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Thursday, January 3, 2019
Life of Pi—due March 21
What's your favorite part of Life of Pi? What should we ask Yann Martel when we Skype with him on Wednesday, April 3, at 3:10 in the community room? Reply with 150+ words.
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My favorite part of Life of Pi so far would have to be two separate scenes. My first favorite part would be when Pi stands up for himself against his bullies. When Pi first gets to elementary school, he gets to class and when the teachers say his name boys in his class hear it and change it to Pissing Patel. Throughout his whole elementary years, he has to deal with people calling him Pissing Patel and also he has to deal with living in his older brothers outstanding atheism shadow. When Pi gets to his new school after elementary school, he makes sure that he won’t have to deal with this again. So on the first day, once his teachers read his name, he ran up to the board and then wrote Pi along with the symbol and an explanation of pi. After he did this in every class, his name would be Pi, and he would be a legend throughout the school. After his first day of school, his older brother Ravi made fun of his attempt to start over, but Pi kept fighting so he didn’t have to be called that name. My second favorite scene would be when Pi’s father tries to teach the boys a lesson. Pi’s mother disagrees with teaching them this lesson but his father says he must learn and she says that they are too young especially Pi. His father responds to that with Pi is who worries me the most. This whole scene is a bunch of foreshadowing to what is to come in the future. Pi in the future is going to have to “coexist” with a tiger on a boat. After this lesson of what tigers and all the other animals in the zoo can be dangerous, it is a coincidence or complete foreshadow that he ends up on the boat with a tiger and his father predicted that Pi worries him the most. At first, I didn’t catch this foreshadowing, but once I reread it, I realized the significance. After reading a short section of this book, I have some questions to ask Yann Martel. The first question would be when writing this book did you think it was destiny that you and Piscine ended up meeting through Mamaja? Another question would be how did you decide the setup of the book when writing this story? I have many questions that I would want to ask him, but these are just a few I can think of.
My favorite part about Life of Pi is when I read in chapters that are in italics. At first, I was confused and had no idea what those chapters were supposed to mean or why they were there but they hope greatly and almost serve as a summary to the chapters about Pi during the move and being on the boat. I think it is cool that Yann Martel puts these in the book because it makes it almost feel like the story is real. You find out so much about Pi’s life before you even really meet him. When we Skype with him in April I think we should ask him why he chooses to put these chapters in the story. I also think we should ask him why he named the tiger. Maybe we figure this out later but I have yet to find out. This book has so many different parts that people could find interesting.
Reinschmidt 5 While reading the Life of Pi, there were many scenes that were very important to the book and that I really enjoyed. One scene that I liked was the part at the beginning when Pi was in front of his classmates sticking up for himself about his name. This shows his inner strength which will be prevalent throughout the rest of the story. Another part that stuck out to me was when he was training Richard Parker. Throughout his journey on the lifeboat, the most important thing was for him to tame Richard Parker if he wanted a chance at survival. He thought through his training technique thoroughly and it proved to be successful. He has control of Richard Parker for the most part. One lesson that was taught early in the book and proved to be foreshadowing was when Pi’s father showed them how dangerous a tiger can be. This was another very important part because Pi is later stuck on a lifeboat with the most dangerous animal in the zoo for 227 days. I have a couple questions, but the one I am most curious about is how he decided on the formatting of the novel? It is very well thought out and it helps to shape the novel into the best it can be.
I would have to say that my favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi moves onto the lifeboat and into Richard Parker's territory. This was such a significant part in the book and stood for more than it seems. Pi and Richard Parker moving toward one another signifies a message that Martel will try to push onto you over the course of the novel: animals and humans aren’t such different creatures after all. Earlier in the novel, Kesey adds that omega animals (such as Richard Parker) will often be obedient to a human trainer in an effort to climb up the social hierarchy, tolerating what they perceive as the human alpha creature’s odd demands. People do this same thing, trying to climb the social ladder, tolerating whatever it is on the way up. Animals mimic human behavior, the same way Pi mimics the tiger when trying to train him and claim his territory. I think that we should ask Yann Martel if he had to research a lot to write this book? The facts about how to tame animals, their behavior, or even survival on the boat is something that I have 0 knowledge in, and am curious to see if he had to put in a lot of time finding these facts.
While reading this book, I came across many interesting things. However, the part that I found most interesting was how he moved onto the lifeboat with Richard Parker. This scene shows Pi’s strength, and how far he is willing to go in order to survive. Pi explains multiple times how scared he is, but he pushes through and keeps getting back on the lifeboat. He knows how dangerous a tiger can be, because of his dad. At the beginning of the book, his father brings him through the zoo and explains how dangerous each animal really could be. A question I think we should ask Yann Martel is how he designed each chapter of the book, by adding in the author's notes about Pi. I really enjoy how he gave us insight to Pi’s life now, and I would love to hear how he came up with how to get the novel to flow while switching from past to present.
Bickley Pd.2 My favorite part about Life of Pi is the constant questioning that Yann Martel makes the reader do. For example, he makes the reader question whether or not the animals are truly on the lifeboat with him. The literary techniques and the wording that Yann Martel uses neither verifies nor refutes the idea that the animals are on the lifeboat with Pi. The logic behind the issue would make the reader want to believe that the animals are not truly on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with him because of this likelihood. However, the literary viewpoint and the text itself vividly depicts the animals as physically present in Pi’s recollections. Hence, this determination is left up to the reader’s interpretation. A question that I would like to ask Yann Martel would be how long it took him to research, write, and perfect this novel alone? The reason I find this question interesting is that there seem to be no loose ends in the novel when it is deeply analyzed. During our forums, our group seems to connect pieces from the middle of the book back to the information in the beginning of the book.
Kocer 5 My favorite part about the Life of Pi is when we get told the story of Pi’s journey again but shortened and with humans instead of the animals. While reading the second version of the story, it was interesting to compare it to the first version. You were able to see the similarities between the animals and the people through their behaviors, descriptions, and actions. This makes you rethink everything that occurs on Pi’s journey. When Pi asks what story is better to the people questioning him, they said it was the story with the animals. It’s better to think of everyone on the boat as animals rather than people because of the actions they had to resort to. One question I have for Yann Martel is how he was able to come up with the algae island. The island was described very specifically for a reason. I wonder what the island specifically represented/symbolized.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is not a scene from the book. Instead, I love the hidden meaning, plots, symbols, etc. that are used within the story. For example, the number three has become very relevant during the course of the book. There are three religions, three churches, three year difference, and three stages within the Hindu religion. Another example of a hidden message within the book that represents hopelessness and despair is when Pi’s pen ran out of ink. This displays the fact that Pi believes that his story may be coming to an end. Although there are many more items that could be listed that pertain to this, those are only a select few. My favorite scene would be when Pi is able to stand up for himself in the beginning of the book where he changes his name from Piscine to “Pi.” It is a scene in which Pi found something within him which made him more confident. When we skype Yann Martel, I believe that we should further question him regarding these hidden messages. This is because I think that they are fundamentals that build up throughout the entire book. Additionally, some of the meanings are not clearly displayed, such as the animals possibly representing people in Pi’s life. However, I am not sure if Yann Martel will answer these questions because I think that he wrote it intentionally for the readers to determine their own meaning.
My favorite part of LIfe of Pi is the plot structure. It is different than any other book that we have read in class. It is interesting that the author interrupts the story to talk about where Pi Patel is now, and then goes back to the story. I love the symbols of the book. One, in particular, is the color orange used to represent hope and survival. Also, the lightning storm chapter was so compelling, that it is probably my favorite chapter of this book. Not only did he stay calm during a lightning storm that could have killed him, he thought it was fascinating how the sky, which he described as God's work, touched the finite ocean. When skyping Yann Martel, I want to know how he thought of this story. Did someone inspire him to write this masterpiece? How could one possibly think of a story with such deep themes and symbols?
There are many features that I really enjoy. Although, there is one aspect I really enjoy the most. My favorite part of Life of Pi is just the fact that there is so much detail it seems impossible that the story is fiction and not actually a true story. I find myself indulged in the reading as the detailed description of Pi grabs me in and makes me wanting to read more. A book that has very vivid details, in my opinion, allows the reader to enjoy the book more and allows the reader to keep reading because there is never a boring spot in the book. Relating to the aspect of such true detail, I think an interesting question to ask Yann would be how was he able to make this book seem so real that some people did not realize this is indeed a fictional story. Another interesting question to ask him would be how could he incorporate the amount of detail without making it seem too much and how the details flow smoothly.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is how the book feels like it could be real while at the same time seeming like it couldn’t be possible. I also enjoy how much information we know about the main character Pi and how we even get to see his journal. I think it is very interesting how the story is told as well. The way that Pi Patel is telling the story himself later in life is very interesting to me and it makes the book more enjoyable. One question that I would ask Yann Martel is why he chose a tiger to be stuck on the boat with Pi. He could have chosen a different dangerous animal like a tiger or he could have made the story different by just keeping Orange Juice the orangutang alive instead of the Richard Parker. After asking why he chose a tiger, I would then ask him what animal he had to choose if he had to choose a different animal for the story.
I think my favorite part in Life of Pi so far is how much Yann Martel portrays Pi in chapter 90. I think that he draws the line between real and not real perfectly at the same time. I also love how Pi, in a time of such need, only cares about how he "failed" Richard Parker and as a zookeeper. It really shows Pi's true character and how unselfish he is. I also found it interesting because I think there is a deeper meaning there. When he says he failed as a zookeeper I think he also feels like he failed his father. Throughout the story, it seemed as though he only wanted to impress his father, and not being able to do that was really heartbreaking. Also in that chapter, he mentions at the end how he gives his love to his ONE and ONLY God. I loved this part because in his last moments he finally picked a religion to trust all of his faith in and I think that is really cool. This chapter only brought Pi and Richard Parker closer.
My favorite part in Life of Pi yet this far is the part in which Pi stands up to everyone to tell them what he wants to be called. He is brave enough to get up before the teacher could say anything and walk to the front of his class and write on the board “My name is Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as Pi Patel” and also added “π = 3.14”. Having the name Picine in which it sounds like “pissing” would make an innocent little boys childhood who just wants to fit in very hard. Everyone in his class, including teachers, calls him that name. This is a very bold statement in the book and you could say it had some slight foreshadowing for how brave Pi will have to be when he is stuck on a lifeboat. Another part that I really like in this book in the italicized chapters. These chapters add a little humor into the book and give you the opportunity to understand what the “author” is thinking.
Bunker 5 While reading the Life of Pi, there have been lots of chapters that have intrigued me. My favorite part of the book so far is when Richard Parker basically saves Pi’s life. Pi finds another blind man stranded on a lifeboat. Trusting the man, Pi goes to give the guy a hug but then he soon finds out the man is out for blood. The man starts to strangle Pi; Richard Parker rises up and slays the man. Pi always says that Richard Parker is keeping him alive, but this time he literally saved his life. The first question I would like to ask Yann Martel is if he was aware of all the hidden 3.14 connections while he was writing the novel. I would also like to ask him why he gave the tiger, Richard Parker, such a human name.
Life of Pi is a great book to read and there are many parts that stuck out to me. I really think it is clever how the author, Yann Martel, sets up his chapters. Making some italicized and some regular print. The italicized parts of the book represent the author speaking and regular print means Pi Patel is speaking. It is also unique how he makes some chapters a few pages long and others just maybe a paragraph. How he sets up his book is really fascinating. Story-wise, I would have to say I like how clever he is when he is on the boat. He uses life jackets to make a raft. Never in a million years would I think to do that. It fascinates me how realistic this book seems. At times in the book, I have to stop and remind myself that no this did not actually happen. I would have to say it would be super scary to be stranded in the middle of the ocean on a lifeboat with a tiger. Out of all the animals I like how the author picked a tiger, that really interests me why he picked a tiger.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is the Island. To me Reading about Pi learning how to walk again. Is something that hit very close to home for me. When I was out of school in middle school, I was paralyzed from the waist down for about 7 weeks. The process of learning how to walk again. Is not an easy feat. And it is something that most people will never have to deal with. I feel like in this book it was described very well the struggles that we have to go through. The literally falling back down and getting yourself back up over and over again. It is something that to me shows strength in Pi as a character. Not everyone is able to go through a task like this and come back up on the other side level headed. Especially as a teenager. It is painful to not be able to do things. When he arrives on the island, the only thing he can do is walk to the nearest tree and back, but he is able to rebuild his strength and adventure into the island to discover even more beautiful things. If I could ask him one question, it would be why did you include Pi learning to walk again?
My favorite part in Life of Pi was when Pi was talking to the two representatives of the Osaka shipping company. This is my favorite part of the novel because they question his story involving the animals on the raft and instead have Pi tell the story with each of the animals being displayed as a person instead. Then, when the two representatives were discussing the story, they explained how Pi was Richard Parker in the story when all of the animals were compared. My question to Yann Martel would be, out of all of the fish in the Pacific Ocean, why did he choose to have the Dorado be the main fish for the sustenance of Pi? Why not use a different fish such as a tuna or other open ocean fish? Along with that, as Martel was writing the story, was he fully aware that the word "dorado" means "golden" in Spanish? The rest of the book doesn't use a single Spanish word except for "dorado", not even in the part taking place in Mexico.
Kellogg 2 My favorite part of Life of Pi would have to be when Pi is telling the two Japanese men about his travels, and they can not tell if he is relaying the truth or not. Pi continues to tell about the animals that he had aboard his boat for the time that he did. This makes me think about whether the story Pi is telling is true or not. The animals on the life raft could have been the real people he described, or could have been hallucinating them from the beginning, with the tiger, Richard Parker, just representing Pi himself. When we Skype with Yann Martel on April 3, I want to ask him whether or not he knows that while he is writing, that he is writing down many ideas that could be taken as different symbols. I also want to ask Yann Martel whether Pi was making up the animals in the raft with him or if they were there with him in the novel, but I know Martel will probably leave that up to me to decide.
My favorite part about Life of Pi is when Pi is trying to tell the two Japanese reporters about his story. Everything that the reporters' question, turns out to be true. They say that bananas do not float, but when they tried it, the banana floated. There is no evidence to show if the story with the animals is true or if the story without the animals is true. One of my other favorite parts is when Pi discovers the floating island. This part also confuses me a little bit because this island could be possible, but nobody knows. Pi could also have been hallucinating since he was so close to death, but once again nobody knows. When Skyping Yann Martel, I think a good question would be what went through his mind while trying to write Life of PI? With so many elements of three religions, it would be difficult to write. Also trying to write a story within a story would be challenging.
Life of Pi is my favorite book out of all the books we’ve read in class. It’s more up my alley with suspense, a little bit of action and all around a description of the settings and what is happening. A few parts in Life of Pi stuck out to me. One of which would be standing up to his bullies in the first part of the book. Bullying is a huge deal in our society and in our schools especially but nothing tends to get done about it. To me, bullying tends to go unseen because no one reports it. However, when Pi stands up for himself, it shows his inner strength and determination to come out on top. He repeats the same process in all of his classes and soon enough, the teasing of his name is done. He is now Pi, instead of Piscine. This part sets up and gives the reader an idea of how strong Pi is and how he can really survive for almost a year at sea. Another part of the book that stuck out to me was when Pi was going to mark his territory on the lifeboat and uses turtle’s shells as shields. His determination and insistency of being the Alpha male add to his strength. His number one priority was to take care of Richard Parker and tame in. By giving him food and water, he is stimulating Richard Parker’s life in the zoo. That is interesting to me because when you go to the zoo, most of the animals are domicile, or tame, but only get rowdy when inticed.
In Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, there was great detail and thought. My favorite part of the book was the time Pi spent on the lifeboat with Richard Parker. Martel made me as a reader question what I would do in Pi’s situation. When putting myself in Pi’s shoes I was able to see Pi’s strength, courage, and determination to survive. Martel also used unbelievable imagery in this part of the novel, making it seem as though I was on the lifeboat too. Because of the time Martel spent on not only this part but the whole novel, Life of Pi becomes a classic. When it comes time to Skype Yann Martel I would like to know how he was able to take a story like Pi’s and make it so realistic? How much time he spent perfecting the details and imagery? And if he would have been happy with the outcome of the novel nobody the publicity?
Van Hulzen 5 In Life of Pi, my favorite part of the book was when the accumulation of my knowledge of the novel takes a gruesome turn. This is when Pi tells a second story about his experience on the boat. He replaces the animals with real people that were on the Tsipsum. He reveals a possible truth that the cook cut his mother's head off and he retaliated and killed the cook. There is also the possibility that he killed the Frenchman that he met a drift at sea, and ate his corpus while it was filled with maggots. You also reflect during this time to see that all of this story was a partial lie. There were no animals on the boat and Pi is disguising it to remain emotionally stable or to justify his actions. Looking back at the storytelling genius of Yann Martel I would ask him, "How much of a risk was it to turn the story completely around?'' I would have thought that he would be nervous to see the reaction of his readers and critics on his gruesome tale. I would also ask him if he started out the book wanted to replace the animals with humans at the end. The novel has extreme detail and is very realistic. It seemed as if he was telling the story literally, not making connections between animals and people.
