The next section is pretty much from some time into Pi's journey at sea about to the island. I don't have too much to say about the stuff before the island for how much space it took up but it was still pretty interesting. Something about the way the book is writen in this section makes it kind of blur together. But I supose that was the idea, what with it being set on the open ocean and all.
Chapter 74 really sums up what Pi is dealing with out there. He tried to keep up his devotion to God even though everything around him seemed to be trying to crush that out of him. He reminds himself that everything there is from God and basicly that he should love his suroundings and not resent his situation because God put him there. This is one of his low swings within the chapter, "But God's hat was always unravelling. God's pants were falling apart. God's cat was a constant danger. God's ark was a jail. God's wide acres were slowly killing me. God's ear didn't seem to be listening." (page 242-243). I think that this really shows what Pi is struggling against out there and what the book is trying to get across. At the end of the chapter you have this little bit that is really a big victory and at the same time only a part of life. "The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving." (page 243). This sentence that ends the chapter kind of brings the message down to an everyday novel to help people take away from it without being extreamly obvious about it.
I just wanted to share the next bit because I find it important and it will break your heart everytime. "On the day when I estimated it was Mother's birthday, I sang 'Happy Birthday' to her out loud." (page 244). I think that this is important because it really drives home the whole idea of social isolation. It just lays out the fact that Pi is almost living in a surreal world at this time. He has basicly suspended almost every other aspect of his life in order to survive.
Lastly I want to talk about the island itself. I think that the island is one of the most interesting parts of the book. But, I still do not understand it. I have only read the entire book twice but I don't know how many times I have read that. I love it; after the part where he's being interviewed by the japanese guys, it's the best part of the book. Here's what I do know about it: it saved him, and it would have killed him. I don't know what that's supposed to mean. Literally the island is carnivorus and tries to kill everything on and around it. It also is an excelant food source for Pi, Richard Parker and the meercats that live there. Obviously this island is significant to the whole story. I think that it's kind of telling that Richard Parker found out that the island was two-faced the first day but it took Pi much longer to see it. Either way I hope that I can understand it some day.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Life of Pi (blog 2)
The Next section is pretty much from when he is cast into the ocean until he is finally rescued. I won't do all of the section in this blog but that is what happens. There are several things that are pretty interesting to me about this section.
The first one is how Richard Parker relates with the three different religions that Pi follows. It's not so much Richard Parker as it is the different types of relationships that exist between Pi and R.P. First of all you have the Christian angle. Both rp and Pi are saviors to each other. Pi to rp by giving him fish and water and even initially getting him onto the life boat. Then you have the more abstract part of that with rp. RP kept Pi alive by giving him motivation he had to keep moving and thinking and doing not only to keep himself from a particularly gruesome death but also to keep his only friend alive. That transitions nicely into how the relate similarly to how Pi views Islam. Pi finds Islam so interesting because of the brotherhood he sees in it. In many ways Pi and rp support each other in that way and are ultimately able to come out of it alive. Lastly you have the Hindu angle. Pi loved Hinduism because of the massive scale of it and the incredible and incomprehensible gods. There are many ways to look at it that clearly show how Pi at times is completely incapable of understanding rp (the animal part mostly), and obviously rp will never be able to understand much about Pi or why he does what he does most of the time. Not that I think rp really cared as long as he was reasonably well fed.
The next thing that I noticed was smaller but still significant to the story I think. From the very beginning you know that Pi lives through this. Obviously, he's telling the story. So because of this you have this kind of forced faith that no matter what happens in the story he will make it out and survive. this is pretty important to the the story being so deeply rooted in religion and the Promise to give "a story that will make you believe in God." (page 10).
The first one is how Richard Parker relates with the three different religions that Pi follows. It's not so much Richard Parker as it is the different types of relationships that exist between Pi and R.P. First of all you have the Christian angle. Both rp and Pi are saviors to each other. Pi to rp by giving him fish and water and even initially getting him onto the life boat. Then you have the more abstract part of that with rp. RP kept Pi alive by giving him motivation he had to keep moving and thinking and doing not only to keep himself from a particularly gruesome death but also to keep his only friend alive. That transitions nicely into how the relate similarly to how Pi views Islam. Pi finds Islam so interesting because of the brotherhood he sees in it. In many ways Pi and rp support each other in that way and are ultimately able to come out of it alive. Lastly you have the Hindu angle. Pi loved Hinduism because of the massive scale of it and the incredible and incomprehensible gods. There are many ways to look at it that clearly show how Pi at times is completely incapable of understanding rp (the animal part mostly), and obviously rp will never be able to understand much about Pi or why he does what he does most of the time. Not that I think rp really cared as long as he was reasonably well fed.
