Sunday, November 25, 2012
Life of Pi: Page 301 to End
I found the ending of this book to be simultaneously disgusting and depressing. Only now do we truly find out why this was such a bad experience which scarred him for years. Pi, the cook, Pi's mother and the sailor all represent the animals. The cook kills the sailor and Pi's mother, and participates in cannibalism. Pi gets revenge (as Richard Parker attacking the french cannibal) by stabbing the cook, and eats pieces of the human flesh. After the shocking story, Chiba and Okamoto are surprised, and finally inquire after the possible causes of the sinking of the Tsimtsum. They end up leaving, and the report only covers the lack of hard evidence and their choice to believe the animal version of Pi's story when th elast line of the book is "...and non in the company of an adult Bengal tiger."
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapter 93- page 300
I found this to be the easiest reading yet. Pi finally reaches land. Yay! But I felt sorry for him when he was sad that Richard Parker left without saying goodbye :(. People found him relatively fast, which was interesting to me since he could have ended up in the middle of nowhere, but he was able to go to the hospital. Part Three just started, and basically these two men Chiba and Okamoto are looking into the sinking of the ship. Pi is being completely honest, but he was sort of irritating in how he acts a little delirious in trying to prove the truth of his story. The whole bonsai, floating bananas and cookie storage thing seems a little weird....and I dont understand the cookie/food hording. I know he went through a time of starvation but it is still odd.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 91-92
Chapter 91
Pi explores the man's boat, and his vision comes back. Pi also admits that he ate strips of him, and I was disgusted that he became a cannibal, since he was the same as the man was.
Chapter 92
Pi finds an island, which only has trees, algae, and meerkats. He is happy there, and eats a lot of algae and has fresh water. He eventually figures out that the island is carnivorous, which explains why the meerkats stay in the trees at night and how the fish are killed and then "digested" by the island. I was very creeped out when Pi opened the "fruit" to find a tooth, and impressed by his ability to reach such conclusions aobut the island in order for him to leave safely. He had earlier referred to RP as the omega animal, being compliant and trainable. That was one of the few positives, as is Pi gaining strength and eating.
Pi explores the man's boat, and his vision comes back. Pi also admits that he ate strips of him, and I was disgusted that he became a cannibal, since he was the same as the man was.
Chapter 92
Pi finds an island, which only has trees, algae, and meerkats. He is happy there, and eats a lot of algae and has fresh water. He eventually figures out that the island is carnivorous, which explains why the meerkats stay in the trees at night and how the fish are killed and then "digested" by the island. I was very creeped out when Pi opened the "fruit" to find a tooth, and impressed by his ability to reach such conclusions aobut the island in order for him to leave safely. He had earlier referred to RP as the omega animal, being compliant and trainable. That was one of the few positives, as is Pi gaining strength and eating.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 83-90
Pi finally really uses his training of Richard Parker when they both are under the tarpaulin during the storm. Pi then talks about his numerous encounters with animals including a whale, dolphins, birds and his attempt to catch them. Religion again shows its face when Pi enjoys the "miracle" of the sight of lightning. I was disappointed when Pi sees a ship, yet the ship passes them by. Pi introduces his dream rag, which basically allows him to hallucinating by restricting his ability to breathe. It seems sort of dark and dangerous compared to the pure minded boy at the beginning of the book. Pi writes a letter in a bottle, and tells the reader about how the ship begins to worsen and the last pages of his diary in which he was sure he was going to die. I found chapter 90 to be extremely confusing, with Pi going blind. Pi has a conversation with someone, who Pi believes is Richard Parker, but apparently it is a blind man in a boat. When the man tries to attack Pi, Richard Parker kills the man. I was honestly really confused, and hopefully the next chapter will clear things up against.
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 71-82
Pi starts to really train Richard Parker, by irritating RP with his whistle, and then making him nauseous by turning the boat so it rocks. Basically by associating the sound of the whistle with the nausea. While training Richard Parker, Pi showed a remarkable amount of perseverance with being his off the boat five times by Richard Parker while attempting to train him.