My favorite part of this novel was when Pi describes the second part of the story to the Japanese interviewers with people on the boat. I love that Yann Martel does this because it throws the reader off and gets them thinking. When I came across this part in the book it brought many thoughts to my head. What animal represented who and why did Pi describe people as animals? But I also had thoughts that there actually were animals on the boat and Pi just claimed that there were people on the boat to get the Japanese interviewers to stop talking to him. Something I would like to ask Martel is if he wrote the end of this book for people to interpret or if he wrote this book with an actual answer. I would like to know if Martel wrote Pi's second story truthfully, or if he just wrote it as a coverup? Another thing I would like to ask Martel is what the dialogue would be among the boat if the story were to be written with people on the boat instead of animals?
My favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi is the very ending. During the whole novel, even though it is complex and detailed and some parts might even confuse the reader, it is fairly easy to follow along. As I was reading, there were definitely parts that made me think, but nothing like the ending. It seemed so simple, Pi was telling the story of what happened to him. But then at the end when he tells the reporters the human story as well it completely changed everything. Was everything he had just told fixed by his imagination? A way for him to mask the pain and suffering? In my opinion, I think that the human story is true but there are still a lot of unanswered questions that I am eager to ask Yann Martel. Some of those questions might include information on the real meaning of the novel. Was it all his imagination? I am also curious to know how he came up with such a brilliant story, and how he came up with the idea of writing it in such an interesting way.
My favorite thing about Life of Pi would have to be how much detail is used. Yann Martel uses so much detail when writing about Pi’s journey. It kept me indulged in the book and always had me wanting to read more. I also loved how the chapter lengths varied. This kept me engaged in reading, always wanting to finish a complete chapter. When I was reading the smaller ones I would keep reading because I felt accomplished in reading multiple chapters. When I would come up to the longer chapters I knew a smaller one was coming up. My favorite written part of the book is probably the part when Pi is training Richard Parker. He was very persistent in his ways to tame Richard. I loved reading the persistence and about the knowledge, it took to know how to tame a tiger. One question I think we should ask Yann Martel is, “How long did it take for him to compose the book after interviewing Pi?”
Overall, I have two favorite parts of Life of Pi, both of which come from the ending. From the time that Pi set foot on the island, I was intrigued at what would happen. After living on the boat with Richard Parker for months, he makes it to a safe haven with the meerkats. Once the night hit, I was confused as to why the island paradise would turn carnivorous and attack the meerkats and him. My other favorite part came from the interview where Pi retells his story. He recounts this awe-inspiring story of living on a boat with a 450-pound tiger. The best part of this is the “alternate” story, which makes you question the validity of the previous 300 pages. The most confusing part about this is the fact that when you look back at the details of the tiger version of the story, details of the alternate story line up; many details of the two stories line up, yet Pi is the only one who knows which is his truth.
Graber 2 My favorite part of Life of Pi is the Faith that Pi has. All throughout the novel, we can see Pi hold onto his Faith like it’s the only thing he has. Technically it is the only thing he has. Faith is what keeps Pi going. His Faith gives him something to believe in and hold onto. It keeps him somewhat sane and alive. It gives him someone to talk to and converse with. Although his parents and others think he is insane for believing in three religions, it is the only thing he has in the end. I can relate to Pi in this sort because I hold onto Faith like he does. When we FaceTime Yann, I think we should ask him about what religion he holds on to. You’d think if he wrote a book about a character who held onto three religions, he’d have some sort of religious thoughts. It would be interesting to see what or whom he believes in and holds onto.
I have two favorite parts of Life of Pi. The first one is when Pi and Richard Parker meet the French man. I find it interesting that at first, Pi thinks the voice is Richard Parker. He only thinks this because he is delirious with malnutrition and dehydration. During the conversation, he finds that the voice he is talking to has killed a man and a woman, although he didn’t like it. However, once he realizes the voice is a man, Pi still lets the man on the boat because he is so lonely. I also liked the part on the island when he realizes that the island is a carnivore. He had a little bit of understanding of science and had reasons for everything that was happening up until the point where he found a tooth in a flower. I found this part interesting because he was essentially in paradise, but it would eventually kill him. However, he chose to leave and live in hell because he had a chance of living. I would like to ask Yann Martel how he thought to incorporate three religions into the book. It must have taken a good amount of research to find how all three religions could work together, along with knowing each religion separately.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was definitely the way it ended. I liked that the ending was left up to the reader’s imagination. The ending also made me question the whole book and really think about everything that had happened so far and the way Pi described things. When Pi tells the reporters the version with the humans instead of the animals, it makes the reader decide which version they believed to be true. The alternate version also showed the readers how this extremely traumatic event affected Pi and how he dealt with the trauma of the event by most likely making a story with animals to cover up the actual events of his experience. I am interested to ask Yann Martel why he wrote this novel in the format he did. I am also interested to learn how he came up with the story, especially the ending.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was definitely on the island. I loved trying to understand and predict what the true meaning of the island was. When I was first reading it, I had no idea whether or not the island was a hallucination. Trying to interpret what Pi was actually going through vs. what he was hallucinating from starvation, the heat, or making himself hallucinate from strangulation, was very difficult. I believe that when we meet Yann Martel for the video conference, we should ask him what inspired him to write Life of Pi. A story as in-depth and creatively challenging to interpret would be even more inspiring after finding out what the inspiration was. I also think we should ask him if he is happy with the ways that others are interpreting his story. I feel that as an author, this may be a difficult question to answer because everyone is entitled to their own opinions on a story.
Darrington 2 My favorite part of the novel Life of Pi is the chapter in which Pi captures, kill, and tries to eat the sea turtle. The chapter involving the turtle shows a lot of character traits and themes in the story. His struggle and contemplation about how to handle the turtle and his constant thoughts for Richard Parker’s well-being and how to help him are written and described beautifully in these events. This part of the book is incredibly descriptive and, personally, the most gripping and compelling events in the story. This chapter puts me in that situation and I feel like I am living it. Not only did chapter 70 have a heartfelt encounter with a turtle, but it also delves slightly more into the understanding of Pi and Richard Parker’s relationship. In the skype with Yann Martel, I would ask whether the human story or the animal version of the plot is real. I would be excited to hear his interpretation on this and why both versions were included.
I tried picking just one favorite part in Life of Pi but I simply can not. I could only narrow it down to two parts. Learning about the theories of the green island Pi comes across supposedly really got me thinking. I believe that Pi’s savage side has taken him over in the part of the book. He is completely taken over that he imagines a savage island where everything is carnivorous. Richard Parker is carnivorous. I believe Richard Parker and the island relate. When Pi finally reaches land that has civilization on it, you would think he would feel nothing but joy. Pi is full of sorrow at this point because of everything that he has been through the past year. He experienced a life-altering event that he can not change. He is not upset at the fact he a whole year of his life was spent on a boat, nearly dying multiple times. He was upset because Richard Parker did not officially say goodbye to him. All he wanted was Richard Parker to bring their relationship to an end. But he did not.
My favorite part of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi revolves around the sinking of the TsimTsum. Though a completely tragic part of the novel, I believe that the sinking of the ship not only represents the great tragedy that will soon become Pi’s life, but it also seems to represent Pi’s loss of innocence and his loss of tranquility. Moments after being thrown overboard, with true malicious intent, Pi is displeased to find that his new “roommates” are none other than a wounded zebra, an utterly annoying hyena, and unbeknownst to him, a full-grown Bengal tiger. I love this part of the book so much more after finishing the novel because I can now see that these specific animals were really humans in which he suffered the tragedy of the sinking of the ship with. I truly believe in the second story that Pi relays, and I do believe that he only came up with the animal story to preserve his mental health and emotional sanity, as would most individuals if something so tragic were to happen to them. When skyping with brilliant author Yann Martel, I think it may be intriguing to ask him what his religious viewpoint is considering the religious overtone in the novel Life of Pi. I am curious if religion affects him on a regular basis, as it seemed to affect Pi.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the end after they tell you the actual story. After spending three hundred pages trying to convince the reader that everything on the lifeboat was true. He tells you a story so horribly true you want to believe the other one, even more, to make everyone feel better. Before telling the actual story two Japanese men have to heavily question Pi. They try to break him but hardly manage it and afterward I think they regret it. At the end, the Japanese investigator gives in to what Pi has said and states, “Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger.” At this point, you can see the investigator has decided it does not matter if everyone knows the truth of the lifeboat all that matters is Pi’s “truth”. This was my favorite part of the whole story.
My favorite part of the novel was the ending when Pi gives the second story to the two Japanese men. The whole book really leads up to this part and your entire view changes after this. I really like how you get to see who the animals all actually represent in the novel. After hearing the second story, you can also start to compare how the people compare to the animals and how their personalities relate to the animals themselves. It also makes you look back on all the things the Richard Parker did and now seeing them as things that Pi actually did. One example would be when Richard Parker killed the “blind” man that got on Pi’s boat, but we know now that it was Pi who killed that man. One question I would ask Martel would be what did you mean to symbolize with the algae island. He goes into a great deal when describing the island and he definitely meant something by Pi going there.
Law 2 My favorite thing wasn’t exactly a certain spot in the book it was more so the realizations made when reading the novel. Making connections to different things that hold meaning in Pi’s life. Especially his religious fascination with the number three. What had the most shock to me was that he created this tremendous story with zoo animals, a totally different form of life that holds different characteristics than humans do, to represent actual people. He created a different way to tell the story because it seemed more reasonable to use animals for the morbid actions that took place. In relating humans with animals it reveals that we too can be just as savage as they are if desperate. A question that I would like to ask Yann Martel is if he too likes when things end. At the end of the book when Pi was done telling the real story he told the men how he hated his name because it did not resemble a true ending. Although this book leaves things open for your own thoughts to develop, I wonder if Martel himself like true endings.
Talcott 2 My favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi finds the floating island. Pi discovering the island is a very essential part of the book. The island allows Pi and Richard Parker to be able to regain their strength for the rest of their journey. Also, the island is a place of refuge for Pi and Richard Parker during a terrible storm. I found it very interesting that Pi discovered the algae island floating in the ocean with meerkat-like animals on it. I enjoyed reading about how the meerkats adapted and were able to swim and pull in the dead fish. It fascinated me when I discovered that the island was a carnivore. I never thought that an algae island would be able to create freshwater in the ocean that allowed it to kill fish and digest them. The island only coming alive at night and trying to digest anything touch it was another thing that fascinated me about the island. My question for Yann Martel is where did he get his inspiration for the algae island?
Olivier 5 My absolute favorite part of Life of Pi is the part where Piscine finds the floating island, I like how he uses such in-depth imagery. At the end of the book, I learn that Pi is actually the tiger or has a tiger inside him, his carnivorous and tribal instinct. While Pi is telling the story he says that the tiger always comes back later at night and how the tiger is devouring all of the meerkats/maggots. The freshwater ponds have fish that swim in them and are devoured by the acid as day turns to night. At the end of the novel, Pi does not have anything about the floating island because he knows that that was a figment of his imagination, he was hallucinating. What really happened was that Pi was really close to death and lost his perception of real and imagined. The meercats are actually maggots that are feasting on his floating body or floating island. The tooth that he finds on the island may be his own tooth that is decaying away or just falling out because of malnutrition.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was easily the story at the end of the novel that leaves the reader questioning everything. I really enjoy when a book keeps you intrigued and wondering about the ending even after you are finished with it. I also love how what really happened is up to you and your own interpretation. The allegorical side of the story with humans instead of the animals was a very interesting way to end the story. After realizing that all the animals on the boat represented the humans perfectly in Pi’s second story, I was instantly perplexed with the idea that the entire story could have been a way of hiding what really happened to Pi and how that scarred him. One question I would like to ask Yann Martel is why did he choose to give Pi three religions that he follows. What significance did the fact of him believing in three have on the story?
I feel like my favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi tells his story to the Japanese investigators. I like how they do not believe him after they tell the story and how they ask him a ton of questions trying to find little things that do not add up. I found it really interesting when they made him tell the story but without the animals. The story that he tells, I think, is the true story and it took him so long to spit it out because he could not deal with what he had done. Throughout the last few chapters, he asks multiple times for cookies. The Japanese men are confused on why he wants so many, but after being stranded in the ocean for 277 days with barely any food, you feel like you always need to be prepared because you never know what is going to happen. I think we should ask him how he came up with this story and what drove him to write it. We should also ask him which story is the real one. I doubt we will get an answer to that though.
Knutson 2 After reading the story Life of Pi, there was one particular section that really stuck out to me. My favorite part of the book was found within the last chapter. This was when the Japanese investigators came to talk to Pi while he was still in the hospital. They wanted to know the story of why the ship sank and how he survived. Pi told the story of being with the animals and surviving because of the company of a tiger, but the investigators didn’t believe him. So Pi told them a story of how all these animals were actually people and the tiger was actually the savage within himself. Because of this Pi’s whole story of being stranded on the lifeboat was left up to interpretation. This made me question the whole entire book and leaving me on a cliffhanger. But I found it very interesting since I was able to come to my own conclusion with the book. When we skype him on the upcoming Wednesday one question that I have for him is why he set up the book so it would have such an unexpected ending that would leave you questioning the rest of the story.
The format of Life of Pi is the most fascinating to me. The variety that the chapter lengths offer is entertaining, but my favorite part was the various lists in the middle of the book. Each time a list appears, it is different from the others too. One chapter has a numbered list of the steps to train Richard Parker, one has a list of all of his supplies, and another has his daily routine listed. This format helped keep me engaged in the book and offered a nice variety from a typical book. My favorite plot points are when Pi explains events in serious detail, like how he built the raft, caught and prepared the fish, or the layout of the boat and its contents. Hopefully, we are able to ask him about how he thought of this book; I always wonder where inspiration comes from. Another thing we could ask about is what he is currently working on, if anything. I really enjoyed studying this novel and I am so excited to talk to Mr. Martel!
Pi is quite an eclectic person when it concerns religions. In Life of Pi, Pi takes it upon himself to walk the readers through his religious journey and beliefs, explaining his fascination with each religion and the differences that make each so desired. By taking the time to explain Pi’s various beliefs, the reader gets a more thorough understanding of Pi and how intelligent and how strong he is mentally. This is by far my favorite part of Yann Martel’s novel because religion is typically a touchy subject and defines a person in a single way, but with Pi, it was simple and affecting his whole life which made him into a more interesting and strong character. I would love to ask Yann Martel why he focused so much on the collision of religions in Pi instead of taking a more simple route? Martel consistently focused in on back story details which I believe strengthened the novel tremendously.
My favorite part of Life of Pi would have to be the beginning of Part ll when Pi realizes the ship sank with his family on board and he is on the raft with zoo animals. Yann Martel makes it very clear that Pi’s normal life is over and has been replaced with survival. I admired how deep Martel let us into Pi’s thoughts and even though I have never been stranded on a raft, I felt what he was feeling. Also, Pi’s mental health and being on the brink of insanity was an interest of mine because without Richard Parker, Pi would have not survived and in the end to find out Richard Parker was only Pi’s imagination was astonishing. We should ask Yann Martel questions about how he came up with the ideas of Pi’s imagination clouding his reality and questions about his beliefs on zoos, circuses, etc.
My favorite part in Life of Pi would have to be the part where he has gone blind from malnutrition and he happens to stumble upon another castaway adrift in the ocean on a lifeboat. I liked how he starts out thinking that he is hallucinating and talking to himself about food and then goes to thinking that Richard Parker is the one speaking because the voice that he hears starts to talk about meat. From there, he realizes that there is another person. I enjoyed how the Frenchman tricks Pi into thinking that he is also blind so that he could board Pi's boat and consume him, but is blocked by a very hungry tiger that sort of needs Pi in order to keep on living himself. I was not too keen on Pi eating a few bits of the Frenchman, but I do not really blame him since he needed the food in order to survive himself. We should ask Yann Martel about what inspired him to start writing and how he is able to fit his words in his stories so that they add as much realism as they do.
Johnson 1 There are many things about Life Of Pi that interested me. The most interesting thing to me is how he goes into so much detail. Even describing a certain time of day like a sunset can turn into a whole page of descriptive words which really gives the reader the idea of what is going on at the time. I also like how he uses animals in his book. Having a person in place for Richard Parker would not be as cool and also not as fun. Richard Parker the tiger also invokes a sense of fear in both Pi and the reader throughout the whole book because we don't know if Richard Parker could snap anytime and kill or if he is going to stay chilled out. I wanna ask Yann Martel why he decided to use the animal story instead of supposed a person vs person story? Was it because it wasn't as savage and was easier to write with animals? Or did it give the story a whole different meaning?
As I read Life of Pi, I found numerous parts to be very intriguing. To name one, Pi was going blind when he believed he was speaking with Richard Parker, an obviously impossible idea. As it hinted at the end of the book, Richard Parker was said to be a symbolic figment of his imagination. The mere fact that someone in such a dangerous and emotionally fragile state is beyond my bounds of understanding. Pi convincing himself that he was having a full conversation with a Bengal tiger helped to shape the plot and portrayed just how much he had lost his mind being stranded in that lifeboat. I have a strong interest in psychology so the thought of the human mind being able to fabricate such an idea and thought process is absolutely insane in my opinion. As for what we should ask when we skype Yann Martel, I believe it would be wise to ask him about the religious aspect of the story. Religion played a very prominent part in the story as well as in molding Pi’s lifestyle and personality. As I was reading an article online, there is a theory that Richard Parker was symbolic of religion in itself. Pi was not only fearful of Richard Parker but found comfort in his presence. This theory would make sense because of Pi’s intense reliance on religion he had grown into.
