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Life of Pi
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Martel, Yann - Life of Pi - Start Date: May 13th 2012
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Questions for Chapters 90-9227) What did you make of the man who boarded Pi's boat? Do you think the man was truly adrift?
28) Pi gave the man his name. Did it strike you as odd the man didn't give his?
30) This book truly has its gruesome moments and this was one of them.
31) Richard Parker has saved Pi more than once.
32) What did you make of Pi only being blind when the man was killed?
33) What was your first impression of the island? I thought maybe it was a live animal that things were growing on the back of.
34) When Pi found the teeth did you have a clue what he was thinking?
Questions for Chapters 93-100 The following questions were found by Sashana at:
http://www.skokie.lib.il.us/s_read/rd...
35) In an interview with Ray Suarez, Martel says "the idea of a religious boy in a lifeboat with a wild animal struck me as a perfect metaphor for the human condition. Humans aspire to really high things, like religion, justice, democracy. At the same time, we’re rooted in our human, animal condition…" Do you think he successfully conveys his message?
36) An article in the Internet indicated that there are plans to make this book into a movie. The director is reportedly going to be M. Night Shyamalan — the one who directed the movie the Sixth Sense. How do you think this book will be transformed into a movie? If you were the director what actor would you choose to play the part of Pi?
37) “I will come clean. I will tell you a secret: a part of me was glad about Richard Parker. A part of me did not want Richard Parker to die at all, because if he died I would be left alone with despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger. If I still had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker. He kept me from thinking too much about my family and my tragic circumstances…without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.” (p. 164)
• Zebra=sailor (broken leg)
• Orangutan=mother
• Hyena=cook
• Richard Parker=God
The Hindu gods are all strong and powerful; a tiger is similarly strong.
38) After killing and eating the cook, Pi says,” He was such an evil man. Worse still, he met evil in me — selfishness, anger, ruthlessness. I must live with that. Solitude began. I turned to God. I survived.”
39) The author says that he took a while to decide what animal would be the main animal protagonist.(quote from How I wrote the Life of Pi by author) "I finally settled upon the choice that in retrospect seems the obvious one: a tiger. The other animals in the lifeboat-the zebra, the hyena and the orangutan arose naturally, each one a function of a human trait I wanted to embody, the hyena cowardliness, the orangutan maternal instincts and the zebra exoticism. Do you think he succeeded. What do you think these animals represent? (food chain?) Do you think this part of the story is credible?
****** Back to my questions:
40) The big question is which story did you believe when you finished? Did the above questions change that answer?
41) Do you think either story contains the whole truth?
42) What did you believe to be true and what did you not?
43) Opinion of the book? What will you rate it?
I'm really behind, but I will finish it in the next days.
Answers for Chapters 90-9227) What did you make of the man who boarded Pi's boat? Do you think the man was truly adrift?
He could've been. After all, for such a huge Earth it truly is a small world.
28) Pi gave the man his name. Did it strike you as odd the man didn't give his?
I didn't even think about it, but now that you mention it...
30) This book truly has its gruesome moments and this was one of them.
Definitely. It is ironic how beautiful it is written though.
31) Richard Parker has saved Pi more than once.
32) What did you make of Pi only being blind when the man was killed?
He was blind for a few days before that I think, but it is quite convenient...
33) What was your first impression of the island? I thought maybe it was a live animal that things were growing on the back of.
I thought it was pretty cool. There are so many things we don't know exists and this could be one of them! I also was afraid that he had finally reached land and was so delirious that all he saw was water around him instead of land.
34) When Pi found the teeth did you have a clue what he was thinking?
I would like to think that he was thinking that either cannibals were hiding somewhere on that island or that there was something terribly wrong with the island.
Answers for Chapters 93-100 The following questions were found by Sashana at:
http://www.skokie.lib.il.us/s_read/rd...
35) In an interview with Ray Suarez, Martel says "the idea of a religious boy in a lifeboat with a wild animal struck me as a perfect metaphor for the human condition. Humans aspire to really high things, like religion, justice, democracy. At the same time, we’re rooted in our human, animal condition…" Do you think he successfully conveys his message?