Pi expresses his wish for a book, and brings up his faith with how he not only wishes for a scripture but how when he first saw a bible in a hotel he cried. Pi talks about how his diary is how he kept a record of his life, and the only book he had to read was the survival manual.
This reading is the first time Pi actually talks about practicing his religion(s), and he talks about how despite facing moments of hate and hopelessness, he still keeps love in his heart and God.
Chapter 75 was literally the saddest line i have read in the entire book. All it says is "On the day when I estimated it was Mother's birthday, I sang "Happy Birthday" to her out loud." It is a mention of his family, and how he misses them.
Pi talks about the problems of having food, and cleaning up after RP, and compares himself to animals in both how he eats and how he excretes waste. Also, the problems of facing the opposites of his situation is explained. Pi's story of how he caught a mako shark, and how RP finally made a mistake in letting the shark bite his paw seemed a little random. Pi finally shows his superiority and uses his training of Richard Parker to show Richard Parker that he deserves to keep the dorado.
Pi uses his knowledge of zoology to explain how he has power because he was the source of food and water for RP, and he talks about how he (Pi) has become an animal by wolfing down food like RP.
A little detail I found funny and ironic was how Pi was talking about being the center of a lot of circles, and he goes by the name Pi.
Pi expresses his wish for a book, and brings up his faith with how he not only wishes for a scripture but how when he first saw a bible in a hotel he cried. Pi talks about how his diary is how he kept a record of his life, and the only book he had to read was the survival manual.
This reading is the first time Pi actually talks about practicing his religion(s), and he talks about how despite facing moments of hate and hopelessness, he still keeps love in his heart and God.
Chapter 75 was literally the saddest line i have read in the entire book. All it says is "On the day when I estimated it was Mother's birthday, I sang "Happy Birthday" to her out loud." It is a mention of his family, and how he misses them.
Pi talks about the problems of having food, and cleaning up after RP, and compares himself to animals in both how he eats and how he excretes waste. Also, the problems of facing the opposites of his situation is explained. Pi's story of how he caught a mako shark, and how RP finally made a mistake in letting the shark bite his paw seemed a little random. Pi finally shows his superiority and uses his training of Richard Parker to show Richard Parker that he deserves to keep the dorado.
Pi uses his knowledge of zoology to explain how he has power because he was the source of food and water for RP, and he talks about how he (Pi) has become an animal by wolfing down food like RP.
A little detail I found funny and ironic was how Pi was talking about being the center of a lot of circles, and he goes by the name Pi.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 60-70
Chapter Sixty was interesting only because it referenced Pi's faith. It is a strong contrast with his animalistic will to live, and how his mixture of faiths can be applied in his situation.
In chapter sixty one, Pi tries to start fishing. He cuts his shoe apart, and after all the pieces are taken, Pi still does not give up. Pi goes onto the lifeboat and gets hit in the face with a fish. This made me laugh a little, although when the school of fish begins to hit Pi it no longer is funny. I found it sort of sad how Pi had so much trouble kissing his first fist. He calls himself a killer, but probably the line which really hit me was "I never forget to include this fish in my prayers." It provides a connection between his will to live (fish) at the time and his faith with prayer. Another such instance is how Pi catches a large dorado, and thanks Lord Vishnu, yet he easily kills the dorado. I felt sad when Pi said "A person can get used to anything, even to killing." because this shows a change in Pi. He goes from a fragile boy to a killer, at least in his own mind.
Chapter Sixty Two is all about Pi and his discovery of how the solar stills work with having water. Pi seemed a little insane to me with him treating his stills as cows, and "milking" them. At the end of the chapter, Pi realizes the ship would have sunk a week ago.
Chapter Sixty Three is the beginning of a change. It first brings up different fictitious and real people and how long they survived at sea. Pi tells of how he survived 227 days, and his usual calendar. The important part of the chapter is how Pi tells of his depart from time. How events are in his memory, but they are a jumble, and that the loss of time allowed him to survive.
