoyed Islam. After that, Pi began going to three services. He went to an Islam service, a Hindu service and a Christian service. It is confusing to me how one person can believe in three different religions. They do no believe in the same things, so how could one agree with all of them? Pi uses a quote from Gandhi to explain his reasoning. Gandhi said, “All religions are true”. I don’t know if I agree with Pi’s observation of three religions, but I am interested to see how it develops throughout the novel.
This week I read pages 63-100. In these pages Pi goes more in depth about his religion and how he came to have his religion. Neither of Pi’s parents are religious. They don’t attend any type of service or observe religious practices at home. This is quite different from Pi. He participates in three religions: Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. It is strange that he comes from an environment with no religion, but he himself is very interested and involved in religion. Personally, I first got involved in religion because of parents. They are both religious. As they’ve attended services and celebrated religious holidays at home I’ve done the same. I’ve gone to church and celebrated with them. They’ve guided me in my religion. I can’t imagine how I would have gotten involved in religion without my parents leading me. Pi, on the other hand, found his religion totally independently without his parents. He found Christianity while he was on vacation. Pi went to a church alone and simply walked into the priest’s office. Pi asked the priest to explain his religion and from that the two began talking. Pi learned about Christianity and found that he liked it a lot. Pi found Islam by going into a town and talking to a Muslim mystic. They had long conversations and Pi learned he also enjoyed Islam. After that, Pi began going to three services. He went to an Islam service, a Hindu service and a Christian service. It is confusing to me how one person can believe in three different religions. They do no believe in the same things, so how could one agree with all of them? Pi uses a quote from Gandhi to explain his reasoning. Gandhi said, “All religions are true”. I don’t know if I agree with Pi’s observation of three religions, but I am interested to see how it develops throughout the novel.
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