Blog #7

“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.