Question #3 What's in a name?

[[deleted user]]

Named by his parents after a glorious swimming pool in Paris, called Piscine Moliter, our hero undergoes a self-imposed name change in adolescence. He decides to alter his name to Pi, after the irrational mathematical number that goes on forever with no repeating pattern (3.14159265359...). Do you see any significance to either name? Explain.

[Maureen]

Such an interesting name, Piscine or Pi--apart from the (mostly) male members of our family who are more interested in the apple sort. The Old French meaning, according to Merriam-Webster, is 'fishpond' and Pi certainly found himself in a large one. That he should end up with the name of an irrational number with no end in sight, yes, that would be pretty much my thought too, faced with his challenges.

[Allison]

I didn't know that -- about the fishpond meaning, Maureen. That's a wonderful interpretation! I love the whole chapter describing Pi's rebirth through his new name. I found this part so gentle and humorous, especially the scene described the previous June where in the heat and blurry-ness of the day, Pi swears he hears the teacher slurring his full name into that dreaded schoolyard taunt, Pissing. Poor kid!

At the end of the chapter he says "and so, in that Greek letter that looks like a shack with a corrugated tin roof, in that elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge."

The number Pi turns up in so many mathematical equations related to the universe, it is quite baffling just how elegant and important it is. It's an incredibly interesting (and mysterious) number. I guess my feeling on its significance here is that it is a metaphorical refuge because of its shape, as Pi points out; it has its roots in the Ancient Greek world, in which religion was wrapped up in an intricate web of mythologies with many different gods - perhaps mirroring Pi's own multi-appreciated stance on religion; and it's unpredictable pattern and never ending quality which, as Maureen pointed out, nicely alludes to his adventure at sea.

As for Piscine, the imagery of water is huge for me.

[Kate]

The water image is definitely a bit one that came to mind for me as well. I love the insight about the "fishpond" qualification, Maureen. He certainly got a lot of fish out there.

I think it's also interesting that Pi is a name that he chose for himself. A lot of the times the nicknames we get a chosen by others but he chose his own and trained everyone very effectively into using it. So the fact that he chose a number known for its repetitiveness and its place in the universe seems very important. He repeats his name and cements his place in the universe (both at school and not).

[Sylvia]

I have nothing to add but agreement with the last three commentators -well-said Maureen, Allison, Kate! What's in a watery name indeed-rebirth & the vast ocean :))

[Laurie]

I love the part about his name. It has been awhile since I read the book but this part stands out as very memorable and humourous. I think it is significant as it lets us know about his strong character early in the book. The way he handled dealing with his given name to put and end to the teasing shows us he is inventive and unbreakable. This being very important throughout the story as he deals with both Richard Parker the Tiger and survival.

[Susan]

I enjoyed learning that his name "Pi" came about as an abbreviation of the number equal to the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. To push analogies a little further - if you draw a circle and its diameter, you can imagine the circle as the world, and our hero taking the route across it - from India to the New World.

[Allison]

Laurie wrote: "I love the part about his name. It has been awhile since I read the book but this part stands out as very memorable and humourous. I think it is significant as it lets us know about his strong char..."

I agree, Laurie. Taking charge of altering his own name showed a great deal of resourcefulness, and he did it in such a way that he won favour not only with his classmates, some of whom then tried to change their own names to a Greek letter, but also with his brother, Ravi, who was pretty impressed.

[Allison]

Susan wrote: "I enjoyed learning that his name "Pi" came about as an abbreviation of the number equal to the circumference of a circle divided by its diameter. To push analogies a little further - if you draw a ..."

Susan, what a great metaphor with the diameter of a circle and the earth! I love it!!

[Susan]

I too, love Susan's image of the "circle as the world, and our hero taking the route across it - from India to the New World."

I think it's vitally important that Pi knew how to swim - it saved his life several times. So the importance of swimming lessons in a pool as a child can't be overstated.