Frantzen 1 Choosing my favorite part from the Life of Pi is a very difficult thing to do. So many parts strike me as interesting and soon become my favorite. If I had to choose on part of the book that is my favorite is when Pi is trying to tame Richard Parker. Now if Richard Parker is a real tiger then this part of the story is incredibly fascinating. Pi knows so much about animals because he grew up in the zoo that staying with Richard Parker is almost good for him. It gave him company once he tamed RIchard Parker. Reading how Pi tamed him was very interesting. How he used food, his whistle, and being more dominant to tame the tiger. I can't wait to skype Yann Patel so we can ask him some quesitons about this book. I would really like to know more about this tooth so we could ask him something about that. Another question I would like to ask is how did this story come into your head?
Harvison 1 My favorite part of Life of Pi is how Yann Martel leaves the ending open to discussion. I usually hate books that have endings similar to this one, one that makes you decide what happened. However, with this book, I found that my feelings about the ending were different. I was perfectly alright with Yann Martel leaving the reader with two stories so that they themselves could figure out which one to believe. The reason I say this is because Yann Martel provides us (the reader) with plenty of evidence to use to make our decision, and regardless of which story you believe, you can make a valid argument defending why you believe one and not the other. I think an interesting question to ask him would be to ask which story (if he was a reader like one of us) would he prefer, the one with or without the tiger.
There are many parts about the book Life of Pi that I love. My very favorite part in the novel is when Pi bumps into the “Frenchman” and they talk about foot and eating boots or cigarettes and what they enjoy eating the most and why. I am a big food fanatic so I could correlate and comprehend with what they are speaking of. When the frenchman jumps aboard with Pi and lunges at his throat I knew that the tables have been turned. Pi Patel was once again the hunted. Then out of nowhere Richard parker leaps out from under the boat and rips the frenchman's head clean off with one swipe of his paw like knocking a mannequins head clean off. To me, this was the most exciting and interesting part of the book because it had the most action and the turning of Pi Patel into a “cannibal”, so he said. This is my favorite part of the book. I believe we should ask him why he added that Pi was a cannibal in his book?
My favorite part about Life of Pi is the very end when he reveals the second story. Throughout the entire novel I was just fine with how the book was going along. When they hyena kills the Orangutan and the zebra, I was think no big deal, this is what animals do. Then as the book continues the reader begins to see parallels between animals and humans. When the fish jump over the boat and both Richard parker and Pi seemed to grab them for there life. They also both have to compete for dominance, although this is a battle that Pi wins. Then in the end we see that each of those animals were humans. It is amazing to how it was okay when it is animals but when it is humans your perspective on the entire novel changes. This was one of the most interesting books I have read in the sense of how it made me feel.
My favorite part in the novel Life of Pi would be when Pi discovers the algae island. It was such an interesting part to read. It was filled with hope and happiness for Pi. When you first read it, you think that Pi has finally received some good luck. He gets some fresh water and some food. But when you actually analyze it you realize that the island is a hallucination and can represent multiple different things. The island could represent heaven, as Pi is slowly dying, or it could represent Pi trying to cope with his actions of cannibalism. Whatever the true meaning it was a fantastic part to read and really made my mind think about the purpose of it all. I want to ask Yann Martel how he came up with this idea of this story. It is extremely clever to have the animals actually represent real people while giving it to us in a plausible way that makes it seem real.
Life of Pi was a book that was hard to put down. It is hard to pick out my favorite part. I think one of my favorites is chapter 54, which is the chapter I chose for my chapter analysis essay. Chapter 54 includes a list of Pi’s plans to get rid of Richard Parker. When I was first reading this chapter, I assumed that this was truly Pi trying to get rid of a real tiger that was on his lifeboat. After reading to the end of the book and realizing that there may or may not have been animals on the boat, I see the chapter as a list of options for suicide. Reading the options through and putting Pi in Richard Parker’s place makes the whole story much sadder and less enjoyable. I think it is very interesting that Martel is telling this story inside a story. I would want to ask him how he got the inspiration to create such a well thought out, unique story. Why create a character that practices three religions? Did he anticipate such great success for this book?
My favorite part of Life of Pi was when he was deciding which of the three religions was the one he wished to pursue, and he chose all of them. I believe that this decision-making process is symbolic of all conflict on Earth, and how it can be resolved when people come to realize there is not only a single answer to complex problems. Each of the three holy men tries to force Pi to give up the other two religions because it is impossible to practice all three at once, but Pi combats it with the perspective of he is “just trying to love God”. I enjoyed that the perspective shift during this section of the novel. I believe we should ask Yann Martel about the mindset that he forced himself into in order to create such a novel. I do not fully comprehend the ability to write in such an intricate fashion with as many perspective altering events, and I hope he would be able to enlighten me on his writing.
Yann Martel's Life of Pi is unlike any novel I have ever read before. The imagery is exquisite. I was able to imagine every scene, every animal, every drop of seawater. My reading style is quite compatible with Martel's writing; I almost always end up placing myself in a third-person viewpoint, watching the protagonist. The abundance of imagery only facilitates this more.
As for my favorite part, I think I would have to select the section towards the beginning when Pi is exploring his religions. I, like many others, have only ever followed one religion. Some people may change religions throughout their lives, but I have never heard of one following more than one religion at once. It is a strange concept, yet it is extremely intriguing and adds a great deal to the story.
I think we should ask Martel what kind of a lifestyle he leads, with writing being his only career. I also think we should ask him about his opinion on the differences between the movie and the book.
Huntimer 2 My favorite part of Life of Pi is the imagery that Yann Martel uses to describe his story. From the zoo to the Algae island, Martel describes the scenery and wildlife that perfectly paints a picture in your head. Some books could over describe the landscapes; however, Martel describes Pi’s surroundings in an interesting way that benefits the plot. The unique way the book was written also provided reading to be interesting. The interactive writing style between the interviewer and Pi Patel was a tactic that caused the plot to flow and also confused readers into thinking it was actually a nonfiction novel. The ending also left the reader wondering what the real story was: the animals or the humans were on the lifeboat. For the video call, I have a few questions for Yann Martel. How did he invent such an amazing book and how did he get the inspiration? How did he come up with the symbolism and metaphors that was in the book?
Kirkeby 2 Yann Martel's Life of Pi is by far the best book we have read this year so far, and I believe it will be difficult to beat. My favorite part of the entire book is the island. The island fascinates me with the amount of detail and uniqueness. I find it had to believe that this island exists but there is no doubt that this kind of island is most definitely possible. During our conversation with Martel, I would like to know what inspired him for this island. Did he research botany intensely or did it simply come from his head? In the movie, the visual special effects on the island are very good and entertaining. The other question I have is how much did he do on the movie? Was he always on set in order to watch over it or did he give the director free reign? Did he make decisions on what went into the movie and what did not?
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the part when they are on the island. I thought the entire part was very interesting. They were able to find meerkats for Richard Parker to eat, and they had endless vegetation for Pi to eat. I also thought it was very unique how the island was carnivorous. I have heard of carnivorous plants here and there, but never an entire island. I think it was placed perfectly in the book because it gave both Pi and the readers hope. If Pi would not have found the island then he may have given up and let himself die. The same goes for the readers. There is only so much that can happen when you are reading a book about a person on a lifeboat. When they were on the island it added some flavor to the story. One question I think we should ask Yann Martel is “which story he believes?”.
I think my favorite life of pi was the ending when he was giving his story to the Japanese men. I just found it interesting how they thought it was completely impossible for his story with the tiger to be true. They tried to point out the flaws in the story but never proved that it could never happen. I also found it very cool the telling of the second story. You got to rethink the entire story you just read and piece it back together to match the new story being told. I also got a kick out of how the story with humans that was virtually the same was found to be more believable. I think it would be cool to ask why he made the parallel to the second story. Because in my opinion the book still would have been good with just the story of a boy surviving on the Pacific with a tiger. But the fact that he made a whole second story with humans and made them the same story was cool.
Life of Pi is probably my favorite book that I have read this far. My favorite part of this book is when you find out the real story of Pi on the lifeboat and get to decide which story you wish to believe. It also made me think a lot about the whole entire book when I was finished, trying to connect the animal story to the people story. I like the idea of not knowing all the specific in the story and allowing your imagination to decide what happened. I also really enjoyed the chapter length as it invited me to keep reading and focus on just a couple of pages at a time. If I were to ask Yann Martel any questions I would ask how he was able to form one hundred chapters full of content that was useful to the story. I also would be curious why he didn’t end the book with Pi in present day talking to the author writing a book.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the very last part. It took me less than 10 minutes to devour that section. I was so enamored by the thought that everything I had just read could be a complete lie that I sped through that section. Truthfully, I didn't know that this book was fiction. For some reason, I completely put all the discussions about the book not being a true story out of my mind. However, I think that my thought process made the book a lot more interesting and overall more amazing when I found out my thinking was incorrect. I thought the author in the book was actually Yann Martel talking himself. When I found out this was false, I sat in awe of the brilliance of this book. The book made me believe in the impossible as if it were real, then made me wish it was real. I was amazed at how an author could compose a story that was so unbelievably believable to make someone like me believe it to be true. I think Life of Pi is the only book I think is truly a composition and not just a story. With other books, the words seem to me as if they are just a story. Yes, all books have a sort of thought process behind them that makes them composed but this book cannot be called a story. The art behind the book that made it so believable is nothing sort of amazing. It is a brilliantly composed story that changed the way I will look at fiction forever. It has changed the way I look at authors forever. The way Yann Martel wrote this book made me fall in love with books even more and will have me looking at how books are written more. Instead of just reading the story, I will be looking for the level of brilliance that Yann Martel put into his writing.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is towards the beginning of the story when Pi’s dad threatens the boys with the tiger feeding. I thought this part was humorous, but at the same time a great lesson with learning about tigers. It showed how the dad was trying to threaten the boys with staying away from the tigers. But, Pi’s mom did not approve of the lesson the father was trying to get across in the story. This part was my favorite because it is something most fathers do is to try and prove a point by either showing what occurs or just using it as a threat. When we skype Yann Martel we should ask him why he put the story in this order versus leaving the interview until after the boat occurrence. Also, why are the chapter lengths differing because I feel that he did it for a purpose, but I am not able to figure out why.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi discovers the island. As a reader, I was able to almost feel the same relief Pi felt when seeing the island. I have also been a huge fan of meerkats since I watched the lion king when I was little, so it made me happy to read about the meerkats. The island is also extremely interesting to me with the way it is fertile during the day, but then deadly during the night. It makes me wonder how Yann Martel came up with such a thing if he came up with it at all. If plants that eat flies and rats exist then why can’t islands that eat anything it kills also exist? I find the island extremely fascinating and wish I could read more about it. I also like how Martel chose to have Pi leave the island in search of his “own kind”, it makes us realize just how truly brave Pi is even after all these obstacles he has overcome.
My favorite part of Life of Pi would be when Pi imagines the algae island. I think this is my favorite part because I feel as if he finds some sort of peace while he’s imagining this island. The whole boat experience has been utter panic and chaos for him and I think he finally relaxes a little bit when he imagines the island. I think he finds some peace during the hallucination because he is imagining that he’s eating and he has all the water and fish he could possibly want, which could easily create a peace of mind for Pi Patel. Another thing that I would consider my favorite part of Life of Pi would be just the storytelling overall. I think Martel did a very good job letting Pi tell his story throughout the novel and wrote emotions that one who had gone through that traumatic of an experience would create. I think we should ask Yann Martel why he decided to make Pi’s ID a tiger, and not a different animal. I understand that Pi grew up in a zoo but there could have been many other options to choose from than a tiger.
My favorite part of Life of Pi would probably be when the flying fish first showed up. I think that it was entertaining the way the Pi reacted to it at first. He thought the Richard Parker had struck him, and that he was getting ready to finish him off. He soon realized that it was just a flying fish, and not Richard Parker. Both himself and the tiger were surprised to see a fish flopping on the deck. They were soon engulfed in a storm of flying fish, and Richard Parker was swatting at them as they flew by. I can think of a couple of questions to ask Yann when we skype with him. The first one that comes to mind would be to ask the significance of the dorado that splattered against the fishing net, why Pi remembered that one in particular. The second question I would like to ask would be why only one of the trees on the island bore the fruit, why didn't the rest of them?
Spencer 5 My favorite part of the book is when he is telling the stories at the end. It makes a person really think of who the characters in the boat really are and how Pi has two different personalities. I also enjoyed when Pi was trying to figure out a way to get rid of Richard Parker of the lifeboat. One thing I do wonder about is why did he tell two stories, why couldn’t he leave it with it either was animals or humans on the boat. It would make it less confusing, but then I guess it wouldn’t give the story the same impact or influence it has on people. I also wonder about the island on the book and what it actually means even though we talked about it in class. The discussion left a lot to be desired. The book was wonderful to read but still needs some things to be explained.
Peyton 5 My favorite part in The Life of Pi is the end. The end where we figure out that all of this did not actually happen. We find out that Richard Parker is really Pi and the other animals represent other humans in his life like his mother. When I found this out I went back and thought about everything that really happened. The thing that grossed me out was in the book he eats Richard Parker's feces and now that we know he is Richard Parker we know that it is his own feces he is eating. Also, the monkey gets decapitated and we learn that it is really his mother, so he witnessed his mom getting her head cut off. The most intriguing thing about this though, is that Richard Parker is the savage side of Pi and he has to learn how to live and deal with it. This blows my mind that Martell did this all and connected it in the end.
Alex Kolbeck Yann Martell has written my favorite novel this year and it was very difficult choosing a favorite part. Nonetheless, my choice is when Pi is training Richard Parker and asserting his dominance. His trial and error with the turtle shell defense show so much about his character and tenacity. I loved seeing him continue to learn from his mistakes while also becoming braver as he continued to train him. While the training is my favorite part, it comes to a cumulation during my absolute favorite paragraph. I consider it in the same boat as the training even if it does not fall within the same pages. The goal of his training is for Richard Parker to be subservient to Pi so Pi can live safely on the boat with him. Richard Parker, the fully grown tiger, backed down from Pi when a Dorado jumped onto the boat and landed on Pi. For Pi to stare down his companion and win the mental battle, it shows the success of his efforts in the most satisfying way.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the island story. This story greatly intrigued me when I first read it because I was confused if it was real or not. But then after reading further and finding out that the animal story was all fake, the island story became even more interesting when trying to figure out the truth in it. To me, the island was Pi’s way of coping with his cannibalism and the trauma he had gone through trying to survive. The description was vivid and led me to believe the island was a corpse and could have been one in a dream or hallucination. Some questions I think we should ask Yann Martel would be how he designed and decided to put insight such as the italics as another author. This part of the book was incredibly interesting to read and I think would be a confusing way to write, as another author in the story.
Alex Kolbeck Part 2 I also want to ask Yann Martell about his decision-making process with choosing the animals that Pi is stranded with. It seems natural that Pi is stuck with a tiger during the novel after you read it, and I cannot imagine being stuck with any other animal. I am interested in how Martell chose his animals based on traits and symbolism that can be found within each animal.
In the Life of Pi, the book goes through the story of a young man who is stranded in the ocean on a lifeboat with a tiger. While reading this novel, I took everything said as accurate to the events. After Pi was rescued, he told of his story while he was on the sea. He told about all the trials he went through to stay alive. The men who he told the story to did not believe him. Since they did not believe him, Pi made up another version of the story without animals. He told about how he was stranded with his mom and a cook. This was my favorite part of the story because it makes your heart drop in the realization of how Pi’s story is an entire metaphor. The personality and events that happened in each story matched perfectly to one another. The chef is the hyena, the orangutan is Pi’s mother, and the Tiger is Pi. This is my favorite part because it demonstrates how the novel was so well written to make the readers point of view change instantly.
Questions to ask: What inspired you to write this novel? Which version of the story do most people accept to be true? Who is the corpse (island)?
My favorite part in Life of Pi is when we hear the human version of Pi’s journey. It created a completely new perspective for me, and I was able to see the relation the animals had with the people. There were so many underlying similarities, such as their behavior, motives, and characteristics. Throughout the novel, I was lead to believe the animal story, because it was told so descriptively. Although it seems far fetched, it is not impossible. After learning the human story, I had to rethink his entire journey. It is interesting that the author adds this in the end after telling an entire story with animals. I feel that it is almost hard to accept the new story because I became attached to the original. After reading hundreds of pages about the animal story, he wants you to believe a “more realistic” story. Even though it is meant to be that way, the investigators still prefer the animal one. Pi may have made up the original to protect himself, and that is the same reason the investigators believe it as well. When talking with Yann Martel, I would like to ask him about his religious views. Religion plays such an interesting part of this novel, and I think it would be nice to know Martel’s reasoning for that. I would also like to know how he developed the italic chapters and why he decided to add that aspect.
Ellingson 5 On Wednesday, we should ask Yann Martel what he was going through when he wrote this book. Was he searching for God and needed a life-changing experience like Pi did? There has to be some connection between him and Pi Patel. Another intriguing question to ask him would be: “If you were to be any character in Life of Pi, who would you be (besides the author)?” This book is amazingly detailed and makes you think if something could be true or not. Honestly, when I was first reading, I thought this book was a real story. When I kept studying it in class, I understood how unreal it has to be; however, I was still questioning myself and the truth. My favorite part of the whole book is when we finally figured out that Richard Parker was inside Pi. Truly amazing and something I would never think of. I was confused with the whole book until we discovered the true meaning of the tiger.
