Life of Pi - Everything Revision Flashcards
Quote about:
- These words are spoken by Pi early in Part One, at the end of chapter 4, after a long discussion of zoo enclosures.
concepts: freedom, religion, zoos
“I know zoos are no longer in people’s good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.”
What it tells us
We have already learned that Pi studied zoology and religion at the University of Toronto, and the above quote demonstrates just how closely aligned the two subjects are in his mind. He is quick to turn a discussion of animal freedom into a metaphor for people’s religious inclinations. Just as people misunderstand the nature of animals in the wild, they also misunderstand what it means for a person to be “free” of any religious system of belief. The agnostic (someone who is uncertain about the existence of god and does not subscribe to any faith) may think he is at liberty to believe or disbelieve anything he wants, but in reality he does not allow himself to take imaginative leaps.
Instead, he endures life’s ups and downs the way an animal in the wild does: because he has to. A person of faith, on the other hand, is like an animal in an enclosure, surrounded on all sides by a version of reality that is far kinder than reality itself. Pi embraces religious doctrine for the same reason he embraces the safety and security of a zoo enclosure: it makes life easier and more pleasurable.
2.
“[…] the ship […] pushed on, bullishly indifferent to its surroundings. The sun shone, rain fell, winds blew, currents flowed, […]—the Tsimtsum did not care.”
Explain quote
Martel uses the listing of “the sun shone, rain fell, winds blew, […]”, consecutive short clauses that create an image and a sense of suspense, to emphasise not just the power of nature to carry out so many natural processes simultaneously, but also the way life itself goes on. Martel beautifully portrays how unconcerned nature is with Pi’s dilemma of going into a new world. This is what the author intended so that he could bring focus to Pi’s humanity and how insignificant he is compared to the omnipotence of nature, so the reader could perhaps reflect on their own humanity. Martel also intentionally used the personification of the ship (the ‘Tsimtsum’) not caring and being “indifferent” to its surroundings to convey this same message, which will make the reader understand that the ship, representative of life, is barreling towards the unknown—towards disaster—and it does not care. It’s hard for the reader not to feel sympathetic towards Pi; we all understand the harrowing feeling of unexpected change you cannot control.
RP and Pi relationship, Ch. 57
concepts: inspiration, conflict
″Without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.”
- Pi, ch 57
Who is “you” in this sentence?
the author, to whom Pi relates his story over the course of many meetings in Canada many years after the ordeal, & also the reader, bc Pi is aware that he is telling his story to a writer who has the intent to publish.
Thoughts on this
— At first, it might sound ludicrous that such a menacing creature should get credit for keeping alive a slender, adolescent Indian boy, but Pi explains himself compellingly.
How does Pi explain himself?
The presence of Richard Parker, though initially terrifying, eventually soothes him and saves him from utter existential loneliness.
the necessity of training and taking care of Richard Parker fills up Pi’s long, empty days—staying busy helps time pass.
Why is this quote important
the context of Pi’s second story, the one without animals, in which Pi himself is the tiger.
Why has Pi chosen a tiger to rep himself?
because of its conflicting qualities: nobility and violence, grace and brute force, intelligence and instinct.
+++ In a way, these qualities are very human. But on a day-to-day basis—for example, as we go to school, drive to the supermarket, and watch TV at night—the elements of violence, brutality, and instinct are blunted. Instead of catching and killing fish, we purchase plastic-wrapped filets; rather than hunt animals for meat, we buy steaks at the deli counter. Stripped of these conveniences, Pi must return to nature and reassert his animal instincts. He must overcome his squeamishness in order to eat. He must embrace aggression in order to kill the cook who might otherwise have killed him.
Why does Pi credit RP for his survival?
In crediting Richard Parker’s existence for his own survival, Pi acknowledges that it is animal instinct, not polite convention or modern convenience, that protects him from death.
Another example of this is when Pi tells us a “secret”:
“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.”
Explain quote
Martel gives this abstract noun sentience and makes it feel more powerful and intimidating than it otherwise would. Although, before, the implicit message had been that Pi seemed insignificant in the face of this big, dangerous world he knew nothing about, now we’re shown how even through fear and caution, Pi knows very well that the tiger felt a lot like company and that kept him alive, because humans cannot live a fulfilling life all alone. It was better to have a tiger as company than despair, and using this, Martel communicates to the reader that unlikely connections between man, who is prone to loneliness and victim of his own mind, and what stands above him in the food chain hold more weight to the human psyche than we realise. When we consider that Richard Parker represents Pi and his intense determination to survive, it becomes clear that Martel is pointing us towards the fact that to survive and to persevere you must find the will to do so, to tap into that same survival instinct we share with animals.
How does Martel vividly portray Pi’s fight for survival?
- Richard Parker
– representing Pi’s will to survive and driving him to do so. By showing us how desperate Pi was to survive; when he stopped hoping for something that might not come (a ship to come save him), he became very crafty and intelligent
Quotes ;; life, fight, survival - concepts
- Ch 37
‘In the moments right after the ship begins to sink and Pi finds himself in the water, he realizes two things: He’s lost everyone he loves, but his will to survive remains strong. Yet, at the time, Pi does not understand why he would even want to continue living with all this terrible loss. However, as the reader comes to understand, Pi feels not only the instinctual desire to live, but also a strong faith in God, which insists he not give up. Just as he has faith in God, Pi has faith in himself.’
“My heart was chilled to ice. […] Something in me did not want to give up on life, was unwilling to let go, wanted to fight to the very end. Where that part of me got the heart, I don’t know.”
- Ch 45
concepts: empathy, survival, threat
“When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival. […] I felt pity and then I moved on.”
2)
Relationship between Pi and Richard Parker – they need each other to survive, driving Pi to do so + making Pi feel as though he isn’t alone even if everyone he loves is gone forever -> Pi trains tiger, which represents controlling his own emotions/reining himself in from the madness and ferocity
- Emotional turbulence/Pi’s emotional rollercoaster on the boat, wants to give up but doesn’t.
concepts: hoping, despair, hopelessness
Pg 134: “You might think I lost all hope at that point. I did.”
+ “And as a result I perked up and felt much better. We see that in sports all the time, don’t we?”
;; 2nd quote
“I have never known a worse physical hell than this […] this sensation that my blood was turning to a thick syrup that barely flowed. Truly, by comparison, a tiger was nothing. And so I pushed aside all thoughts of Richard Parker and fearlessly went exploring for fresh water.”
- Pathetic fallacy – weather represents emotional turmoil or the inevitability of the journey’s continuation until he is rescued
“The sun was beginning to pull the curtains on the day. It was a placid explosion of orange and red, […], a colour canvas of supernatural proportions, truly a splendid Pacific sunset, quite wasted on me.”
- Pi’s routines, survival guide, etc. -> Pi’s coping mechanisms
Themes.
- One theme Martel effectively presents in ‘Life of Pi’ is conflict and power imbalance between man, the mortal being, and nature, the eternal Mother Earth.