Chapter Sixty Four continues with the theme of a loss of time. All it talks about it how his clothes disintegrated, and he got salt-water boils.
Chapter Sixty Five was Pi reflecting on his lack of knowledge or control, and mentions how he went on the Pacific equatorial counter-current.
Chapter Sixty Six is about how Pi improves at fishing, using gaffs and his cargo net to lure fish. Pi also goes into detail about the hard labor he went though to bring a turtle onto the boat. Even Pi brings up that he descended into a level of savagery, compared to his past self.
Pi tastes different animals in chapter sixty seven, showing how he is desperate for food, and how he watches the animals for fun.
Chapter Sixty Eight talks about the difference in sleep patterns between Pi, with RP napping constantly while Pi had difficulty making it more than an hour.
Rocket flares, and their smell occupy chapter 69, with them bringing back memories of Pondicherry.
Chapter 70 talks about the difficulty Pi had butchering a turtle. Pi gives RP the turtle, and decides "It was time to impose myself and carve out my territory."
In all these chapters, Pi slowly trains Richard Parker. First with whistling when giving RP the fish, and also with the water.
In chapter sixty one, Pi tries to start fishing. He cuts his shoe apart, and after all the pieces are taken, Pi still does not give up. Pi goes onto the lifeboat and gets hit in the face with a fish. This made me laugh a little, although when the school of fish begins to hit Pi it no longer is funny. I found it sort of sad how Pi had so much trouble kissing his first fist. He calls himself a killer, but probably the line which really hit me was "I never forget to include this fish in my prayers." It provides a connection between his will to live (fish) at the time and his faith with prayer. Another such instance is how Pi catches a large dorado, and thanks Lord Vishnu, yet he easily kills the dorado. I felt sad when Pi said "A person can get used to anything, even to killing." because this shows a change in Pi. He goes from a fragile boy to a killer, at least in his own mind.
Chapter Sixty Two is all about Pi and his discovery of how the solar stills work with having water. Pi seemed a little insane to me with him treating his stills as cows, and "milking" them. At the end of the chapter, Pi realizes the ship would have sunk a week ago.
Chapter Sixty Three is the beginning of a change. It first brings up different fictitious and real people and how long they survived at sea. Pi tells of how he survived 227 days, and his usual calendar. The important part of the chapter is how Pi tells of his depart from time. How events are in his memory, but they are a jumble, and that the loss of time allowed him to survive.
Chapter Sixty Four continues with the theme of a loss of time. All it talks about it how his clothes disintegrated, and he got salt-water boils.
Chapter Sixty Five was Pi reflecting on his lack of knowledge or control, and mentions how he went on the Pacific equatorial counter-current.
Chapter Sixty Six is about how Pi improves at fishing, using gaffs and his cargo net to lure fish. Pi also goes into detail about the hard labor he went though to bring a turtle onto the boat. Even Pi brings up that he descended into a level of savagery, compared to his past self.
Pi tastes different animals in chapter sixty seven, showing how he is desperate for food, and how he watches the animals for fun.
Chapter Sixty Eight talks about the difference in sleep patterns between Pi, with RP napping constantly while Pi had difficulty making it more than an hour.
Rocket flares, and their smell occupy chapter 69, with them bringing back memories of Pondicherry.
Chapter 70 talks about the difficulty Pi had butchering a turtle. Pi gives RP the turtle, and decides "It was time to impose myself and carve out my territory."
In all these chapters, Pi slowly trains Richard Parker. First with whistling when giving RP the fish, and also with the water.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 54- 59
The themes of hope and zoology are strong in these chapters.
Zoology
Pi come up with several plans in order to get rid of Richard Parker, and realizes that none of them will work that well based on how hardy, strong, and great swimmers tigers are. Pi decides he will train Richard Parker, and compares his available tools to those of circus tamers. It was sort of gross to me how Pi "marked" his territory on the tarpaulin by pouring his own urine on it, and then drank from the same beaker right afterwards. But, since he later comes to survive, I guess he knows best.