Betanzo 1 My favorite part of the novel is the religious journey that Pi goes on, unintentionally, in part one of the novel. The reason I love this part of the novel so much is that I never knew it was possible for someone to practice three religions at one time. Knowing myself and how religion correlates with my life, I, sometimes, find it difficult to practice and hold on to the religious beliefs that I was raised by and told to believe. To me, it doesn’t matter what religion you practice, and I actually applaud the people who are courageous enough to die for practicing the religion in which they actually do. One question I would have to ask Martel is why he chose Pi to believe and practice three religions? Throughout the novel, Pi keeps a hold on religion and still continues to pray when he’s on the lifeboat. It amazes how he never gives up or questions his religious beliefs. The reason I want to ask Martel as to why Pi practices three religions is that Pi only needs to practice one religion in order to keep his faith if he was going to continuing praying and talking to God. I don’t understand why there was a need for Martel to make Pi practice three.
Olthoff 5 While reading the Life of Pi, there were many scenes that I really enjoyed. One scene that I liked was the part at the beginning when Pi was in front of his classmates sticking up for himself about his name. This shows his inner strength which will be prevalent throughout the rest of the story. Another part of Life of Pi that I enjoyed very much and I think helped to shape the book is in the beginning when Pi’s father teaches Pi and his brother the lesson about respecting animals. I think that this is a really cool example of foreshadowing because while Pi is on the boat with Richard Parker, he uses this lesson to help his survive. I have many questions for Yann Martel. My biggest question is how he came up with the format of the book? The format of the book helped to bring the book together for a better understanding and it is a very unique format.
Erck 5 My favorite part of the LIfe of Pi book is at the very end when we begin to piece every part of the book together. In the beginning of the book I never would have imagined that this entire book would have been like this and led up to this. It is very interesting in the way that Pi has two different personalities, one being his culturally distinguished self, and one being the savagery that has been thrust upon him during this time of survival—but he has always had, just hidden. Parts of the book are confusing because it does distinguish Richard Parker as a different person and Pi as a different person, but at the end, we have found a way to connect the two at various points in the book. I want to ask him how we ever got the idea for the novel, which inspired him to write it, and how he began to write the book and include the parallel while writing it. There are lots of questions that need to be answered and explained because we are left on a bit of a cliff hanger with some of the statements in the novel.
Laabs 5 I really enjoyed the thought of the whole story being an illusion. Thinking that it was just a metaphor for him being in trauma was cool to think about. There are many many great aspects of the book and it is hard to choose just one to write about. One thing that I liked about the book was the progression of Richard Parkers and Pi’s relationship throughout the book. It started out as fear coming from Pi and it progressed into Richard Parker fearing him enough to obey the whistle commands. A small Indian boy was able to tame a tiger with only a whistle and his wit. Pi goes through so much anguish and pain but he survives through all of it. He conquered the tiger whether in reality or symbolically and came out of everything still alive. I believe that this book is really well crafted and the story is amazing.
I've been very impressed with Life of Pi and the books we have been reading in general in this class because they are all extremely challenging to my morals and don't have what I want to happen in the book happen. Early on in the discussion about Life of Pi, the idea was brought up about how the story about animals could not be true at all. I did not want to believe that could be the case, and it challenged me to accept the true story of Pi when I was so hooked onto the false story. I was also very challenged to accept or reject or not care at all about Pi's strange religious beliefs, and just the fact that he believed in everything was just so powerful to so many readers of this book of really any background. I did think it was kind of dumb that although the religion part was very stressed at the beginning of the book, it did not carry on and be as important later through all of the time on the lifeboat and onward. We could ask Yann Martel why Pi's religion was so important at the beginning of the book when it didn't do much during his time on the lifeboat, or maybe I'm missing something that it did cause. I saw a lot more stress on his being a vegetarian than being 3 religions. I would like to know why Yann Martel got the idea of this story, why he made Pi have three religions, and what sort of religious beliefs that he has today.
My favorite part of Life Of Pi is when Richard Parker is walking through the meerkats. Both him and Pi have been without food for so long, and his natural instincts are coming out. In the movie just the scene before he is a tame animal resting his head on Pi. However, in the next scene he is killing meerkats left and right as his killing instincts come back out. When we skype with Yann Martel I want to ask him which religion he practices, or if he identifies with Pi in any religion aspects. He is able to explain all of them so perfectly in his book and I’m curious as to which religion he truly practices. I also want to ask him if he has ever changed anyone’s mind about which story is the real story, and which one he truly believes in. Life of Pi was an incredible book and I’m thrilled to be able to skype with such a talented author.
By far, I found the meeting with the Osaka representatives to be the most enjoyable section of the novel. Just as with the ending of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Martel artfully infuses another layer of meaning into Life of Pi with the introduction of the second story. I grappled with many different interpretations of the ultimatum presented, finally settling on the one message I found the most fitting: religion (the animal story) functions as a coping mechanism for the harsh truths of the world (the human–the one that I believe is true–story). Ironically, while this idea was the one I found most fitting, I strongly disagree with the notion of it. I would like to ask Yann how the religious themes of his novel would react to situations where religion is the root of these harsh realities, where a conflict between people is fueled by religious zealotry. How would Martel feel about the violence between Hindus and Muslims during the Partition of India, for example?
My favorite part of the book is when Pi reaches an island made out of algae that is in the shape of a human. This is my favorite part because it uses the device of imagery to depict a beautiful island that has a carnivore side to it. This part also leaves so much mystery that it's hard to unpack it all without having to read through it more than once. We talked about in class how Pi could have eaten the French man and this island is just a figment of his regret since he is a vegetarian. One question that I will ask Yann Martel is what his inspiration was for making the book and what pushed him to keep writing it? I will also ask if there was something that he didn't intend to have a deeper meaning but some readers thought that it had some other meaning?
My favorite part of Life of Pi is the fact about the way you get to pick what you believe whatever version of the story that you want to believe. This is really nice, because if you want to believe that he would not ever be able to find a random person that happens to be a hungry cannibal and then to also find an island that is life providing in the day and a cannibal island at night. This version would also need you to be able to believe that no one made it off the ship, but a few animals and Pi. Though this is hard to believe and it may be easier to believe that Pi was not alone, but his mother, a sailor, and the chef made it off the boat into the life raft, but then Pi was at sea all alone for awhile and watched the cannibal chef kill the sailor and ate a little and he also killed Pi’s mother, but the nicer one in truth is the animals on, but you also have to consider that it is easier to believe the one with the humans. My favorite part the novel Life of Pi is the way that you can pick which version is the better on to believe.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was getting the authors perspective. I enjoyed this because it gave the readers a perspective that we rarely receive and it allowed us to truly understand how Pi felt about what he was telling. When Pi was telling the story you were informed of some of the emotions but never truly understood the full emotions behind the story until the author was narrating. When the author wrote the reader was able to know exactly what Pi’s face and body language were. You also got to know what Pi’s life was like after the event. Knowing that he still practiced three religions, studied zoology and religion, and had a wife and kids allowed the readers to get to know who Pi really was. One of my questions for Yann Martel is how was he able to write chapters out of order and still allow the reader to understand what was occurring? Also how many times, if any, did the un-orderliness of the novel end up confusing him or the people assisting him in creating this book.
My favorite Life of Pi scene would have to be the moment that Richard Parker was about to attack Pi but Pi looked directly into his eyes and causes Richard Parker to back down. It gave me chills. I think this is a very powerful scene and it shows the bond that has formed between lion and tamer and the mutual understanding between the two. Before this happens, the author writes, "Suddenly his brute strength meant only moral weakness." This is a great line in my opinion. It shows that not only does physical prowess determine power and influence, but mental strength does as well. This is the point, it seems, when Pi has completely asserted his dominance over Richard Parker. Pi has to do this to stay alive on the lifeboat. After this moment occurs, Pi begins to gain more territory of the lifeboat and sees Richard Parker as less of a threat. He even resorts to going under the tarpaulin with Richard Parker during a storm. I enjoyed this scene and viewed it as a very powerful event in the story.
Keegan 1 I think Life of Pi included many interesting things. One of which was the way that Yann Martel used Richard Parker as a symbol of Pi's savage side. I never realized it until the end of the book when he is the telling the other story and then when we talked about it in class it made it even more clear. I also think it was very unique of Yann Martel used two different narrators to tell the story. The way the chapters transitioned from the writer talking about Pi to Pi himself actually telling the story really made the book flow well and helped it all come together. My favorite park in the book would have to be the part when Pi finds the island. This section of the book really gets you thinking because some believe it was real and some do not which I think really adds a fun side to the book. Also, when he is talking to the French man and the French guy tries to kill him but Richard Parker saves him is really cool. If I could ask Martel a question it would be why choose to write a story with animals instead of people? Did it seem more humane and easier to write because it was a hyena killing the orangutan instead of cook killing the mother or did it just add to the more mysteriousness of the book?
Personally, my favorite part of the book is the whole time on the island made of algae. The entire time Pi and Richard Parker were on this island, I felt very anxious because I knew something had to be wrong. The way that Martel built tension without even having to foreshadow that the island is carnivorous is absolutely amazing. The more things that went right, like both him and Richard Parker having an endless food source, the more knew it was gonna come crashing down. Not only that but just the idea of this floating acidic ball of algae is very unnerving and interesting at the same time. Also, in retrospect, the possibility that the island could just be some sort of coping mechanism for him eating the cook makes the section all the more interesting. We should ask Yann Martel which story he prefers because Pi makes such a big deal of this question. He probably prefers the one with the tiger because he wrote a whole book about it, but it could be interesting. I would also like to ask him what he thought of the movie.
Life of Pi is one of my favorite books I have been required to read for class. Although it still has the writing skill of any books within the literary canon, it has a contemporary feeling to it that draws readers in and keeps their interest peaked throughout the novel. My favorite part of this book was the imagery that was heavily utilized by Yann Martel. Being able to visualize specific events when reading is the only way that books can compete with the entertainment of movies. Without this crucial aspect of storytelling, a book would be incomplete and unappealing to most audiences. In my opinion, the best kind of book is one that describes such a fascinating narrative that one forgets they are reading a novel. A book that allows readers to delve into the world of the characters is one that immediately captures my attention, a task Life of Pi had no difficulty achieving. One question we should ask Martel during our Skype meeting is why he chose to leave the true story ambiguous. Does he believe that the reader’s opinion added to their own interpretation of and significance found in the novel? How does ambiguity serve to add something to the story he wrote?
My favorite part of Life of Pi has got to be the transformation of Pi’s young, adventurous mind into a cracked, survivalistic mind. I think that the transformation is very interesting and shows how far one truly will go when their life is on the line. I believe that when you replace the animals in the story with real humans, this transformation becomes so much more complex and difficult to understand. I respect Martel and how he decided to write the book, truly genius. I think that we should ask him if he knew when he started writing the book that he was going to replace the animals with humans at the very end. Also, I think that we should ask him how this book related to his own life when he was writing it and how he expected it to relate to other people’s lives? If it would at all?
In the novel, Life of Pi, there are many good parts that not only provide the reader with entertainment but also many parts that make the reader think. My favorite part of the novel is when Pi finds the island. He thinks he is saved and will never have to leave. This is not the case, however. He comes to realize that the island has a dark secret. He finds teeth in the leaves, and he figures out that this island is carnivorous. The island is, in fact, a figment of Pi’s imagination. He creates this island to cope with his savage ways. I like this part of the book because it shows just how hard it was for Pi to deal with eating meat, and more importantly, human meat. When we skype Yann Martel, I think we should ask him what lens he used to write the novel, if any. I think it would be interesting getting the perspective of an accredited author on literary theory and devises.
Life of Pie was one of the most interesting novels that I have ever read. It included various situations that proved to be puzzling as well as enlightening. Of all of these influences, my favorite would have to be the time that Pi spent on the carnivorous island. When Pi arrives it is as if he has found paradise. However, he soon realizes that what he first found to be paradise could actually be the death of him. This realization of a false paradise is one that I feel a lot of people can relate with. Some people try their whole lives to find that paradise but never find it. They chase after the things of this world thinking it will satisfy when in the end it can destroy them. Richard Parker seems to realize this faster than Pi does which could also mean that the savage side of us may be less savage and more aware of danger than we may realize.
Life of Pi was a close second for favorite books we read (behind Cuckoo's Nest of course). It was interesting, sad at times, and just a high-quality book overall. There were so many cool parts to choose from that this is a really hard question. However, if I had to choose it would be the part with the French man showing up to kill Pi. I found it really cool the way that both Pi and the Tiger are blind. It adds a lot of suspense and leaves much up for interpretation. Was it just Pi going insane? Was there actually a Frenchman? Was Richard Parker real? Is Pi, Richard Parker? It's just a super cool part of the story that you do not really understand exactly what is going on. Related to that, I kind of want to ask Yann whether that whole part of the book actually happened. I do not think he will give me a start answer honestly. Authors tend to leave lots of things up for interpretation and I think that was the intention of that section of the book.
Rau 1 My favorite part of Life of Pi would have to be when Pi landed in a mysterious, carnivorous island that seemed botanically impossible at first— from the entirety of freshwater algae that holds the island together, to the excessive population of meerkats. As Pi further explored the island, I found it to be very interesting how Yann Martel described the island in ways that made the reader question whether or not this was reality or imagination. In other words, could this setting and possibility of finding an island have been merely a figment of the imagination simply because it was a scenario most desirable to believe in? For example, when Pi found a wisdom tooth within a ball of leaves in the tree he resided in, he had come to the realization that deep down, he did not want to waste away on the island, forgotten. No, the tooth gave him the reborn motivation to keep surviving— to keep on floating through the Pacific for the slim chance of finding civilization instead. For me, the probability of finding an island like this along with the “wisdom” of the tooth may have seemed impossible, but my mind wanted to believe in such a light-hearted story anyway. The realistic thought that the meerkats could actually be maggots and the island could represent him giving up on surviving hadn’t surfaced into my mind. Whether each story is the truth or not, the very idea of both worlds existing is very intriguing to me. I hope that when we call Mr. Martel, I would have the chance to ask him: “Have you ever preferred one story of the other?” Or furthermore, I would ask: “What inspires you to transform these descriptive thoughts into words?” (I apologize, I forgot to turn this in on Thursday)
My favorite part of the novel Life of Pi is at the end when Pi is talking to the men about what happened when the ship sank. He talks to them in such a polite manner which shows that he has not lost his civilized part of him. The men though do not sympathize him in a way that you would imagine they should due to horrible experience Pi has just gone through. The conversation that they have about doubting Pi's story about the animals, and forcing him to come up with one that was more logical by making the animals human, this is the part that is my favorite. At the same time this part really makes me upset, and angry with Martel, the author, because I did not want to think that this story could be anymore awful for Pi than it already was. I want to believe that it was a Tiger, zebra, orangutan, and a hyena; But that is too hard to believe. On the other hand though it is too sad to believe that these were humans, and that humans could treat each other so horrible when put in a life or death situation. The ending was my favorite part because it brought out all the emotions that I had throughout the book, and really made me over look every situation that Pi went through. I am thinking that I will reread this book again just because I want to analyze each chapter again with the thought in my mind that these are humans and not animals. I am curious what more connections I can see to make sense if this were humans, or animals. One question I have for the author is what inspired him to come up with such an amazing, and mind bottling story.
My favorite part of the novel is at the very end when Pi makes up a different story that did not involve animals. He talked about real people that were on the lifeboat instead of animals, and it really made me question what really could have happened. I find it interesting that Yaan Martel uses 300 or so pages describing how a young boy survived on a lifeboat alongside an adult male Bengal tiger but then brings the whole novel into question within that last few chapters. Both stories make complete senes and there is no way to verify either story. This leaves the decision up to the reader. I also like the abundance of imagery and symbolism used throughout the novel that hints at underlying information. Martel placed everything in the novel for a specific reason which would take an enormous amount of consideration and thought.
My favorite part in the novel was how he had prepared for the storms, and held on during the storms. When Pi had read the manuals and used his instincts to build things such as the raft. How he would tie to sail together, take all of the goods off the raft and put them in the boat before the waves hit. Another fascinating part was the carnivorous island full of meerkats. It was cool seeing the image he had seen with an empty pool of crystal clear water that he began to drink and bathe from. It was cool to use my literary lenses in seeing the eye, and body shape of the island. I also, think it was very unique of Yann Martel used two different narrators to tell the story. The way the chapters transitioned from the writer talking about Pi to Pi himself actually telling the story really made the book flow well and helped it all come together
Christensen 5 I really enjoyed reading Life of Pi and it was a lot better than I expected it to be. It definitely exceeded my expectations. Thinking back on the book, my favorite part was the ending. The ending was my favorite part because it left me thinking and contemplating the meaning of the book. I tend to like endings that I don’t like. That does not really make the most sense but I tend to like endings that frustrate me. Those types of endings are the best because they make you feel something and they make you think more about the book. When we Skype with Yann Martel, I would like to ask him what his inspiration was for the book and if he can relate to Pi Patel in any way. I would also like to ask him if there is any particular reason that he chose to use a tiger to symbolize the animalistic side of Pi.
