Aminals Falling

Book Review

There were three parts to the Life of Pi and they were all very different from each other. The first section of the book talks about Pi's life before he left home. In this section we get descriptions of the Pondicherry Zoo, which where he spent most of his time during his childhood.  In the second section, Pi describes his journey from when the ship sinks to when he is saved. This section shows the struggles of Pi while stuck on a boat with animals, very little food and a limited water supply. In the third section Pi is being interviewed by two men about his story on the lifeboat. During the third part of the book, Pi tells his story (the story that is vividly described during part two), but the reporters don't believe him. Pi tells them a different, slightly more believable story that is extremely disturbing and sad, which involves no animals like the story he told before. The reader doesn't ever find out which story is true or whether either one is true. The ending leaves you wondering what really happened.

In my opinion, the whole book was a metaphor for God. Throughout the book, Pi has been telling an incredible story about coexisting with a hyena, orangutan, and zebra for a short period of time and with a tiger for over 200 days at sea. At the end of the story, he tells the same story again, but with humans instead of animals. The things that have happened to the animals happen exactly to the humans. The roll of the orangutan was played by his mom, the hyena played by a french chef, the zebra a sailor, and the tiger was Pi. This means Pi watched his mother being brutally murdered by the chef instead of an orangutan being killed by a lion. Instead of a hyena taking off a zebra's leg to eat, the chef took off a sailor's leg to eat. Pi killed the chef, and then was completely and totally alone for over 200 days. He explains to two men that both stories have the same outcome, so which would a person rather believe? They reply "the one with the animals." Pi replies, "and so it is with God." Religion played a big part in this book. In fact, this story was promised to make us believe in God. Nobody wants to believe the human story, so a lot of people take the leap of faith and believe in the story featuring animals. I don't think it matters which really happened. I don't think that's what the author intended. I think the author wanted to make a point about taking the leap of faith and believing in the animal story because it's better.

The Life of Pi?

An eroding indian boy struggling with the pacific,

The company he keeps is what is in question,

a floating, passively carnivorous algae island,

Who knows if it ever existed? logic says otherwise,

An omega tiger, its seasickness, Pi's life line,

Was this tiger, in reality, Pi himself?

A metaphor for life? Where does god stand

in this tale with two stories?

humans or animals?

One tells a tale that is easier and harder to believe simultaneously,

 That one I believe is the true version,

It takes a leap of faith in god to believe that 

animals could ever coincidentally kill each other and Pi could ever survive, does this mean that the story with humans is sadder

and therefore we choose to believe the one with animals?

If so, we have a long way to go,

before life could be truly equal

Carnivores

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Metacarnivorous

                               Pi's transformation

What it looks like

 The whales are one of Pi's favorite sea animals. He finds hope in them, saying: "these gentle behemoths always lifted my spirits. I was convinced they understood my condition, that at the sight of me one of them exclaimed  ‘oh! It’s that castaway with the pussy cat Bamphoo was telling me about! Poor boy. I hope he has enough plankton. I must tell Mumphoo and Tomphoo and Stimphoo ablout him. I wonder if there isn't a ship around I can alert. His mother would be very happy to see him again. Goodbye, my boy. I’ll try to help. My names Pimphoo.” 

The boat shape is complete! Now all we have to do is make a hull, decorate and add the finishing touches!

Power

This is the hierarchy of animals on the lifeboat. Richard Parker has utter dominance over the others. His physical brawn alone is what makes him the top. He was born a tiger with no hope of becoming something else. Tigers are on top so Richard Parker, with no other choice, is the top carnivore from birth. Using his birthright, Richard Parker is able to use the others to benefit his needs. He eats the Hyena, which ate Orange Juice, and the Zebra. He uses Pi the most because Pi is pretty much his slave bringing him food and water. And only because he was born a tiger.

The same thing happens around the world. People are born to billionaires, others to people without homes. There is desperation among the less fortunate, just like in the lifeboat. They will do anything they can to save themselves from the almost inevitable. What is happening in the lifeboat is exactly what’s happening everywhere.  

                      =             

             =

(Forced)

 This picture represents the scene in which Pi discovers Christianity. He sees the mosque, church, and hindu temple on three separate churches that are next to each other. 

Though Pi is in a terrible situation, he takes time to notice the undersea beauty.

"with just one glance I discovered the sea was a city." -page 221

So far, in the Pi group, we have the shape of our boat planned, and we are working on the bottom and the sides of the boat. We are working on supporting the bottom so it can support the weight of four people. We are coming along quite smoothly... so far.

A meaningless Sacrifice

The Battle over Religion

(Torn Prayer Rug)

This picture represents the passage in the first part of The Life of Pi when Pi describes the authority in which circus performers command the circus lions. The passage explains that the circus performers must show authority and show the animal that there are  the leader. The lion would only tear the performer apart because of invasion of territory, not hunger. This is why the omega animal in the pride, the lion with the lowest social standing, makes the best performing lion. 

This picture and article show a different take on how animals react to being in caged setting. The difference, however, between the animals in these circus cages and the animals at Pi's zoo is that the animals at the zoo have comfortable habitats rather than cramped cages. It is an interesting dilemma, however, and this article shows a different opinion on how animals react to cages.What do you think?

"I heard two things in that moment: Father saying 'never forget this lesson'...and the bleating of a goat [as the tiger devoured it]"

-page 44

The Catholic Church

This is depicting the part of the book (from the first section) where the Rhino, Peak, was put with goats because Peak was suffering from isolation.