Hope
Pi's hope in his situation changes so often, I feel like he is bipolar. One minute he is happy because of one small victory, and the next he is breaking down in tear, sure that he will never make it home. For example, Pi has a lot of hope after he decides to begin training Richard Parker, and he fixes his raft.
Fear
Pi talks about the strong mental and physical repercussions of fear. As he says "It is life's only true opponent " Which is true, since fear can change how people act, and having too much fear can lead to giving up hope. Pi says that Richard Parker calmed him down, because RP made a sound the prusten. The prusten is a puff to express friendliness and harmless intentions.
Zoology
Pi come up with several plans in order to get rid of Richard Parker, and realizes that none of them will work that well based on how hardy, strong, and great swimmers tigers are. Pi decides he will train Richard Parker, and compares his available tools to those of circus tamers. It was sort of gross to me how Pi "marked" his territory on the tarpaulin by pouring his own urine on it, and then drank from the same beaker right afterwards. But, since he later comes to survive, I guess he knows best.
Hope
Pi's hope in his situation changes so often, I feel like he is bipolar. One minute he is happy because of one small victory, and the next he is breaking down in tear, sure that he will never make it home. For example, Pi has a lot of hope after he decides to begin training Richard Parker, and he fixes his raft.
Fear
Pi talks about the strong mental and physical repercussions of fear. As he says "It is life's only true opponent " Which is true, since fear can change how people act, and having too much fear can lead to giving up hope. Pi says that Richard Parker calmed him down, because RP made a sound the prusten. The prusten is a puff to express friendliness and harmless intentions.
Life of Pi: chapters 49 through 53
Chapter 49
It was sort of funny how Pi finds it unbelievable that Richard Parker was still on the boat, and he makes an analogy of how Pi lost hope so badly, that he had nothing to lose and kept trying hard. Pi realizes he is thirsty and has not had food or water in three days. I find that sort of unbelievable, even with the constant threat of the hyena in the past couple days. Pi just throws caution to the wind and decides to climb to the middle of the boat. It took him a long time, but he faces his fear. Pi comes to a similar conclusion about why Richard Parker was so calm, with RP being sedated or seasick.
Chapter 50
I had trouble with this chapter with the description of the boat. Despite the numerous descriptions, I have no idea about how it would be shaped or set up. The funny part was how Pi talks about orange being the color of survival, as it was the color of the boat, tarpaulin, life jackets and oars. Normally, orange is not thought of as the color of life and survival, which makes it interesting.
Chapter 51
I was very irritated by Pi in this chapter. He gets all these things, and throws these empty water cans into the ocean. It is like the ultimate hunger games or survivor, you need to keep that which could potentially be useful. Those cans could hold water from the rain catchers, or food, or even be used to shovel out the boat. I was impressed with the descriptive passage about the positive affects of drinking the water, after three days without any.
Chapter 52
It was a long list about the supplies aboard the boat, and ended with Pi looking at the rain catcher, which will be very important in the future.
Chapter 53
Pi uses his problem solving skills to build a little raft, which seems to show how he might have to use his skills later on to solve other problems in order to survive. Finally, the tiger eats the hyena. Thankfully, it was neither as gory as the zebra death nor in as deep of detail I enjoyed this chapter because Pi is getting somewhere with his supplies, and trying to actually stay alive rather than watching the happenings of the animals.
It was sort of funny how Pi finds it unbelievable that Richard Parker was still on the boat, and he makes an analogy of how Pi lost hope so badly, that he had nothing to lose and kept trying hard. Pi realizes he is thirsty and has not had food or water in three days. I find that sort of unbelievable, even with the constant threat of the hyena in the past couple days. Pi just throws caution to the wind and decides to climb to the middle of the boat. It took him a long time, but he faces his fear. Pi comes to a similar conclusion about why Richard Parker was so calm, with RP being sedated or seasick.