The next thing that I noticed was smaller but still significant to the story I think. From the very beginning you know that Pi lives through this. Obviously, he's telling the story. So because of this you have this kind of forced faith that no matter what happens in the story he will make it out and survive. this is pretty important to the the story being so deeply rooted in religion and the Promise to give "a story that will make you believe in God." (page 10).
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Life of Pi (blog 1)
I choose to blog about Life Pi even though I'm not doing my report on it. I've already blogged on the book I've chosen, which is Pride and Prejudice. I have read this book before and really enjoyed it but never really had all to much to say about it. I hope that this doesn't turn out too badly...
This was the first time I actually read the author's note at the beginning. Let me just say that that little bit adds quite a lot of perspective to the novel. This one quote sets up the telling of the entire novel and is very important to the book as a whole. "Then the elderly man said, 'I have a story that will make you believe in God.'" (page 10). This little bit pretty much lays out the rest of the book for you. On the simpler side you can see it as it is referring to Pi's story and how one should approach it. It says that this story isn't a random series of incredible events but something on a grander scale. Reading this with out that the only big question that came to mind was whether or not Richard Parker was really there (that's still pretty unobservant on my part though). This can also be seen as showing the entire book's reason for being written.
I find it interesting that after everything that happens Pi chooses to major in two things. "My majors were religious studies and zoology. My fourth-year thesis for religious studies concerned certain aspects of the cosmogony theory of Isaac Luria, the great sixteenth century Kabbalist from Safed. My zoology thesis was a functional analysis of the thyroid gland of the three-toed sloth. I chose the sloth because its demeanour-calm, quiet, and introspective- did something to soothe my shattered self." (page 14). He chooses to major in the two things that get him through his time at sea. Both are things that have been constant throughout his life both on the life boat and during his childhood. He has been living with zoos and religion for his entire life. I think that these are the two places (given the overall theme of the book) where he finds God. "...and the three-toed sloth, such a beautiful example of the miracle of life, reminded me of God." (page 15). That kind of brings up another point, He mentions the miracle of life right next to God. To me this shows that he believes that life is God and to extend that, that life is the search for God. So keeping that in mind you could go back to the title Life of Pi and see right there that He's going to be talking about Pi's journey with God. The way he phrases it too, life of Pi instead of Pi's life or something kind of gives the idea that Pi and God are leveling as equals or something. That last bit might be a stretch but it's interesting to think about.
Looking back I can't see how I didn't realise that religion was as deeply involved as it is. I might as well have not known that Richard Parker was a tiger.
This was the first time I actually read the author's note at the beginning. Let me just say that that little bit adds quite a lot of perspective to the novel. This one quote sets up the telling of the entire novel and is very important to the book as a whole. "Then the elderly man said, 'I have a story that will make you believe in God.'" (page 10). This little bit pretty much lays out the rest of the book for you. On the simpler side you can see it as it is referring to Pi's story and how one should approach it. It says that this story isn't a random series of incredible events but something on a grander scale. Reading this with out that the only big question that came to mind was whether or not Richard Parker was really there (that's still pretty unobservant on my part though). This can also be seen as showing the entire book's reason for being written.
I find it interesting that after everything that happens Pi chooses to major in two things. "My majors were religious studies and zoology. My fourth-year thesis for religious studies concerned certain aspects of the cosmogony theory of Isaac Luria, the great sixteenth century Kabbalist from Safed. My zoology thesis was a functional analysis of the thyroid gland of the three-toed sloth. I chose the sloth because its demeanour-calm, quiet, and introspective- did something to soothe my shattered self." (page 14). He chooses to major in the two things that get him through his time at sea. Both are things that have been constant throughout his life both on the life boat and during his childhood. He has been living with zoos and religion for his entire life. I think that these are the two places (given the overall theme of the book) where he finds God. "...and the three-toed sloth, such a beautiful example of the miracle of life, reminded me of God." (page 15). That kind of brings up another point, He mentions the miracle of life right next to God. To me this shows that he believes that life is God and to extend that, that life is the search for God. So keeping that in mind you could go back to the title Life of Pi and see right there that He's going to be talking about Pi's journey with God. The way he phrases it too, life of Pi instead of Pi's life or something kind of gives the idea that Pi and God are leveling as equals or something. That last bit might be a stretch but it's interesting to think about.
