**Disclaimer: The page numbers are going to be way off because I have a different version of the book. Also, I had a lot of different things that I wanted to write about, so this DB’s just going to be a big, largely unconnected jumble! **
Once again I was taken in by Martel’s attention to detail. Had he consulted marine biologists, survival experts, fisherman, biologists...? Or were we being tricked once again as a master storyteller? Nevertheless, and whether fact or fiction, the realism of Martel’s highly fantastical story causes any reader to put his or herself in Pi’s shoes and ask themselves how they would have acted in his situation.
1. What would I hold onto at sea? What would I think about to fill the space and retain my sanity? My family surely and my friends. I think more than anything we would all hang onto the past, especially when you aren’t sure of (or whether) you will have a future. The past is both rewarding and full of deeper things to think about—the only way really to escape the lifeboat and the ever-extending sea. I’d think about happy moments, and sad, mistakes, lost opportunities and great accomplishments. I’d try as hard as I could to understand myself and how everything in my life fit together. But as much as you’d need it at a time like this, no man is an island. The loneliness would be the hardest force to bear at sea. I’d think more about the people and even animals in my life. In delirious states, I’d probably imagine they were all with me. I think the experience on a lifeboat would strengthen my feelings for how important people and company are in our lives.
Once again I was taken in by Martel’s attention to detail. Had he consulted marine biologists, survival experts, fisherman, biologists...? Or were we being tricked once again as a master storyteller? Nevertheless, and whether fact or fiction, the realism of Martel’s highly fantastical story causes any reader to put his or herself in Pi’s shoes and ask themselves how they would have acted in his situation.
1. What would I hold onto at sea? What would I think about to fill the space and retain my sanity? My family surely and my friends. I think more than anything we would all hang onto the past, especially when you aren’t sure of (or whether) you will have a future. The past is both rewarding and full of deeper things to think about—the only way really to escape the lifeboat and the ever-extending sea. I’d think about happy moments, and sad, mistakes, lost opportunities and great accomplishments. I’d try as hard as I could to understand myself and how everything in my life fit together. But as much as you’d need it at a time like this, no man is an island. The loneliness would be the hardest force to bear at sea. I’d think more about the people and even animals in my life. In delirious states, I’d probably imagine they were all with me. I think the experience on a lifeboat would strengthen my feelings for how important people and company are in our lives.
http://www.cedu.niu.edu/~shernoff/djs/kara_jenski/adolescence_files/image003.jpgI would probably think alot about family and the people in my life while at sea.
2. I also thought about how interesting it was the impact natural phenomena and other distractions had on keeping Pi alive and appreciating life. The images Martel talks about sound like they would be beautiful and incredible to anyone, but they mean so much to Pi—not only to break up the terrible monotony of his life in the lifeboat but to reaffirm a sense that life is worth living. I thought the description of the “fish” city was particularly interesting, the “evanescent trails of phosphorescent green bubbles, the wake of speeding fish,” “like those time-exposure photographs you see of cities at night.” (Martel 176) While Richard Parker was scared later when he and Pi witnessed the lightening storm, Pi almost couldn’t take the excitement he felt and shouted, “This is miracle. This is an outbreak of divinity. This is...this is...” (Martel 233)It is whenever we are outside our element, whether in nature on vacation or just in a new place in general, that we truly become opened to the world around us and appreciate what it truly is. Perhaps we could try like Pi to see the world past our routines, to appreciate the little things, the great things—the moments of wonder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fzT6ifrhL8
Pi made eye contact with a giant whale on the lifeboat too. This natural wonder also served as a connection to other lifeforms.
3. I also got the sense during this class’ reading about how things change and how they don’t at the same time. Pi wept over the first fish he killed, weeping “heartily over the first being he killed.” (Martel 183) But later he eats ‘like an animal,’ just like Richard Parker in fact tearing into his prey and eating every bit he can. While Pi’s animal instincts kicked in, and he changed from the sweet vegetarian peace-loving boy from Pondicherry, I think he still has an appreciation for life and the creatures he is now consuming. There is a certain beauty in Pi’s existence, surviving off of the lives he is forced to exploit. Pi is living life as Richard Parker would, and I think with the respect he showed for all life in his previous-Pondicherry life, he can truly appreciate what the fish and turtles had sacrificed for him.
3. I also got the sense during this class’ reading about how things change and how they don’t at the same time. Pi wept over the first fish he killed, weeping “heartily over the first being he killed.” (Martel 183) But later he eats ‘like an animal,’ just like Richard Parker in fact tearing into his prey and eating every bit he can. While Pi’s animal instincts kicked in, and he changed from the sweet vegetarian peace-loving boy from Pondicherry, I think he still has an appreciation for life and the creatures he is now consuming. There is a certain beauty in Pi’s existence, surviving off of the lives he is forced to exploit. Pi is living life as Richard Parker would, and I think with the respect he showed for all life in his previous-Pondicherry life, he can truly appreciate what the fish and turtles had sacrificed for him.
As much as Pi had trouble fishing, I'm sure he appreciated the fish for allowing him to live!
.jpg){kind=link}
No comments:
Post a Comment