Chapter 50
I had trouble with this chapter with the description of the boat. Despite the numerous descriptions, I have no idea about how it would be shaped or set up. The funny part was how Pi talks about orange being the color of survival, as it was the color of the boat, tarpaulin, life jackets and oars. Normally, orange is not thought of as the color of life and survival, which makes it interesting.
Chapter 51
I was very irritated by Pi in this chapter. He gets all these things, and throws these empty water cans into the ocean. It is like the ultimate hunger games or survivor, you need to keep that which could potentially be useful. Those cans could hold water from the rain catchers, or food, or even be used to shovel out the boat. I was impressed with the descriptive passage about the positive affects of drinking the water, after three days without any.
Chapter 52
It was a long list about the supplies aboard the boat, and ended with Pi looking at the rain catcher, which will be very important in the future.
Chapter 53
Pi uses his problem solving skills to build a little raft, which seems to show how he might have to use his skills later on to solve other problems in order to survive. Finally, the tiger eats the hyena. Thankfully, it was neither as gory as the zebra death nor in as deep of detail I enjoyed this chapter because Pi is getting somewhere with his supplies, and trying to actually stay alive rather than watching the happenings of the animals.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 44-48
Chapters 44 through 47 were a little dull, with alot of what Pi talks about being his fear of the night, the animals, and other things.
I found it odd how someone in Pi's position would still have hope after enduring a night on a lifeboat with a hyena, orangutan, and a zebra. It was disgusting how the zebra slowly died a painful death after a day or two of being consumed by the hyena.
I enjoy when little moments happen that vaguely connect to the zoology lessons Pi taught us in part one. Like how he enjoys one of those weird nature relationships in which Orange Juice was uharmed by the hyena for a couple of days (which ended up changing). I also found it ironic since in the evening of either the same day or the next day, the two animals end up in a roaring contest, ending with the violent killing of Orange Juice.
Chapter 48 was my favorite of this reading. It seemed to fit better with the method of storytelling shown in the first part. It was a little anecdote about how Richard Parker got his name, after Pi discovers Richard Parker's presence on the boat. It was more lighthearted, and the last line "I don't know if Thirsty None Given ever got the man-eating panther." seemed like a little comic relief from the harsh, monotonous violence taking place on the boat.
I found it odd how someone in Pi's position would still have hope after enduring a night on a lifeboat with a hyena, orangutan, and a zebra. It was disgusting how the zebra slowly died a painful death after a day or two of being consumed by the hyena.
I enjoy when little moments happen that vaguely connect to the zoology lessons Pi taught us in part one. Like how he enjoys one of those weird nature relationships in which Orange Juice was uharmed by the hyena for a couple of days (which ended up changing). I also found it ironic since in the evening of either the same day or the next day, the two animals end up in a roaring contest, ending with the violent killing of Orange Juice.
Chapter 48 was my favorite of this reading. It seemed to fit better with the method of storytelling shown in the first part. It was a little anecdote about how Richard Parker got his name, after Pi discovers Richard Parker's presence on the boat. It was more lighthearted, and the last line "I don't know if Thirsty None Given ever got the man-eating panther." seemed like a little comic relief from the harsh, monotonous violence taking place on the boat.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 37-43
There is a very noticeable difference between part one and part two of this book. While part one involves a lot of development of Pi as a character, these chapters are more story-line oriented. It was confusing and exciting. The themes of zoology and animals definitely made an appearance, with a talk about how hyenas are in the wild. I found it disturbing how Pi could have saved his family, but they were destroyed and he was the only one to escape. If Ravi had woken up, and not gone back to sleep, who knows what would have happened. Just because Pi did not want to wake up his father, his parents slept on. Another what if that Pi brought up was the what if the hyena was not on the lifeboat. It is a distinct possibility that Pi would have died. It is sort of crazy to think about how things would have turned out if only one detail was changed. This is true in most peoples lives, a sort of turning point, but it is especially true in this book.
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