Very much so. Pi not only took care of his basic needs he also practiced religion when he felt good enough and I know that he was thinking of justice the whole time. I mean, after all that time on the open water, wouldn't you want justice?
36) An article in the Internet indicated that there are plans to make this book into a movie. The director is reportedly going to be M. Night Shyamalan — the one who directed the movie the Sixth Sense. How do you think this book will be transformed into a movie? If you were the director what actor would you choose to play the part of Pi?
Shyamalan? Really? Interesting. I didn't see that one coming. I don't know who I would want to direct the film. Life of Pi is weird and an awkward story, but I don't know if it would be right for Shyamalan. I can maybe see Robert Zemekis, the director of Cast Away, with Tom Hanks, directing. It's almost along those lines. Should be easy! As for playing Pi, the whole time I was reading this book, I pictured Pi as Dev Patel, from Slumdog Millionaire.
37) “I will come clean. I will tell you a secret: a part of me was glad about Richard Parker. A part of me did not want Richard Parker to die at all, because if he died I would be left alone with despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger. If I still had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker. He kept me from thinking too much about my family and my tragic circumstances…without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.” (p. 164)
• Zebra=sailor (broken leg)
• Orangutan=mother
• Hyena=cook
• Richard Parker=God
The Hindu gods are all strong and powerful; a tiger is similarly strong.
I couldn't believe it when the animals were turned into humans, but they fit so well in their respective roles!
38) After killing and eating the cook, Pi says,” He was such an evil man. Worse still, he met evil in me — selfishness, anger, ruthlessness. I must live with that. Solitude began. I turned to God. I survived.”
39) The author says that he took a while to decide what animal would be the main animal protagonist.(quote from How I wrote the Life of Pi by author) "I finally settled upon the choice that in retrospect seems the obvious one: a tiger. The other animals in the lifeboat-the zebra, the hyena and the orangutan arose naturally, each one a function of a human trait I wanted to embody, the hyena cowardliness, the orangutan maternal instincts and the zebra exoticism. Do you think he succeeded. What do you think these animals represent? (food chain?) Do you think this part of the story is credible?
I beleive he succeeded. I do find it funny that he made the hyena cowardliness when Pi talked about being so scared of the hyena. At least with Richard Parker he took the chance of getting supplies and such. The animals represent what you want them to. If you want to look at this book from a religious/theology standpoint than the animals represent more than just the food chain.
****** Back to my questions:
40) The big question is which story did you believe when you finished? Did the above questions change that answer?
I want to believe the animal story more than the other. That is the story that was presented to me for 99% of the book and one I choose to believe because of my own personal beliefs in religion and I can't imagine letting such a horrible, selfish person stay on the boat with me.
41) Do you think either story contains the whole truth?
We will never know. No one will ever know the truth of the ship's sinking just like no one will ever know the truth of Pi's adventure...maybe not even Pi himself. What if the humans really were animals and he was making them in to humans for companionship and hope? Not to mention there was once or twice when he was in pretty bad shape. He could've been hallucinating.
42) What did you believe to be true and what did you not?
I beleive that he was at sea for that long and the cargo ship did sink. From there, I really can't say.
43) Opinion of the book? What will you rate it?
I will rate it three stars. I loved the descriptions in this book. They were done flawlessly and things were described in a way I have not experienced before. Even though some descriptions were lengthy I never once skimmed them like I will in some other books. I also enjoyed the way the animals represented human conditions. It would be very interesting to reread this book now that you know the ending and analyze it from the human condition standpoint.
For some reason, I just don't feel motivated to answer the questions about this book. It was OK but it hasn't been the easiest book for me to get through. I would give it a 3 star rating but only because of the ending. Otherwise it would be a 2 in my opinion.
Okay, scared the pee out of me.
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If you have the time, you can do both. If not, if you can do yesterday's I can do today's when I get home from work (11PM). I am there now or would do them now.