96 comments:
Ask 7
My favorite part of Life of Pi so far would have to be two separate scenes. My first favorite part would be when Pi stands up for himself against his bullies. When Pi first gets to elementary school, he gets to class and when the teachers say his name boys in his class hear it and change it to Pissing Patel. Throughout his whole elementary years, he has to deal with people calling him Pissing Patel and also he has to deal with living in his older brothers outstanding atheism shadow. When Pi gets to his new school after elementary school, he makes sure that he won’t have to deal with this again. So on the first day, once his teachers read his name, he ran up to the board and then wrote Pi along with the symbol and an explanation of pi. After he did this in every class, his name would be Pi, and he would be a legend throughout the school. After his first day of school, his older brother Ravi made fun of his attempt to start over, but Pi kept fighting so he didn’t have to be called that name. My second favorite scene would be when Pi’s father tries to teach the boys a lesson. Pi’s mother disagrees with teaching them this lesson but his father says he must learn and she says that they are too young especially Pi. His father responds to that with Pi is who worries me the most. This whole scene is a bunch of foreshadowing to what is to come in the future. Pi in the future is going to have to “coexist” with a tiger on a boat. After this lesson of what tigers and all the other animals in the zoo can be dangerous, it is a coincidence or complete foreshadow that he ends up on the boat with a tiger and his father predicted that Pi worries him the most. At first, I didn’t catch this foreshadowing, but once I reread it, I realized the significance. After reading a short section of this book, I have some questions to ask Yann Martel. The first question would be when writing this book did you think it was destiny that you and Piscine ended up meeting through Mamaja? Another question would be how did you decide the setup of the book when writing this story? I have many questions that I would want to ask him, but these are just a few I can think of.
My favorite part about Life of Pi is when I read in chapters that are in italics. At first, I was confused and had no idea what those chapters were supposed to mean or why they were there but they hope greatly and almost serve as a summary to the chapters about Pi during the move and being on the boat. I think it is cool that Yann Martel puts these in the book because it makes it almost feel like the story is real. You find out so much about Pi’s life before you even really meet him. When we Skype with him in April I think we should ask him why he chooses to put these chapters in the story. I also think we should ask him why he named the tiger. Maybe we figure this out later but I have yet to find out. This book has so many different parts that people could find interesting.
Reinschmidt 5
While reading the Life of Pi, there were many scenes that were very important to the book and that I really enjoyed. One scene that I liked was the part at the beginning when Pi was in front of his classmates sticking up for himself about his name. This shows his inner strength which will be prevalent throughout the rest of the story. Another part that stuck out to me was when he was training Richard Parker. Throughout his journey on the lifeboat, the most important thing was for him to tame Richard Parker if he wanted a chance at survival. He thought through his training technique thoroughly and it proved to be successful. He has control of Richard Parker for the most part. One lesson that was taught early in the book and proved to be foreshadowing was when Pi’s father showed them how dangerous a tiger can be. This was another very important part because Pi is later stuck on a lifeboat with the most dangerous animal in the zoo for 227 days. I have a couple questions, but the one I am most curious about is how he decided on the formatting of the novel? It is very well thought out and it helps to shape the novel into the best it can be.
I would have to say that my favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi moves onto the lifeboat and into Richard Parker's territory. This was such a significant part in the book and stood for more than it seems. Pi and Richard Parker moving toward one another signifies a message that Martel will try to push onto you over the course of the novel: animals and humans aren’t such different creatures after all. Earlier in the novel, Kesey adds that omega animals (such as Richard Parker) will often be obedient to a human trainer in an effort to climb up the social hierarchy, tolerating what they perceive as the human alpha creature’s odd demands. People do this same thing, trying to climb the social ladder, tolerating whatever it is on the way up. Animals mimic human behavior, the same way Pi mimics the tiger when trying to train him and claim his territory. I think that we should ask Yann Martel if he had to research a lot to write this book? The facts about how to tame animals, their behavior, or even survival on the boat is something that I have 0 knowledge in, and am curious to see if he had to put in a lot of time finding these facts.
While reading this book, I came across many interesting things. However, the part that I found most interesting was how he moved onto the lifeboat with Richard Parker. This scene shows Pi’s strength, and how far he is willing to go in order to survive. Pi explains multiple times how scared he is, but he pushes through and keeps getting back on the lifeboat. He knows how dangerous a tiger can be, because of his dad. At the beginning of the book, his father brings him through the zoo and explains how dangerous each animal really could be. A question I think we should ask Yann Martel is how he designed each chapter of the book, by adding in the author's notes about Pi. I really enjoy how he gave us insight to Pi’s life now, and I would love to hear how he came up with how to get the novel to flow while switching from past to present.
Bickley Pd.2
My favorite part about Life of Pi is the constant questioning that Yann Martel makes the reader do. For example, he makes the reader question whether or not the animals are truly on the lifeboat with him. The literary techniques and the wording that Yann Martel uses neither verifies nor refutes the idea that the animals are on the lifeboat with Pi. The logic behind the issue would make the reader want to believe that the animals are not truly on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with him because of this likelihood. However, the literary viewpoint and the text itself vividly depicts the animals as physically present in Pi’s recollections. Hence, this determination is left up to the reader’s interpretation. A question that I would like to ask Yann Martel would be how long it took him to research, write, and perfect this novel alone? The reason I find this question interesting is that there seem to be no loose ends in the novel when it is deeply analyzed. During our forums, our group seems to connect pieces from the middle of the book back to the information in the beginning of the book.
Kocer 5
My favorite part about the Life of Pi is when we get told the story of Pi’s journey again but shortened and with humans instead of the animals. While reading the second version of the story, it was interesting to compare it to the first version. You were able to see the similarities between the animals and the people through their behaviors, descriptions, and actions. This makes you rethink everything that occurs on Pi’s journey. When Pi asks what story is better to the people questioning him, they said it was the story with the animals. It’s better to think of everyone on the boat as animals rather than people because of the actions they had to resort to. One question I have for Yann Martel is how he was able to come up with the algae island. The island was described very specifically for a reason. I wonder what the island specifically represented/symbolized.
Glen 2
My favorite part of Life of Pi is not a scene from the book. Instead, I love the hidden meaning, plots, symbols, etc. that are used within the story. For example, the number three has become very relevant during the course of the book. There are three religions, three churches, three year difference, and three stages within the Hindu religion. Another example of a hidden message within the book that represents hopelessness and despair is when Pi’s pen ran out of ink. This displays the fact that Pi believes that his story may be coming to an end. Although there are many more items that could be listed that pertain to this, those are only a select few. My favorite scene would be when Pi is able to stand up for himself in the beginning of the book where he changes his name from Piscine to “Pi.” It is a scene in which Pi found something within him which made him more confident. When we skype Yann Martel, I believe that we should further question him regarding these hidden messages. This is because I think that they are fundamentals that build up throughout the entire book. Additionally, some of the meanings are not clearly displayed, such as the animals possibly representing people in Pi’s life. However, I am not sure if Yann Martel will answer these questions because I think that he wrote it intentionally for the readers to determine their own meaning.
My favorite part of LIfe of Pi is the plot structure. It is different than any other book that we have read in class. It is interesting that the author interrupts the story to talk about where Pi Patel is now, and then goes back to the story. I love the symbols of the book. One, in particular, is the color orange used to represent hope and survival. Also, the lightning storm chapter was so compelling, that it is probably my favorite chapter of this book. Not only did he stay calm during a lightning storm that could have killed him, he thought it was fascinating how the sky, which he described as God's work, touched the finite ocean. When skyping Yann Martel, I want to know how he thought of this story. Did someone inspire him to write this masterpiece? How could one possibly think of a story with such deep themes and symbols?
Larson 2
There are many features that I really enjoy. Although, there is one aspect I really enjoy the most. My favorite part of Life of Pi is just the fact that there is so much detail it seems impossible that the story is fiction and not actually a true story. I find myself indulged in the reading as the detailed description of Pi grabs me in and makes me wanting to read more. A book that has very vivid details, in my opinion, allows the reader to enjoy the book more and allows the reader to keep reading because there is never a boring spot in the book. Relating to the aspect of such true detail, I think an interesting question to ask Yann would be how was he able to make this book seem so real that some people did not realize this is indeed a fictional story. Another interesting question to ask him would be how could he incorporate the amount of detail without making it seem too much and how the details flow smoothly.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is how the book feels like it could be real while at the same time seeming like it couldn’t be possible. I also enjoy how much information we know about the main character Pi and how we even get to see his journal. I think it is very interesting how the story is told as well. The way that Pi Patel is telling the story himself later in life is very interesting to me and it makes the book more enjoyable. One question that I would ask Yann Martel is why he chose a tiger to be stuck on the boat with Pi. He could have chosen a different dangerous animal like a tiger or he could have made the story different by just keeping Orange Juice the orangutang alive instead of the Richard Parker. After asking why he chose a tiger, I would then ask him what animal he had to choose if he had to choose a different animal for the story.
McKellep 7
I think my favorite part in Life of Pi so far is how much Yann Martel portrays Pi in chapter 90. I think that he draws the line between real and not real perfectly at the same time. I also love how Pi, in a time of such need, only cares about how he "failed" Richard Parker and as a zookeeper. It really shows Pi's true character and how unselfish he is. I also found it interesting because I think there is a deeper meaning there. When he says he failed as a zookeeper I think he also feels like he failed his father. Throughout the story, it seemed as though he only wanted to impress his father, and not being able to do that was really heartbreaking. Also in that chapter, he mentions at the end how he gives his love to his ONE and ONLY God. I loved this part because in his last moments he finally picked a religion to trust all of his faith in and I think that is really cool. This chapter only brought Pi and Richard Parker closer.
My favorite part in Life of Pi yet this far is the part in which Pi stands up to everyone to tell them what he wants to be called. He is brave enough to get up before the teacher could say anything and walk to the front of his class and write on the board “My name is Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as Pi Patel” and also added “π = 3.14”. Having the name Picine in which it sounds like “pissing” would make an innocent little boys childhood who just wants to fit in very hard. Everyone in his class, including teachers, calls him that name. This is a very bold statement in the book and you could say it had some slight foreshadowing for how brave Pi will have to be when he is stuck on a lifeboat. Another part that I really like in this book in the italicized chapters. These chapters add a little humor into the book and give you the opportunity to understand what the “author” is thinking.
Bunker 5
While reading the Life of Pi, there have been lots of chapters that have intrigued me. My favorite part of the book so far is when Richard Parker basically saves Pi’s life. Pi finds another blind man stranded on a lifeboat. Trusting the man, Pi goes to give the guy a hug but then he soon finds out the man is out for blood. The man starts to strangle Pi; Richard Parker rises up and slays the man. Pi always says that Richard Parker is keeping him alive, but this time he literally saved his life. The first question I would like to ask Yann Martel is if he was aware of all the hidden 3.14 connections while he was writing the novel. I would also like to ask him why he gave the tiger, Richard Parker, such a human name.
Life of Pi is a great book to read and there are many parts that stuck out to me. I really think it is clever how the author, Yann Martel, sets up his chapters. Making some italicized and some regular print. The italicized parts of the book represent the author speaking and regular print means Pi Patel is speaking. It is also unique how he makes some chapters a few pages long and others just maybe a paragraph. How he sets up his book is really fascinating. Story-wise, I would have to say I like how clever he is when he is on the boat. He uses life jackets to make a raft. Never in a million years would I think to do that. It fascinates me how realistic this book seems. At times in the book, I have to stop and remind myself that no this did not actually happen. I would have to say it would be super scary to be stranded in the middle of the ocean on a lifeboat with a tiger. Out of all the animals I like how the author picked a tiger, that really interests me why he picked a tiger.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is the Island. To me Reading about Pi learning how to walk again. Is something that hit very close to home for me. When I was out of school in middle school, I was paralyzed from the waist down for about 7 weeks. The process of learning how to walk again. Is not an easy feat. And it is something that most people will never have to deal with. I feel like in this book it was described very well the struggles that we have to go through. The literally falling back down and getting yourself back up over and over again. It is something that to me shows strength in Pi as a character. Not everyone is able to go through a task like this and come back up on the other side level headed. Especially as a teenager. It is painful to not be able to do things. When he arrives on the island, the only thing he can do is walk to the nearest tree and back, but he is able to rebuild his strength and adventure into the island to discover even more beautiful things. If I could ask him one question, it would be why did you include Pi learning to walk again?
Runia 2
My favorite part in Life of Pi was when Pi was talking to the two representatives of the Osaka shipping company. This is my favorite part of the novel because they question his story involving the animals on the raft and instead have Pi tell the story with each of the animals being displayed as a person instead. Then, when the two representatives were discussing the story, they explained how Pi was Richard Parker in the story when all of the animals were compared. My question to Yann Martel would be, out of all of the fish in the Pacific Ocean, why did he choose to have the Dorado be the main fish for the sustenance of Pi? Why not use a different fish such as a tuna or other open ocean fish? Along with that, as Martel was writing the story, was he fully aware that the word "dorado" means "golden" in Spanish? The rest of the book doesn't use a single Spanish word except for "dorado", not even in the part taking place in Mexico.
Kellogg 2
My favorite part of Life of Pi would have to be when Pi is telling the two Japanese men about his travels, and they can not tell if he is relaying the truth or not. Pi continues to tell about the animals that he had aboard his boat for the time that he did. This makes me think about whether the story Pi is telling is true or not. The animals on the life raft could have been the real people he described, or could have been hallucinating them from the beginning, with the tiger, Richard Parker, just representing Pi himself. When we Skype with Yann Martel on April 3, I want to ask him whether or not he knows that while he is writing, that he is writing down many ideas that could be taken as different symbols. I also want to ask Yann Martel whether Pi was making up the animals in the raft with him or if they were there with him in the novel, but I know Martel will probably leave that up to me to decide.
My favorite part about Life of Pi is when Pi is trying to tell the two Japanese reporters about his story. Everything that the reporters' question, turns out to be true. They say that bananas do not float, but when they tried it, the banana floated. There is no evidence to show if the story with the animals is true or if the story without the animals is true. One of my other favorite parts is when Pi discovers the floating island. This part also confuses me a little bit because this island could be possible, but nobody knows. Pi could also have been hallucinating since he was so close to death, but once again nobody knows. When Skyping Yann Martel, I think a good question would be what went through his mind while trying to write Life of PI? With so many elements of three religions, it would be difficult to write. Also trying to write a story within a story would be challenging.
Life of Pi is my favorite book out of all the books we’ve read in class. It’s more up my alley with suspense, a little bit of action and all around a description of the settings and what is happening. A few parts in Life of Pi stuck out to me. One of which would be standing up to his bullies in the first part of the book. Bullying is a huge deal in our society and in our schools especially but nothing tends to get done about it. To me, bullying tends to go unseen because no one reports it. However, when Pi stands up for himself, it shows his inner strength and determination to come out on top. He repeats the same process in all of his classes and soon enough, the teasing of his name is done. He is now Pi, instead of Piscine. This part sets up and gives the reader an idea of how strong Pi is and how he can really survive for almost a year at sea. Another part of the book that stuck out to me was when Pi was going to mark his territory on the lifeboat and uses turtle’s shells as shields. His determination and insistency of being the Alpha male add to his strength. His number one priority was to take care of Richard Parker and tame in. By giving him food and water, he is stimulating Richard Parker’s life in the zoo. That is interesting to me because when you go to the zoo, most of the animals are domicile, or tame, but only get rowdy when inticed.
In Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, there was great detail and thought. My favorite part of the book was the time Pi spent on the lifeboat with Richard Parker. Martel made me as a reader question what I would do in Pi’s situation. When putting myself in Pi’s shoes I was able to see Pi’s strength, courage, and determination to survive. Martel also used unbelievable imagery in this part of the novel, making it seem as though I was on the lifeboat too. Because of the time Martel spent on not only this part but the whole novel, Life of Pi becomes a classic. When it comes time to Skype Yann Martel I would like to know how he was able to take a story like Pi’s and make it so realistic? How much time he spent perfecting the details and imagery? And if he would have been happy with the outcome of the novel nobody the publicity?
Van Hulzen 5
In Life of Pi, my favorite part of the book was when the accumulation of my knowledge of the novel takes a gruesome turn. This is when Pi tells a second story about his experience on the boat. He replaces the animals with real people that were on the Tsipsum. He reveals a possible truth that the cook cut his mother's head off and he retaliated and killed the cook. There is also the possibility that he killed the Frenchman that he met a drift at sea, and ate his corpus while it was filled with maggots. You also reflect during this time to see that all of this story was a partial lie. There were no animals on the boat and Pi is disguising it to remain emotionally stable or to justify his actions. Looking back at the storytelling genius of Yann Martel I would ask him, "How much of a risk was it to turn the story completely around?'' I would have thought that he would be nervous to see the reaction of his readers and critics on his gruesome tale. I would also ask him if he started out the book wanted to replace the animals with humans at the end. The novel has extreme detail and is very realistic. It seemed as if he was telling the story literally, not making connections between animals and people.
My favorite part of this novel was when Pi describes the second part of the story to the Japanese interviewers with people on the boat. I love that Yann Martel does this because it throws the reader off and gets them thinking. When I came across this part in the book it brought many thoughts to my head. What animal represented who and why did Pi describe people as animals? But I also had thoughts that there actually were animals on the boat and Pi just claimed that there were people on the boat to get the Japanese interviewers to stop talking to him. Something I would like to ask Martel is if he wrote the end of this book for people to interpret or if he wrote this book with an actual answer. I would like to know if Martel wrote Pi's second story truthfully, or if he just wrote it as a coverup? Another thing I would like to ask Martel is what the dialogue would be among the boat if the story were to be written with people on the boat instead of animals?
My favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi is the very ending. During the whole novel, even though it is complex and detailed and some parts might even confuse the reader, it is fairly easy to follow along. As I was reading, there were definitely parts that made me think, but nothing like the ending. It seemed so simple, Pi was telling the story of what happened to him. But then at the end when he tells the reporters the human story as well it completely changed everything. Was everything he had just told fixed by his imagination? A way for him to mask the pain and suffering? In my opinion, I think that the human story is true but there are still a lot of unanswered questions that I am eager to ask Yann Martel. Some of those questions might include information on the real meaning of the novel. Was it all his imagination? I am also curious to know how he came up with such a brilliant story, and how he came up with the idea of writing it in such an interesting way.
My favorite thing about Life of Pi would have to be how much detail is used. Yann Martel uses so much detail when writing about Pi’s journey. It kept me indulged in the book and always had me wanting to read more. I also loved how the chapter lengths varied. This kept me engaged in reading, always wanting to finish a complete chapter. When I was reading the smaller ones I would keep reading because I felt accomplished in reading multiple chapters. When I would come up to the longer chapters I knew a smaller one was coming up. My favorite written part of the book is probably the part when Pi is training Richard Parker. He was very persistent in his ways to tame Richard. I loved reading the persistence and about the knowledge, it took to know how to tame a tiger. One question I think we should ask Yann Martel is, “How long did it take for him to compose the book after interviewing Pi?”
Overall, I have two favorite parts of Life of Pi, both of which come from the ending. From the time that Pi set foot on the island, I was intrigued at what would happen. After living on the boat with Richard Parker for months, he makes it to a safe haven with the meerkats. Once the night hit, I was confused as to why the island paradise would turn carnivorous and attack the meerkats and him. My other favorite part came from the interview where Pi retells his story. He recounts this awe-inspiring story of living on a boat with a 450-pound tiger. The best part of this is the “alternate” story, which makes you question the validity of the previous 300 pages. The most confusing part about this is the fact that when you look back at the details of the tiger version of the story, details of the alternate story line up; many details of the two stories line up, yet Pi is the only one who knows which is his truth.
Graber 2
My favorite part of Life of Pi is the Faith that Pi has. All throughout the novel, we can see Pi hold onto his Faith like it’s the only thing he has. Technically it is the only thing he has. Faith is what keeps Pi going. His Faith gives him something to believe in and hold onto. It keeps him somewhat sane and alive. It gives him someone to talk to and converse with. Although his parents and others think he is insane for believing in three religions, it is the only thing he has in the end. I can relate to Pi in this sort because I hold onto Faith like he does. When we FaceTime Yann, I think we should ask him about what religion he holds on to. You’d think if he wrote a book about a character who held onto three religions, he’d have some sort of religious thoughts. It would be interesting to see what or whom he believes in and holds onto.
I have two favorite parts of Life of Pi. The first one is when Pi and Richard Parker meet the French man. I find it interesting that at first, Pi thinks the voice is Richard Parker. He only thinks this because he is delirious with malnutrition and dehydration. During the conversation, he finds that the voice he is talking to has killed a man and a woman, although he didn’t like it. However, once he realizes the voice is a man, Pi still lets the man on the boat because he is so lonely. I also liked the part on the island when he realizes that the island is a carnivore. He had a little bit of understanding of science and had reasons for everything that was happening up until the point where he found a tooth in a flower. I found this part interesting because he was essentially in paradise, but it would eventually kill him. However, he chose to leave and live in hell because he had a chance of living. I would like to ask Yann Martel how he thought to incorporate three religions into the book. It must have taken a good amount of research to find how all three religions could work together, along with knowing each religion separately.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was definitely the way it ended. I liked that the ending was left up to the reader’s imagination. The ending also made me question the whole book and really think about everything that had happened so far and the way Pi described things. When Pi tells the reporters the version with the humans instead of the animals, it makes the reader decide which version they believed to be true. The alternate version also showed the readers how this extremely traumatic event affected Pi and how he dealt with the trauma of the event by most likely making a story with animals to cover up the actual events of his experience. I am interested to ask Yann Martel why he wrote this novel in the format he did. I am also interested to learn how he came up with the story, especially the ending.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was definitely on the island. I loved trying to understand and predict what the true meaning of the island was. When I was first reading it, I had no idea whether or not the island was a hallucination. Trying to interpret what Pi was actually going through vs. what he was hallucinating from starvation, the heat, or making himself hallucinate from strangulation, was very difficult. I believe that when we meet Yann Martel for the video conference, we should ask him what inspired him to write Life of Pi. A story as in-depth and creatively challenging to interpret would be even more inspiring after finding out what the inspiration was. I also think we should ask him if he is happy with the ways that others are interpreting his story. I feel that as an author, this may be a difficult question to answer because everyone is entitled to their own opinions on a story.
Darrington 2
My favorite part of the novel Life of Pi is the chapter in which Pi captures, kill, and tries to eat the sea turtle. The chapter involving the turtle shows a lot of character traits and themes in the story. His struggle and contemplation about how to handle the turtle and his constant thoughts for Richard Parker’s well-being and how to help him are written and described beautifully in these events. This part of the book is incredibly descriptive and, personally, the most gripping and compelling events in the story. This chapter puts me in that situation and I feel like I am living it. Not only did chapter 70 have a heartfelt encounter with a turtle, but it also delves slightly more into the understanding of Pi and Richard Parker’s relationship. In the skype with Yann Martel, I would ask whether the human story or the animal version of the plot is real. I would be excited to hear his interpretation on this and why both versions were included.
I tried picking just one favorite part in Life of Pi but I simply can not. I could only narrow it down to two parts. Learning about the theories of the green island Pi comes across supposedly really got me thinking. I believe that Pi’s savage side has taken him over in the part of the book. He is completely taken over that he imagines a savage island where everything is carnivorous. Richard Parker is carnivorous. I believe Richard Parker and the island relate. When Pi finally reaches land that has civilization on it, you would think he would feel nothing but joy. Pi is full of sorrow at this point because of everything that he has been through the past year. He experienced a life-altering event that he can not change. He is not upset at the fact he a whole year of his life was spent on a boat, nearly dying multiple times. He was upset because Richard Parker did not officially say goodbye to him. All he wanted was Richard Parker to bring their relationship to an end. But he did not.
My favorite part of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi revolves around the sinking of the TsimTsum. Though a completely tragic part of the novel, I believe that the sinking of the ship not only represents the great tragedy that will soon become Pi’s life, but it also seems to represent Pi’s loss of innocence and his loss of tranquility. Moments after being thrown overboard, with true malicious intent, Pi is displeased to find that his new “roommates” are none other than a wounded zebra, an utterly annoying hyena, and unbeknownst to him, a full-grown Bengal tiger. I love this part of the book so much more after finishing the novel because I can now see that these specific animals were really humans in which he suffered the tragedy of the sinking of the ship with. I truly believe in the second story that Pi relays, and I do believe that he only came up with the animal story to preserve his mental health and emotional sanity, as would most individuals if something so tragic were to happen to them. When skyping with brilliant author Yann Martel, I think it may be intriguing to ask him what his religious viewpoint is considering the religious overtone in the novel Life of Pi. I am curious if religion affects him on a regular basis, as it seemed to affect Pi.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the end after they tell you the actual story. After spending three hundred pages trying to convince the reader that everything on the lifeboat was true. He tells you a story so horribly true you want to believe the other one, even more, to make everyone feel better. Before telling the actual story two Japanese men have to heavily question Pi. They try to break him but hardly manage it and afterward I think they regret it. At the end, the Japanese investigator gives in to what Pi has said and states, “Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger.” At this point, you can see the investigator has decided it does not matter if everyone knows the truth of the lifeboat all that matters is Pi’s “truth”. This was my favorite part of the whole story.
My favorite part of the novel was the ending when Pi gives the second story to the two Japanese men. The whole book really leads up to this part and your entire view changes after this. I really like how you get to see who the animals all actually represent in the novel. After hearing the second story, you can also start to compare how the people compare to the animals and how their personalities relate to the animals themselves. It also makes you look back on all the things the Richard Parker did and now seeing them as things that Pi actually did. One example would be when Richard Parker killed the “blind” man that got on Pi’s boat, but we know now that it was Pi who killed that man. One question I would ask Martel would be what did you mean to symbolize with the algae island. He goes into a great deal when describing the island and he definitely meant something by Pi going there.
Law 2
My favorite thing wasn’t exactly a certain spot in the book it was more so the realizations made when reading the novel. Making connections to different things that hold meaning in Pi’s life. Especially his religious fascination with the number three. What had the most shock to me was that he created this tremendous story with zoo animals, a totally different form of life that holds different characteristics than humans do, to represent actual people. He created a different way to tell the story because it seemed more reasonable to use animals for the morbid actions that took place. In relating humans with animals it reveals that we too can be just as savage as they are if desperate. A question that I would like to ask Yann Martel is if he too likes when things end. At the end of the book when Pi was done telling the real story he told the men how he hated his name because it did not resemble a true ending. Although this book leaves things open for your own thoughts to develop, I wonder if Martel himself like true endings.
Talcott 2
My favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi finds the floating island. Pi discovering the island is a very essential part of the book. The island allows Pi and Richard Parker to be able to regain their strength for the rest of their journey. Also, the island is a place of refuge for Pi and Richard Parker during a terrible storm. I found it very interesting that Pi discovered the algae island floating in the ocean with meerkat-like animals on it. I enjoyed reading about how the meerkats adapted and were able to swim and pull in the dead fish. It fascinated me when I discovered that the island was a carnivore. I never thought that an algae island would be able to create freshwater in the ocean that allowed it to kill fish and digest them. The island only coming alive at night and trying to digest anything touch it was another thing that fascinated me about the island. My question for Yann Martel is where did he get his inspiration for the algae island?
Olivier 5
My absolute favorite part of Life of Pi is the part where Piscine finds the floating island, I like how he uses such in-depth imagery. At the end of the book, I learn that Pi is actually the tiger or has a tiger inside him, his carnivorous and tribal instinct. While Pi is telling the story he says that the tiger always comes back later at night and how the tiger is devouring all of the meerkats/maggots. The freshwater ponds have fish that swim in them and are devoured by the acid as day turns to night. At the end of the novel, Pi does not have anything about the floating island because he knows that that was a figment of his imagination, he was hallucinating. What really happened was that Pi was really close to death and lost his perception of real and imagined. The meercats are actually maggots that are feasting on his floating body or floating island. The tooth that he finds on the island may be his own tooth that is decaying away or just falling out because of malnutrition.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was easily the story at the end of the novel that leaves the reader questioning everything. I really enjoy when a book keeps you intrigued and wondering about the ending even after you are finished with it. I also love how what really happened is up to you and your own interpretation. The allegorical side of the story with humans instead of the animals was a very interesting way to end the story. After realizing that all the animals on the boat represented the humans perfectly in Pi’s second story, I was instantly perplexed with the idea that the entire story could have been a way of hiding what really happened to Pi and how that scarred him. One question I would like to ask Yann Martel is why did he choose to give Pi three religions that he follows. What significance did the fact of him believing in three have on the story?
Brummels 1
I feel like my favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi tells his story to the Japanese investigators. I like how they do not believe him after they tell the story and how they ask him a ton of questions trying to find little things that do not add up. I found it really interesting when they made him tell the story but without the animals. The story that he tells, I think, is the true story and it took him so long to spit it out because he could not deal with what he had done. Throughout the last few chapters, he asks multiple times for cookies. The Japanese men are confused on why he wants so many, but after being stranded in the ocean for 277 days with barely any food, you feel like you always need to be prepared because you never know what is going to happen. I think we should ask him how he came up with this story and what drove him to write it. We should also ask him which story is the real one. I doubt we will get an answer to that though.
Knutson 2
After reading the story Life of Pi, there was one particular section that really stuck out to me. My favorite part of the book was found within the last chapter. This was when the Japanese investigators came to talk to Pi while he was still in the hospital. They wanted to know the story of why the ship sank and how he survived. Pi told the story of being with the animals and surviving because of the company of a tiger, but the investigators didn’t believe him. So Pi told them a story of how all these animals were actually people and the tiger was actually the savage within himself. Because of this Pi’s whole story of being stranded on the lifeboat was left up to interpretation. This made me question the whole entire book and leaving me on a cliffhanger. But I found it very interesting since I was able to come to my own conclusion with the book. When we skype him on the upcoming Wednesday one question that I have for him is why he set up the book so it would have such an unexpected ending that would leave you questioning the rest of the story.
The format of Life of Pi is the most fascinating to me. The variety that the chapter lengths offer is entertaining, but my favorite part was the various lists in the middle of the book. Each time a list appears, it is different from the others too. One chapter has a numbered list of the steps to train Richard Parker, one has a list of all of his supplies, and another has his daily routine listed. This format helped keep me engaged in the book and offered a nice variety from a typical book. My favorite plot points are when Pi explains events in serious detail, like how he built the raft, caught and prepared the fish, or the layout of the boat and its contents. Hopefully, we are able to ask him about how he thought of this book; I always wonder where inspiration comes from. Another thing we could ask about is what he is currently working on, if anything. I really enjoyed studying this novel and I am so excited to talk to Mr. Martel!
Pi is quite an eclectic person when it concerns religions. In Life of Pi, Pi takes it upon himself to walk the readers through his religious journey and beliefs, explaining his fascination with each religion and the differences that make each so desired. By taking the time to explain Pi’s various beliefs, the reader gets a more thorough understanding of Pi and how intelligent and how strong he is mentally. This is by far my favorite part of Yann Martel’s novel because religion is typically a touchy subject and defines a person in a single way, but with Pi, it was simple and affecting his whole life which made him into a more interesting and strong character. I would love to ask Yann Martel why he focused so much on the collision of religions in Pi instead of taking a more simple route? Martel consistently focused in on back story details which I believe strengthened the novel tremendously.
Poppenga 2
My favorite part of Life of Pi would have to be the beginning of Part ll when Pi realizes the ship sank with his family on board and he is on the raft with zoo animals. Yann Martel makes it very clear that Pi’s normal life is over and has been replaced with survival. I admired how deep Martel let us into Pi’s thoughts and even though I have never been stranded on a raft, I felt what he was feeling. Also, Pi’s mental health and being on the brink of insanity was an interest of mine because without Richard Parker, Pi would have not survived and in the end to find out Richard Parker was only Pi’s imagination was astonishing. We should ask Yann Martel questions about how he came up with the ideas of Pi’s imagination clouding his reality and questions about his beliefs on zoos, circuses, etc.
My favorite part in Life of Pi would have to be the part where he has gone blind from malnutrition and he happens to stumble upon another castaway adrift in the ocean on a lifeboat. I liked how he starts out thinking that he is hallucinating and talking to himself about food and then goes to thinking that Richard Parker is the one speaking because the voice that he hears starts to talk about meat. From there, he realizes that there is another person. I enjoyed how the Frenchman tricks Pi into thinking that he is also blind so that he could board Pi's boat and consume him, but is blocked by a very hungry tiger that sort of needs Pi in order to keep on living himself. I was not too keen on Pi eating a few bits of the Frenchman, but I do not really blame him since he needed the food in order to survive himself. We should ask Yann Martel about what inspired him to start writing and how he is able to fit his words in his stories so that they add as much realism as they do.
Johnson 1
There are many things about Life Of Pi that interested me. The most interesting thing to me is how he goes into so much detail. Even describing a certain time of day like a sunset can turn into a whole page of descriptive words which really gives the reader the idea of what is going on at the time. I also like how he uses animals in his book. Having a person in place for Richard Parker would not be as cool and also not as fun. Richard Parker the tiger also invokes a sense of fear in both Pi and the reader throughout the whole book because we don't know if Richard Parker could snap anytime and kill or if he is going to stay chilled out. I wanna ask Yann Martel why he decided to use the animal story instead of supposed a person vs person story? Was it because it wasn't as savage and was easier to write with animals? Or did it give the story a whole different meaning?
As I read Life of Pi, I found numerous parts to be very intriguing. To name one, Pi was going blind when he believed he was speaking with Richard Parker, an obviously impossible idea. As it hinted at the end of the book, Richard Parker was said to be a symbolic figment of his imagination. The mere fact that someone in such a dangerous and emotionally fragile state is beyond my bounds of understanding. Pi convincing himself that he was having a full conversation with a Bengal tiger helped to shape the plot and portrayed just how much he had lost his mind being stranded in that lifeboat. I have a strong interest in psychology so the thought of the human mind being able to fabricate such an idea and thought process is absolutely insane in my opinion. As for what we should ask when we skype Yann Martel, I believe it would be wise to ask him about the religious aspect of the story. Religion played a very prominent part in the story as well as in molding Pi’s lifestyle and personality. As I was reading an article online, there is a theory that Richard Parker was symbolic of religion in itself. Pi was not only fearful of Richard Parker but found comfort in his presence. This theory would make sense because of Pi’s intense reliance on religion he had grown into.