Looking back I can't see how I didn't realise that religion was as deeply involved as it is. I might as well have not known that Richard Parker was a tiger.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Frankenstein (blog 4)
Over all I have to say that I did not enjoy this book. It seemed predictable the whole way through. It would have been even worse if I didn't already have my own ideas about Frankenstein. Even though it was really boring to read I did find a few things worth talking about.
One thing is more of a comment really. From the very begining Frankenstein regrets creating the monster. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endevoured to form?" (page 56). At the end the monster regretted turning so brutal. "'That is also my victim!' he exclaimed. 'In his murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series of my being is wound to its close!...'" (page 207). They both regret doing permident things. This is kind of a lesson in itself. Their regret is all just too little too late.
I was just thinking about the different types of theories we're supposed to use earlier and I found something interesting. At first I thought of feminism and alomost passed over it because I thought for a minute that there weren't even any women in the booksince none of them are really important as people themselves they just kind of set up the circumstances. Then I realised that there are lots of women in this book Frankenstein's mother, Elizabeth, Justina, the second monster he almost created and the two women that were in the cottage the monster found. Then I also realised that this book was also written by a woman. Over all I think that this book was horrible to women.
First of all Frankenstein's father marries his mother in order to take care of her after her father (one of his friends died). It is kind of a nice thing since she was so young but she could provided for herself after she didn't need to take care of her father anymore and It seems that Frankenstein Sr. really only saved her because of his friend, it's not like he cared for her before this happened. Then Elizabeth, often in the book she is judged based on her looks, she does not get to go to college. She is considdered intelligent but being a woman that sort of seems to have more to do with being at one with nature that knowing things. Lets not forget that Frankenstein's parents got her for him sort of like a present; they even joke about this. Justine is just treated as a simple person who didn't really matter outside of making the monster seem more horrible. The female monster that he almost created is probably the worst of all if you think about it. Fankenstein is almost done with it and he has been working for nearly a year or something when he realizes, 'hey, wait a minute, what if this one thinks for itself instead of doing whatever the male wants.' It took him a year to even entertain this possibility. The two women in the cottage are bad all so. One is fought over like property and the other is treated as a pet that does minimal work and just kind of sits around. After I got through all that I considered the fact that a women wrote this and just put all other women down like that. I think that Mary Shelley could have saved everyone some time by following her own opinions about what women should be like. After realizing all of this I can strongly say that I hated this book.
One thing is more of a comment really. From the very begining Frankenstein regrets creating the monster. "How can I describe my emotions at this catastrophe, or how delineate the wretch whom with such infinite pains and care I had endevoured to form?" (page 56). At the end the monster regretted turning so brutal. "'That is also my victim!' he exclaimed. 'In his murder my crimes are consummated; the miserable series of my being is wound to its close!...'" (page 207). They both regret doing permident things. This is kind of a lesson in itself. Their regret is all just too little too late.
I was just thinking about the different types of theories we're supposed to use earlier and I found something interesting. At first I thought of feminism and alomost passed over it because I thought for a minute that there weren't even any women in the booksince none of them are really important as people themselves they just kind of set up the circumstances. Then I realised that there are lots of women in this book Frankenstein's mother, Elizabeth, Justina, the second monster he almost created and the two women that were in the cottage the monster found. Then I also realised that this book was also written by a woman. Over all I think that this book was horrible to women.
First of all Frankenstein's father marries his mother in order to take care of her after her father (one of his friends died). It is kind of a nice thing since she was so young but she could provided for herself after she didn't need to take care of her father anymore and It seems that Frankenstein Sr. really only saved her because of his friend, it's not like he cared for her before this happened. Then Elizabeth, often in the book she is judged based on her looks, she does not get to go to college. She is considdered intelligent but being a woman that sort of seems to have more to do with being at one with nature that knowing things. Lets not forget that Frankenstein's parents got her for him sort of like a present; they even joke about this. Justine is just treated as a simple person who didn't really matter outside of making the monster seem more horrible. The female monster that he almost created is probably the worst of all if you think about it. Fankenstein is almost done with it and he has been working for nearly a year or something when he realizes, 'hey, wait a minute, what if this one thinks for itself instead of doing whatever the male wants.' It took him a year to even entertain this possibility. The two women in the cottage are bad all so. One is fought over like property and the other is treated as a pet that does minimal work and just kind of sits around. After I got through all that I considered the fact that a women wrote this and just put all other women down like that. I think that Mary Shelley could have saved everyone some time by following her own opinions about what women should be like. After realizing all of this I can strongly say that I hated this book.
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