Affective

The ship has sunk. We all know that in Life of Pi there is a dramatic ship sinking that leads to Pi's journey on the Pacific ocean stranded with a handful of crazy zoo animals. The scene starts with Pi waking up to a noise on the ship. "I think there was an explosion. But I can't be sure. It happened while I was sleeping. It woke me up." -Life of Pi, Yann Martel, Page 101. Pi describes the scene saying that everything was screaming, including his heart. Pi later does a "take two" and describes exactly what happened the night the ship sunk. He says that he was awakened by a noise and went to go check it out. He boarded the deck. It was storming outside, and he was hanging on for dear life. "This was adventure." -Life of Pi, Yann Martel, Page 102. He advanced to the deck and realized that the deck was leaning more toward one side. He came to the sudden realization that the ship was sinking. An Indian Wild Ox then charged on deck. Pi ran to go under deck with his family, frantic, when two men threw him off the boat and into a life boat. At first he thought that they were being generous, but then saw the hyena on the life boat and realized that they threw him off as bait to get rid of the hyena. The life boat falls into the ocean with Pi and the hyena. Later a Zebra jumps on, an orangutan was already on, and a tiger "Richard Parker" climbs aboard later.

Ship:http: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1wVF75ZKVv4XHCi_WiOrBVLQymG6D_L8EBOc20o9seaI9z2s9117-cDsGTbqhu5y9-B37LqJSTugu-wdeBaUL9VUYPEJmawmFxUnJN7r5gBx_DvZLjMGZaBVPdw8YB0KAhbijM_kOatE/s1600/Life-of-Pie-movie-spoiler-swimming-underneath-capsized-freighter.png

For a great website to get multiple reviews of Life of Pi go to: Good Reads: Life of Pi

Again, Chapter Two

Chapter two continues to be one of the most information-giving in the book, even though it is one of the shortest chapters. Chapter two tells us that Pi is from Pondicherry, India. We also know that the main part of the story takes place on the Pacific Ocean with Richard Parker. The story begins on July 2, 1977 and continues for a little under a year.

Pacific Ocean: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFcFMkzTS_PJXDMCNtmMM9R8pC0cMOfL-4PxxsP4nh7QvOcN_sQhMK8__oZDTaKaHEkxpUwqufZXoEu4mAwSiP-OnpIOFA9L05aL_lbRirYAIZPO_sKSfGE3_xU54DRxTPXc96mPqXx5d/s1600/IMG_3277.JPG

Pondichery: http://cdn.naturalhighsafaris.com/cdn/made/cdn/uploads/country_images/India/Tamil%20Nadu/Maison-Perumal--(4)_940_529_80_s_c1.jpg

The mood of this story is literally all over the place. In the beginning the mood was sad when the ship sank, then the mood got scary when Richard Parker (tiger) boarded the ship, then the mood was content when Pi and Richard got along, and the night scense are very tranquil. The story kinda slows down at night.

Impressionable

Lets talk about Piscine. Pi talks as if he has been on this earth for 80 years, with many views on many things. He is wise beyond his years, but is still learning much from various role models. Through thoughts and feelings we have learned that Pi is very religious, although not even he knows which religion he is religious to. Now we have just arrived to the infamous ship sinking scene. When the ship sinks, about 4 of the animals from the ship aboard the reserve boat. A tiger (Richard Parker) An orangutan, a hyena and a zebra. The zebra, hyena, and orangutan board the ship bringing just about no trouble with them. When Pi sees Richard Parker, he throws the tiger a flotation device. Of course, since the situation is life or death for the tiger, he grabs the device and boards the boat. Now, when the tiger first gets on, he is calm about the situation. Its not until its time for him to kill the hyena that he really makes his first "appearance". When the Tiger strikes out and kills the hyena, he kind of freaks out on Pi as well. Pi responds by hiding from the tiger, panicking and jumping into the ocean. After the tiger calms down, Pi returns to the boat, but is still scared of the tiger. Now, I'm not calling Pi a coward. In all honesty, I would have jumped right into the ocean as soon as the tiger boarded the boat. Now, a very good description of Pi's physical appearance in chapter 2.

"He lives in Sarborough. He's a small, slim man-no more than five foot five. Dark hair, dark eyes. Hair greying at the temples. Can't be older than forty. Pleasing coffee-coloured complexion. Mild fall weather, yet puts on a big winter parka with fur-lined hood for the walk to the diner. Expressive face. Speaks quickly, hands flitting about." -Life of Pi, Yann Martel, Pg. 7.


I wish I could say that I could relate to Pi, but when I think of his personality, all I can think of is the religious aspect of things. I have always been a Christian, and have never really considered any other religion as an option, and Pi has like, three religions at the moment. I guess that I could relate to him because he is so family driven. Family means a lot to Pi, and family means a lot to me. Also, Pi believes that there is one God and each religion just changes the back story and beliefs of that God. Now, Pi relies on God often for many big things in his life, as do I. So, I guess you could say that I do relate to Pi a little.


I believe that Martel did a great job creating the characters in this book. Martel, himself, has been to many countries and has traveled all over the world. He seems to have given every character in the book an important role, no matter how small. Pi, at the moment, is very impressionable and each character has inspired him in someway.

You're a what?!

Pi is in a very confused state right now. Let's just say he's "torn" between a few beliefs. “Jesus, Mary, Muhammad and Vishnu, how good to see you Richard Parker!” -Life of Pi, Yann Martel, Pg. 62. Pi feels this way, because he doesn't just go mainstream with religion or choose one because its what everyone says is good. Pi looks deep into each religion and looks at every little detail. “But religion is more than rite and ritual. There is what the rite and ritual stand for.” -Life of Pi, Yann Martel, Pg. 48. Now this is how I would describe Pi's character/ personality.

As far as the physical traits of Pi, we are given a pretty good description in chapter 2.  "He lives in Sarborough. He's a small, slim man-no more than five foot five. Dark hair, dark eyes. Hair greying at the temples. Can't be older than forty. Pleasing coffee-coloured complexion. Mild fall weather, yet puts on a big winter parka with fur-lined hood for the walk to the diner. Expressive face. Speaks quickly, hands flitting about. No small talk. He launches forth." -Life of Pi, Yann Martel, Pg. 7.

The book is written in 1st person. Now, the narrator is telling a story about himself, so I would say that he is an omniscient participant. The author probably chose this point of view because the story is about personal, inspirational experiences.

Although it seems that Pi has chosen Christianity, he still uses bits and pieces of other religions.