Frantzen 1
Choosing my favorite part from the Life of Pi is a very difficult thing to do. So many parts strike me as interesting and soon become my favorite. If I had to choose on part of the book that is my favorite is when Pi is trying to tame Richard Parker. Now if Richard Parker is a real tiger then this part of the story is incredibly fascinating. Pi knows so much about animals because he grew up in the zoo that staying with Richard Parker is almost good for him. It gave him company once he tamed RIchard Parker. Reading how Pi tamed him was very interesting. How he used food, his whistle, and being more dominant to tame the tiger. I can't wait to skype Yann Patel so we can ask him some quesitons about this book. I would really like to know more about this tooth so we could ask him something about that. Another question I would like to ask is how did this story come into your head?
Harvison 1
My favorite part of Life of Pi is how Yann Martel leaves the ending open to discussion. I usually hate books that have endings similar to this one, one that makes you decide what happened. However, with this book, I found that my feelings about the ending were different. I was perfectly alright with Yann Martel leaving the reader with two stories so that they themselves could figure out which one to believe. The reason I say this is because Yann Martel provides us (the reader) with plenty of evidence to use to make our decision, and regardless of which story you believe, you can make a valid argument defending why you believe one and not the other. I think an interesting question to ask him would be to ask which story (if he was a reader like one of us) would he prefer, the one with or without the tiger.
Poncelet 2
There are many parts about the book Life of Pi that I love. My very favorite part in the novel is when Pi bumps into the “Frenchman” and they talk about foot and eating boots or cigarettes and what they enjoy eating the most and why. I am a big food fanatic so I could correlate and comprehend with what they are speaking of. When the frenchman jumps aboard with Pi and lunges at his throat I knew that the tables have been turned. Pi Patel was once again the hunted. Then out of nowhere Richard parker leaps out from under the boat and rips the frenchman's head clean off with one swipe of his paw like knocking a mannequins head clean off. To me, this was the most exciting and interesting part of the book because it had the most action and the turning of Pi Patel into a “cannibal”, so he said. This is my favorite part of the book. I believe we should ask him why he added that Pi was a cannibal in his book?
2 Cushing
My favorite part about Life of Pi is the very end when he reveals the second story. Throughout the entire novel I was just fine with how the book was going along. When they hyena kills the Orangutan and the zebra, I was think no big deal, this is what animals do. Then as the book continues the reader begins to see parallels between animals and humans. When the fish jump over the boat and both Richard parker and Pi seemed to grab them for there life. They also both have to compete for dominance, although this is a battle that Pi wins. Then in the end we see that each of those animals were humans. It is amazing to how it was okay when it is animals but when it is humans your perspective on the entire novel changes. This was one of the most interesting books I have read in the sense of how it made me feel.
My favorite part in the novel Life of Pi would be when Pi discovers the algae island. It was such an interesting part to read. It was filled with hope and happiness for Pi. When you first read it, you think that Pi has finally received some good luck. He gets some fresh water and some food. But when you actually analyze it you realize that the island is a hallucination and can represent multiple different things. The island could represent heaven, as Pi is slowly dying, or it could represent Pi trying to cope with his actions of cannibalism. Whatever the true meaning it was a fantastic part to read and really made my mind think about the purpose of it all. I want to ask Yann Martel how he came up with this idea of this story. It is extremely clever to have the animals actually represent real people while giving it to us in a plausible way that makes it seem real.
2 Sonju
Life of Pi was a book that was hard to put down. It is hard to pick out my favorite part. I think one of my favorites is chapter 54, which is the chapter I chose for my chapter analysis essay. Chapter 54 includes a list of Pi’s plans to get rid of Richard Parker. When I was first reading this chapter, I assumed that this was truly Pi trying to get rid of a real tiger that was on his lifeboat. After reading to the end of the book and realizing that there may or may not have been animals on the boat, I see the chapter as a list of options for suicide. Reading the options through and putting Pi in Richard Parker’s place makes the whole story much sadder and less enjoyable. I think it is very interesting that Martel is telling this story inside a story. I would want to ask him how he got the inspiration to create such a well thought out, unique story. Why create a character that practices three religions? Did he anticipate such great success for this book?
Brown 2
My favorite part of Life of Pi was when he was deciding which of the three religions was the one he wished to pursue, and he chose all of them. I believe that this decision-making process is symbolic of all conflict on Earth, and how it can be resolved when people come to realize there is not only a single answer to complex problems. Each of the three holy men tries to force Pi to give up the other two religions because it is impossible to practice all three at once, but Pi combats it with the perspective of he is “just trying to love God”. I enjoyed that the perspective shift during this section of the novel. I believe we should ask Yann Martel about the mindset that he forced himself into in order to create such a novel. I do not fully comprehend the ability to write in such an intricate fashion with as many perspective altering events, and I hope he would be able to enlighten me on his writing.
Yann Martel's Life of Pi is unlike any novel I have ever read before. The imagery is exquisite. I was able to imagine every scene, every animal, every drop of seawater. My reading style is quite compatible with Martel's writing; I almost always end up placing myself in a third-person viewpoint, watching the protagonist. The abundance of imagery only facilitates this more.
As for my favorite part, I think I would have to select the section towards the beginning when Pi is exploring his religions. I, like many others, have only ever followed one religion. Some people may change religions throughout their lives, but I have never heard of one following more than one religion at once. It is a strange concept, yet it is extremely intriguing and adds a great deal to the story.
I think we should ask Martel what kind of a lifestyle he leads, with writing being his only career. I also think we should ask him about his opinion on the differences between the movie and the book.
Huntimer 2
My favorite part of Life of Pi is the imagery that Yann Martel uses to describe his story. From the zoo to the Algae island, Martel describes the scenery and wildlife that perfectly paints a picture in your head. Some books could over describe the landscapes; however, Martel describes Pi’s surroundings in an interesting way that benefits the plot. The unique way the book was written also provided reading to be interesting. The interactive writing style between the interviewer and Pi Patel was a tactic that caused the plot to flow and also confused readers into thinking it was actually a nonfiction novel. The ending also left the reader wondering what the real story was: the animals or the humans were on the lifeboat. For the video call, I have a few questions for Yann Martel. How did he invent such an amazing book and how did he get the inspiration? How did he come up with the symbolism and metaphors that was in the book?
Kirkeby 2
Yann Martel's Life of Pi is by far the best book we have read this year so far, and I believe it will be difficult to beat. My favorite part of the entire book is the island. The island fascinates me with the amount of detail and uniqueness. I find it had to believe that this island exists but there is no doubt that this kind of island is most definitely possible. During our conversation with Martel, I would like to know what inspired him for this island. Did he research botany intensely or did it simply come from his head? In the movie, the visual special effects on the island are very good and entertaining. The other question I have is how much did he do on the movie? Was he always on set in order to watch over it or did he give the director free reign? Did he make decisions on what went into the movie and what did not?
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the part when they are on the island. I thought the entire part was very interesting. They were able to find meerkats for Richard Parker to eat, and they had endless vegetation for Pi to eat. I also thought it was very unique how the island was carnivorous. I have heard of carnivorous plants here and there, but never an entire island. I think it was placed perfectly in the book because it gave both Pi and the readers hope. If Pi would not have found the island then he may have given up and let himself die. The same goes for the readers. There is only so much that can happen when you are reading a book about a person on a lifeboat. When they were on the island it added some flavor to the story. One question I think we should ask Yann Martel is “which story he believes?”.
I think my favorite life of pi was the ending when he was giving his story to the Japanese men. I just found it interesting how they thought it was completely impossible for his story with the tiger to be true. They tried to point out the flaws in the story but never proved that it could never happen. I also found it very cool the telling of the second story. You got to rethink the entire story you just read and piece it back together to match the new story being told. I also got a kick out of how the story with humans that was virtually the same was found to be more believable. I think it would be cool to ask why he made the parallel to the second story. Because in my opinion the book still would have been good with just the story of a boy surviving on the Pacific with a tiger. But the fact that he made a whole second story with humans and made them the same story was cool.
Life of Pi is probably my favorite book that I have read this far. My favorite part of this book is when you find out the real story of Pi on the lifeboat and get to decide which story you wish to believe. It also made me think a lot about the whole entire book when I was finished, trying to connect the animal story to the people story. I like the idea of not knowing all the specific in the story and allowing your imagination to decide what happened. I also really enjoyed the chapter length as it invited me to keep reading and focus on just a couple of pages at a time. If I were to ask Yann Martel any questions I would ask how he was able to form one hundred chapters full of content that was useful to the story. I also would be curious why he didn’t end the book with Pi in present day talking to the author writing a book.
DeWitt 1
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the very last part. It took me less than 10 minutes to devour that section. I was so enamored by the thought that everything I had just read could be a complete lie that I sped through that section. Truthfully, I didn't know that this book was fiction. For some reason, I completely put all the discussions about the book not being a true story out of my mind. However, I think that my thought process made the book a lot more interesting and overall more amazing when I found out my thinking was incorrect. I thought the author in the book was actually Yann Martel talking himself. When I found out this was false, I sat in awe of the brilliance of this book. The book made me believe in the impossible as if it were real, then made me wish it was real. I was amazed at how an author could compose a story that was so unbelievably believable to make someone like me believe it to be true. I think Life of Pi is the only book I think is truly a composition and not just a story. With other books, the words seem to me as if they are just a story. Yes, all books have a sort of thought process behind them that makes them composed but this book cannot be called a story. The art behind the book that made it so believable is nothing sort of amazing. It is a brilliantly composed story that changed the way I will look at fiction forever. It has changed the way I look at authors forever. The way Yann Martel wrote this book made me fall in love with books even more and will have me looking at how books are written more. Instead of just reading the story, I will be looking for the level of brilliance that Yann Martel put into his writing.
My favorite part of Life of Pi is towards the beginning of the story when Pi’s dad threatens the boys with the tiger feeding. I thought this part was humorous, but at the same time a great lesson with learning about tigers. It showed how the dad was trying to threaten the boys with staying away from the tigers. But, Pi’s mom did not approve of the lesson the father was trying to get across in the story. This part was my favorite because it is something most fathers do is to try and prove a point by either showing what occurs or just using it as a threat. When we skype Yann Martel we should ask him why he put the story in this order versus leaving the interview until after the boat occurrence. Also, why are the chapter lengths differing because I feel that he did it for a purpose, but I am not able to figure out why.
Geringer 1
My favorite part of Life of Pi is when Pi discovers the island. As a reader, I was able to almost feel the same relief Pi felt when seeing the island. I have also been a huge fan of meerkats since I watched the lion king when I was little, so it made me happy to read about the meerkats. The island is also extremely interesting to me with the way it is fertile during the day, but then deadly during the night. It makes me wonder how Yann Martel came up with such a thing if he came up with it at all. If plants that eat flies and rats exist then why can’t islands that eat anything it kills also exist? I find the island extremely fascinating and wish I could read more about it. I also like how Martel chose to have Pi leave the island in search of his “own kind”, it makes us realize just how truly brave Pi is even after all these obstacles he has overcome.
Ackerman 5
My favorite part of Life of Pi would be when Pi imagines the algae island. I think this is my favorite part because I feel as if he finds some sort of peace while he’s imagining this island. The whole boat experience has been utter panic and chaos for him and I think he finally relaxes a little bit when he imagines the island. I think he finds some peace during the hallucination because he is imagining that he’s eating and he has all the water and fish he could possibly want, which could easily create a peace of mind for Pi Patel. Another thing that I would consider my favorite part of Life of Pi would be just the storytelling overall. I think Martel did a very good job letting Pi tell his story throughout the novel and wrote emotions that one who had gone through that traumatic of an experience would create. I think we should ask Yann Martel why he decided to make Pi’s ID a tiger, and not a different animal. I understand that Pi grew up in a zoo but there could have been many other options to choose from than a tiger.
My favorite part of Life of Pi would probably be when the flying fish first showed up. I think that it was entertaining the way the Pi reacted to it at first. He thought the Richard Parker had struck him, and that he was getting ready to finish him off. He soon realized that it was just a flying fish, and not Richard Parker. Both himself and the tiger were surprised to see a fish flopping on the deck. They were soon engulfed in a storm of flying fish, and Richard Parker was swatting at them as they flew by. I can think of a couple of questions to ask Yann when we skype with him. The first one that comes to mind would be to ask the significance of the dorado that splattered against the fishing net, why Pi remembered that one in particular. The second question I would like to ask would be why only one of the trees on the island bore the fruit, why didn't the rest of them?
Spencer 5
My favorite part of the book is when he is telling the stories at the end. It makes a person really think of who the characters in the boat really are and how Pi has two different personalities. I also enjoyed when Pi was trying to figure out a way to get rid of Richard Parker of the lifeboat. One thing I do wonder about is why did he tell two stories, why couldn’t he leave it with it either was animals or humans on the boat. It would make it less confusing, but then I guess it wouldn’t give the story the same impact or influence it has on people. I also wonder about the island on the book and what it actually means even though we talked about it in class. The discussion left a lot to be desired. The book was wonderful to read but still needs some things to be explained.
Peyton 5
My favorite part in The Life of Pi is the end. The end where we figure out that all of this did not actually happen. We find out that Richard Parker is really Pi and the other animals represent other humans in his life like his mother. When I found this out I went back and thought about everything that really happened. The thing that grossed me out was in the book he eats Richard Parker's feces and now that we know he is Richard Parker we know that it is his own feces he is eating. Also, the monkey gets decapitated and we learn that it is really his mother, so he witnessed his mom getting her head cut off. The most intriguing thing about this though, is that Richard Parker is the savage side of Pi and he has to learn how to live and deal with it. This blows my mind that Martell did this all and connected it in the end.
Alex Kolbeck
Yann Martell has written my favorite novel this year and it was very difficult choosing a favorite part. Nonetheless, my choice is when Pi is training Richard Parker and asserting his dominance. His trial and error with the turtle shell defense show so much about his character and tenacity. I loved seeing him continue to learn from his mistakes while also becoming braver as he continued to train him. While the training is my favorite part, it comes to a cumulation during my absolute favorite paragraph. I consider it in the same boat as the training even if it does not fall within the same pages. The goal of his training is for Richard Parker to be subservient to Pi so Pi can live safely on the boat with him. Richard Parker, the fully grown tiger, backed down from Pi when a Dorado jumped onto the boat and landed on Pi. For Pi to stare down his companion and win the mental battle, it shows the success of his efforts in the most satisfying way.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was the island story. This story greatly intrigued me when I first read it because I was confused if it was real or not. But then after reading further and finding out that the animal story was all fake, the island story became even more interesting when trying to figure out the truth in it. To me, the island was Pi’s way of coping with his cannibalism and the trauma he had gone through trying to survive. The description was vivid and led me to believe the island was a corpse and could have been one in a dream or hallucination. Some questions I think we should ask Yann Martel would be how he designed and decided to put insight such as the italics as another author. This part of the book was incredibly interesting to read and I think would be a confusing way to write, as another author in the story.
Alex Kolbeck Part 2
I also want to ask Yann Martell about his decision-making process with choosing the animals that Pi is stranded with. It seems natural that Pi is stuck with a tiger during the novel after you read it, and I cannot imagine being stuck with any other animal. I am interested in how Martell chose his animals based on traits and symbolism that can be found within each animal.
In the Life of Pi, the book goes through the story of a young man who is stranded in the ocean on a lifeboat with a tiger. While reading this novel, I took everything said as accurate to the events. After Pi was rescued, he told of his story while he was on the sea. He told about all the trials he went through to stay alive. The men who he told the story to did not believe him. Since they did not believe him, Pi made up another version of the story without animals. He told about how he was stranded with his mom and a cook. This was my favorite part of the story because it makes your heart drop in the realization of how Pi’s story is an entire metaphor. The personality and events that happened in each story matched perfectly to one another. The chef is the hyena, the orangutan is Pi’s mother, and the Tiger is Pi. This is my favorite part because it demonstrates how the novel was so well written to make the readers point of view change instantly.
Questions to ask:
What inspired you to write this novel?
Which version of the story do most people accept to be true?
Who is the corpse (island)?
My favorite part in Life of Pi is when we hear the human version of Pi’s journey. It created a completely new perspective for me, and I was able to see the relation the animals had with the people. There were so many underlying similarities, such as their behavior, motives, and characteristics. Throughout the novel, I was lead to believe the animal story, because it was told so descriptively. Although it seems far fetched, it is not impossible. After learning the human story, I had to rethink his entire journey. It is interesting that the author adds this in the end after telling an entire story with animals. I feel that it is almost hard to accept the new story because I became attached to the original. After reading hundreds of pages about the animal story, he wants you to believe a “more realistic” story. Even though it is meant to be that way, the investigators still prefer the animal one. Pi may have made up the original to protect himself, and that is the same reason the investigators believe it as well. When talking with Yann Martel, I would like to ask him about his religious views. Religion plays such an interesting part of this novel, and I think it would be nice to know Martel’s reasoning for that. I would also like to know how he developed the italic chapters and why he decided to add that aspect.
Ellingson 5
On Wednesday, we should ask Yann Martel what he was going through when he wrote this book. Was he searching for God and needed a life-changing experience like Pi did? There has to be some connection between him and Pi Patel. Another intriguing question to ask him would be: “If you were to be any character in Life of Pi, who would you be (besides the author)?” This book is amazingly detailed and makes you think if something could be true or not. Honestly, when I was first reading, I thought this book was a real story. When I kept studying it in class, I understood how unreal it has to be; however, I was still questioning myself and the truth. My favorite part of the whole book is when we finally figured out that Richard Parker was inside Pi. Truly amazing and something I would never think of. I was confused with the whole book until we discovered the true meaning of the tiger.
Betanzo 1
My favorite part of the novel is the religious journey that Pi goes on, unintentionally, in part one of the novel. The reason I love this part of the novel so much is that I never knew it was possible for someone to practice three religions at one time. Knowing myself and how religion correlates with my life, I, sometimes, find it difficult to practice and hold on to the religious beliefs that I was raised by and told to believe. To me, it doesn’t matter what religion you practice, and I actually applaud the people who are courageous enough to die for practicing the religion in which they actually do. One question I would have to ask Martel is why he chose Pi to believe and practice three religions? Throughout the novel, Pi keeps a hold on religion and still continues to pray when he’s on the lifeboat. It amazes how he never gives up or questions his religious beliefs. The reason I want to ask Martel as to why Pi practices three religions is that Pi only needs to practice one religion in order to keep his faith if he was going to continuing praying and talking to God. I don’t understand why there was a need for Martel to make Pi practice three.
Olthoff 5
While reading the Life of Pi, there were many scenes that I really enjoyed. One scene that I liked was the part at the beginning when Pi was in front of his classmates sticking up for himself about his name. This shows his inner strength which will be prevalent throughout the rest of the story. Another part of Life of Pi that I enjoyed very much and I think helped to shape the book is in the beginning when Pi’s father teaches Pi and his brother the lesson about respecting animals. I think that this is a really cool example of foreshadowing because while Pi is on the boat with Richard Parker, he uses this lesson to help his survive. I have many questions for Yann Martel. My biggest question is how he came up with the format of the book? The format of the book helped to bring the book together for a better understanding and it is a very unique format.
Erck 5
My favorite part of the LIfe of Pi book is at the very end when we begin to piece every part of the book together. In the beginning of the book I never would have imagined that this entire book would have been like this and led up to this. It is very interesting in the way that Pi has two different personalities, one being his culturally distinguished self, and one being the savagery that has been thrust upon him during this time of survival—but he has always had, just hidden. Parts of the book are confusing because it does distinguish Richard Parker as a different person and Pi as a different person, but at the end, we have found a way to connect the two at various points in the book. I want to ask him how we ever got the idea for the novel, which inspired him to write it, and how he began to write the book and include the parallel while writing it. There are lots of questions that need to be answered and explained because we are left on a bit of a cliff hanger with some of the statements in the novel.
Laabs 5
I really enjoyed the thought of the whole story being an illusion. Thinking that it was just a metaphor for him being in trauma was cool to think about. There are many many great aspects of the book and it is hard to choose just one to write about. One thing that I liked about the book was the progression of Richard Parkers and Pi’s relationship throughout the book. It started out as fear coming from Pi and it progressed into Richard Parker fearing him enough to obey the whistle commands. A small Indian boy was able to tame a tiger with only a whistle and his wit. Pi goes through so much anguish and pain but he survives through all of it. He conquered the tiger whether in reality or symbolically and came out of everything still alive. I believe that this book is really well crafted and the story is amazing.
Burchill 5
I've been very impressed with Life of Pi and the books we have been reading in general in this class because they are all extremely challenging to my morals and don't have what I want to happen in the book happen. Early on in the discussion about Life of Pi, the idea was brought up about how the story about animals could not be true at all. I did not want to believe that could be the case, and it challenged me to accept the true story of Pi when I was so hooked onto the false story. I was also very challenged to accept or reject or not care at all about Pi's strange religious beliefs, and just the fact that he believed in everything was just so powerful to so many readers of this book of really any background. I did think it was kind of dumb that although the religion part was very stressed at the beginning of the book, it did not carry on and be as important later through all of the time on the lifeboat and onward. We could ask Yann Martel why Pi's religion was so important at the beginning of the book when it didn't do much during his time on the lifeboat, or maybe I'm missing something that it did cause. I saw a lot more stress on his being a vegetarian than being 3 religions. I would like to know why Yann Martel got the idea of this story, why he made Pi have three religions, and what sort of religious beliefs that he has today.
My favorite part of Life Of Pi is when Richard Parker is walking through the meerkats. Both him and Pi have been without food for so long, and his natural instincts are coming out. In the movie just the scene before he is a tame animal resting his head on Pi. However, in the next scene he is killing meerkats left and right as his killing instincts come back out. When we skype with Yann Martel I want to ask him which religion he practices, or if he identifies with Pi in any religion aspects. He is able to explain all of them so perfectly in his book and I’m curious as to which religion he truly practices. I also want to ask him if he has ever changed anyone’s mind about which story is the real story, and which one he truly believes in. Life of Pi was an incredible book and I’m thrilled to be able to skype with such a talented author.
By far, I found the meeting with the Osaka representatives to be the most enjoyable section of the novel. Just as with the ending of Golding’s Lord of the Flies, Martel artfully infuses another layer of meaning into Life of Pi with the introduction of the second story. I grappled with many different interpretations of the ultimatum presented, finally settling on the one message I found the most fitting: religion (the animal story) functions as a coping mechanism for the harsh truths of the world (the human–the one that I believe is true–story). Ironically, while this idea was the one I found most fitting, I strongly disagree with the notion of it. I would like to ask Yann how the religious themes of his novel would react to situations where religion is the root of these harsh realities, where a conflict between people is fueled by religious zealotry. How would Martel feel about the violence between Hindus and Muslims during the Partition of India, for example?
My favorite part of the book is when Pi reaches an island made out of algae that is in the shape of a human. This is my favorite part because it uses the device of imagery to depict a beautiful island that has a carnivore side to it. This part also leaves so much mystery that it's hard to unpack it all without having to read through it more than once. We talked about in class how Pi could have eaten the French man and this island is just a figment of his regret since he is a vegetarian. One question that I will ask Yann Martel is what his inspiration was for making the book and what pushed him to keep writing it? I will also ask if there was something that he didn't intend to have a deeper meaning but some readers thought that it had some other meaning?
Vogel 1
My favorite part of Life of Pi is the fact about the way you get to pick what you believe whatever version of the story that you want to believe. This is really nice, because if you want to believe that he would not ever be able to find a random person that happens to be a hungry cannibal and then to also find an island that is life providing in the day and a cannibal island at night. This version would also need you to be able to believe that no one made it off the ship, but a few animals and Pi. Though this is hard to believe and it may be easier to believe that Pi was not alone, but his mother, a sailor, and the chef made it off the boat into the life raft, but then Pi was at sea all alone for awhile and watched the cannibal chef kill the sailor and ate a little and he also killed Pi’s mother, but the nicer one in truth is the animals on, but you also have to consider that it is easier to believe the one with the humans. My favorite part the novel Life of Pi is the way that you can pick which version is the better on to believe.
My favorite part of Life of Pi was getting the authors perspective. I enjoyed this because it gave the readers a perspective that we rarely receive and it allowed us to truly understand how Pi felt about what he was telling. When Pi was telling the story you were informed of some of the emotions but never truly understood the full emotions behind the story until the author was narrating. When the author wrote the reader was able to know exactly what Pi’s face and body language were. You also got to know what Pi’s life was like after the event. Knowing that he still practiced three religions, studied zoology and religion, and had a wife and kids allowed the readers to get to know who Pi really was. One of my questions for Yann Martel is how was he able to write chapters out of order and still allow the reader to understand what was occurring? Also how many times, if any, did the un-orderliness of the novel end up confusing him or the people assisting him in creating this book.
Ziegeldorf 7
My favorite Life of Pi scene would have to be the moment that Richard Parker was about to attack Pi but Pi looked directly into his eyes and causes Richard Parker to back down. It gave me chills. I think this is a very powerful scene and it shows the bond that has formed between lion and tamer and the mutual understanding between the two. Before this happens, the author writes, "Suddenly his brute strength meant only moral weakness." This is a great line in my opinion. It shows that not only does physical prowess determine power and influence, but mental strength does as well. This is the point, it seems, when Pi has completely asserted his dominance over Richard Parker. Pi has to do this to stay alive on the lifeboat. After this moment occurs, Pi begins to gain more territory of the lifeboat and sees Richard Parker as less of a threat. He even resorts to going under the tarpaulin with Richard Parker during a storm. I enjoyed this scene and viewed it as a very powerful event in the story.
Keegan 1
I think Life of Pi included many interesting things. One of which was the way that Yann Martel used Richard Parker as a symbol of Pi's savage side. I never realized it until the end of the book when he is the telling the other story and then when we talked about it in class it made it even more clear. I also think it was very unique of Yann Martel used two different narrators to tell the story. The way the chapters transitioned from the writer talking about Pi to Pi himself actually telling the story really made the book flow well and helped it all come together. My favorite park in the book would have to be the part when Pi finds the island. This section of the book really gets you thinking because some believe it was real and some do not which I think really adds a fun side to the book. Also, when he is talking to the French man and the French guy tries to kill him but Richard Parker saves him is really cool. If I could ask Martel a question it would be why choose to write a story with animals instead of people? Did it seem more humane and easier to write because it was a hyena killing the orangutan instead of cook killing the mother or did it just add to the more mysteriousness of the book?
Personally, my favorite part of the book is the whole time on the island made of algae. The entire time Pi and Richard Parker were on this island, I felt very anxious because I knew something had to be wrong. The way that Martel built tension without even having to foreshadow that the island is carnivorous is absolutely amazing. The more things that went right, like both him and Richard Parker having an endless food source, the more knew it was gonna come crashing down. Not only that but just the idea of this floating acidic ball of algae is very unnerving and interesting at the same time. Also, in retrospect, the possibility that the island could just be some sort of coping mechanism for him eating the cook makes the section all the more interesting. We should ask Yann Martel which story he prefers because Pi makes such a big deal of this question. He probably prefers the one with the tiger because he wrote a whole book about it, but it could be interesting. I would also like to ask him what he thought of the movie.
Eichelberg 5
Life of Pi is one of my favorite books I have been required to read for class. Although it still has the writing skill of any books within the literary canon, it has a contemporary feeling to it that draws readers in and keeps their interest peaked throughout the novel. My favorite part of this book was the imagery that was heavily utilized by Yann Martel. Being able to visualize specific events when reading is the only way that books can compete with the entertainment of movies. Without this crucial aspect of storytelling, a book would be incomplete and unappealing to most audiences. In my opinion, the best kind of book is one that describes such a fascinating narrative that one forgets they are reading a novel. A book that allows readers to delve into the world of the characters is one that immediately captures my attention, a task Life of Pi had no difficulty achieving. One question we should ask Martel during our Skype meeting is why he chose to leave the true story ambiguous. Does he believe that the reader’s opinion added to their own interpretation of and significance found in the novel? How does ambiguity serve to add something to the story he wrote?
My favorite part of Life of Pi has got to be the transformation of Pi’s young, adventurous mind into a cracked, survivalistic mind. I think that the transformation is very interesting and shows how far one truly will go when their life is on the line. I believe that when you replace the animals in the story with real humans, this transformation becomes so much more complex and difficult to understand. I respect Martel and how he decided to write the book, truly genius. I think that we should ask him if he knew when he started writing the book that he was going to replace the animals with humans at the very end. Also, I think that we should ask him how this book related to his own life when he was writing it and how he expected it to relate to other people’s lives? If it would at all?
Grode 2
In the novel, Life of Pi, there are many good parts that not only provide the reader with entertainment but also many parts that make the reader think. My favorite part of the novel is when Pi finds the island. He thinks he is saved and will never have to leave. This is not the case, however. He comes to realize that the island has a dark secret. He finds teeth in the leaves, and he figures out that this island is carnivorous. The island is, in fact, a figment of Pi’s imagination. He creates this island to cope with his savage ways. I like this part of the book because it shows just how hard it was for Pi to deal with eating meat, and more importantly, human meat. When we skype Yann Martel, I think we should ask him what lens he used to write the novel, if any. I think it would be interesting getting the perspective of an accredited author on literary theory and devises.
Life of Pie was one of the most interesting novels that I have ever read. It included various situations that proved to be puzzling as well as enlightening. Of all of these influences, my favorite would have to be the time that Pi spent on the carnivorous island. When Pi arrives it is as if he has found paradise. However, he soon realizes that what he first found to be paradise could actually be the death of him. This realization of a false paradise is one that I feel a lot of people can relate with. Some people try their whole lives to find that paradise but never find it. They chase after the things of this world thinking it will satisfy when in the end it can destroy them. Richard Parker seems to realize this faster than Pi does which could also mean that the savage side of us may be less savage and more aware of danger than we may realize.
Life of Pi was a close second for favorite books we read (behind Cuckoo's Nest of course). It was interesting, sad at times, and just a high-quality book overall. There were so many cool parts to choose from that this is a really hard question. However, if I had to choose it would be the part with the French man showing up to kill Pi. I found it really cool the way that both Pi and the Tiger are blind. It adds a lot of suspense and leaves much up for interpretation. Was it just Pi going insane? Was there actually a Frenchman? Was Richard Parker real? Is Pi, Richard Parker? It's just a super cool part of the story that you do not really understand exactly what is going on. Related to that, I kind of want to ask Yann whether that whole part of the book actually happened. I do not think he will give me a start answer honestly. Authors tend to leave lots of things up for interpretation and I think that was the intention of that section of the book.
Rau 1
My favorite part of Life of Pi would have to be when Pi landed in a mysterious, carnivorous island that seemed botanically impossible at first— from the entirety of freshwater algae that holds the island together, to the excessive population of meerkats. As Pi further explored the island, I found it to be very interesting how Yann Martel described the island in ways that made the reader question whether or not this was reality or imagination. In other words, could this setting and possibility of finding an island have been merely a figment of the imagination simply because it was a scenario most desirable to believe in? For example, when Pi found a wisdom tooth within a ball of leaves in the tree he resided in, he had come to the realization that deep down, he did not want to waste away on the island, forgotten. No, the tooth gave him the reborn motivation to keep surviving— to keep on floating through the Pacific for the slim chance of finding civilization instead. For me, the probability of finding an island like this along with the “wisdom” of the tooth may have seemed impossible, but my mind wanted to believe in such a light-hearted story anyway. The realistic thought that the meerkats could actually be maggots and the island could represent him giving up on surviving hadn’t surfaced into my mind. Whether each story is the truth or not, the very idea of both worlds existing is very intriguing to me. I hope that when we call Mr. Martel, I would have the chance to ask him: “Have you ever preferred one story of the other?” Or furthermore, I would ask: “What inspires you to transform these descriptive thoughts into words?”
(I apologize, I forgot to turn this in on Thursday)
2 Eifert
My favorite part of the novel Life of Pi is at the end when Pi is talking to the men about what happened when the ship sank. He talks to them in such a polite manner which shows that he has not lost his civilized part of him. The men though do not sympathize him in a way that you would imagine they should due to horrible experience Pi has just gone through. The conversation that they have about doubting Pi's story about the animals, and forcing him to come up with one that was more logical by making the animals human, this is the part that is my favorite. At the same time this part really makes me upset, and angry with Martel, the author, because I did not want to think that this story could be anymore awful for Pi than it already was. I want to believe that it was a Tiger, zebra, orangutan, and a hyena; But that is too hard to believe. On the other hand though it is too sad to believe that these were humans, and that humans could treat each other so horrible when put in a life or death situation. The ending was my favorite part because it brought out all the emotions that I had throughout the book, and really made me over look every situation that Pi went through. I am thinking that I will reread this book again just because I want to analyze each chapter again with the thought in my mind that these are humans and not animals. I am curious what more connections I can see to make sense if this were humans, or animals. One question I have for the author is what inspired him to come up with such an amazing, and mind bottling story.
My favorite part of the novel is at the very end when Pi makes up a different story that did not involve animals. He talked about real people that were on the lifeboat instead of animals, and it really made me question what really could have happened. I find it interesting that Yaan Martel uses 300 or so pages describing how a young boy survived on a lifeboat alongside an adult male Bengal tiger but then brings the whole novel into question within that last few chapters. Both stories make complete senes and there is no way to verify either story. This leaves the decision up to the reader. I also like the abundance of imagery and symbolism used throughout the novel that hints at underlying information. Martel placed everything in the novel for a specific reason which would take an enormous amount of consideration and thought.
Campbell 7
My favorite part in the novel was how he had prepared for the storms, and held on during the storms. When Pi had read the manuals and used his instincts to build things such as the raft. How he would tie to sail together, take all of the goods off the raft and put them in the boat before the waves hit. Another fascinating part was the carnivorous island full of meerkats. It was cool seeing the image he had seen with an empty pool of crystal clear water that he began to drink and bathe from. It was cool to use my literary lenses in seeing the eye, and body shape of the island. I also, think it was very unique of Yann Martel used two different narrators to tell the story. The way the chapters transitioned from the writer talking about Pi to Pi himself actually telling the story really made the book flow well and helped it all come together
Christensen 5
I really enjoyed reading Life of Pi and it was a lot better than I expected it to be. It definitely exceeded my expectations. Thinking back on the book, my favorite part was the ending. The ending was my favorite part because it left me thinking and contemplating the meaning of the book. I tend to like endings that I don’t like. That does not really make the most sense but I tend to like endings that frustrate me. Those types of endings are the best because they make you feel something and they make you think more about the book.
When we Skype with Yann Martel, I would like to ask him what his inspiration was for the book and if he can relate to Pi Patel in any way. I would also like to ask him if there is any particular reason that he chose to use a tiger to symbolize the animalistic side of Pi.
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