A Summary of “Life of Pi”

For those who haven’t read “Life of Pi”, here’s my short summary. Before going onto the analysis of the story, I thought it would be helpful to summarize the plot.

The narrative starts off with a narrator who explains his travel from Canada to India. The narrator meets a man named Francis Adirubasamy who tells him a story that would make him believe in God. The narrative then goes into the story itself. This story is about a boy named Pi Patel in Pondicherry. He is an enthusiastic character who lives with his parents and his brother, Ravi.

Part One is narrated by Pi. Pi looks back at this earlier life as a boy in Pondicherry and as a high school and college student in Toronto. He gives a great explanation on religion in the beginning of the novel. He then talks about Francis Adirubasamy who is a swimming champion and taught him to swim. Pi is then named as Piscine Molitor, which Piscine is French for a pool. Pi’s father ran a Zoo in Pondicherry, which evoked Pi’s interest in zoology, and he starts raising animals. He was born as a Hindu, becomes interested in Christianity and later decides to practice Islam as well.

The narrative takes shape when Pi’s parents decide to move to Canada; they travel on a cargo ship with all the zoo animals. Part two of the novel begins with the journey to Canada where the ship starts sinking. The narrative continues as Pi explains the madness that took place while the boat was sinking and his life at sea for 7 months. His family is taken up by the storm and the animals start killing each other and only he and Richard Parker, a tiger he starts training survive. Pi temporarily becomes blind due to dehydration and another blind man on the boat tries to attack Pi but Richard Parker kills the blind man and saves Pi. Soon after, they come upon an island where Pi and Richard Parker stay for the night. After becoming aware of the dangers in the Island, Richard Parker and Pi head back to the sea and later come to a Mexican sea shore where Richard Parker runs away and Pi is taken to the hospital by two men who ask him about his experience at sea. The men don’t believe his surviving story so Pi tells an alternative story instead.

Life of Pi…A good one indeed!

After hearing so many wonderful comments on the Life of Pi, I was very excited to read this novel by Yann Martel. After flipping over the very last page of this novel, I was stunned by Yann Martel’s storytelling approach. This was an adventurous narrative that tied together the philosophy of life and religious beliefs together in a captivating manner.

The author starts off by promising “a story that will make you believe in God”. Whether by the end of the narrative, you liked or disliked this novel or became a follower of Yann Martel’s philosophy of life and religion, one must admit that this novel is a true masterpiece of storytelling. Thus, the first point I would like to address is the narrative of the novel. While reading this novel, it sounded so original that I believed it was a true story but after research, I was disappointed to find that it was a fiction but was still not convinced.

A clear theme in this novel was Religion. Religion played a great role all through out this story. Pi was born as a Hindu and later converts to Christianity and follows Islam as well. From my experience of living in India, I can say that it is one of the few countries in the world where there are followers of many religions. Many of the holidays in India are due to religious festivals and ceremonies. Therefore, I was easily convinced by Martel’s method to take a stab at such a great phenomenon.

Don’t you bully me with your politeness! Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?–Chapter 99, p. 330

This quote altered my belief system.  If you think about it, everything is life is hard to believe and is based on our belief system. The end of this novel allows the reader to be a believer or a disbeliever. One may be obsessed with religion or question every aspect of religion but after reading this book it allows one to question their own beliefs.

Still not done yet…more Allusions on GGRW pgs 80-100

Here’s another allusion on page 96 of Green Grass Running Water: “The grass near the wall seemed unusually dry and the leaves on one of the new elms appeared yellow and curled.  The big oak wasn’t showing any signs of improvement, either.” This quote from the book refers to Dr. Hovaugh. King presents Dr. Hovaugh as a confused and clueless old man. The only thing he cares about is his dying garden. Through out the novel i felt that King was using Dr.Hovaugh as a god-like figure and his garden represented our world. To support this, there was a passage on pg. 16 which correlated to a passage from the book of Genesis.

“Dr. Hovaugh sat in his chair behind his desk and looked out at the wall and the trees and the flowers and the swans on the blue-green pond in the garden, and he was pleased.”

 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.   And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”  And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.  And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.  And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. (Genesis 1:27-31)

The dying of the garden can also represent Dr. Havaugh himself. It shows that he is now old and his way of seeing the world has passed and it is time for him to step side and watch what is to happen.

 

 

Life of Pi

Hello Everyone,

I’m not so familiar with Canadian Literature and I believe Green Grass Running Water by Thomas King was the 2nd Canadian literature I have read. Some friends who are experts on Canadian Literature have convinced me to read the Life of Pi by Yann Martel for the latter part of this course. I have heard that a chunk of the plot takes place in Pondicherry, India, where I grew up so that excites me even more! So here it is, the third Canadian Literature I’ll be reading–LIFE OF PI.

Significance of Numerology

Hello guys,

Dr. Erika Paterson talked about the significance of the number “four” in class today so I thought I would put this link up discussing more on numbers. Numerology and astrology are visible in various cultures and religions. In Hinduism, it is thought that faith is determined by numerical patterns. Your number, based on your birth date, defines your behavioral characteristics, intelligence, health, relationships and destiny. There are even people who change the spelling of their names to flourish in life. It is difficult digest that even in such a industrial and technologically advanced world, there are people who still believe that one’s life is determined before their birth.

A “Lock” on the Native American Culture

There are many allusions in Thomas King’s Green Grass Running Water. The conversion on pages 81 and 82 between Dr. Hovaugh and Sergeant Cerenosays regarding why the doors are locked is a key allusion that reflects the government.

Dr. Hovaugh says “the escape is a mystery. The door is always locked and there’s that heavy mesh on the windows” (81).

Sergeant Cereno then asks, “Why do you lock the door” (81)?

Dr. Hovaugh’s replies by saying Cereno needed to speak with the government regarding this matter and Cereno asks which one.

Dr. Hovaugh answered, “Federal. As I’m sure you know, Indians come under their jurisdiction. We simply provide the services they need” (82).

Locks are used to either keep something from getting in or out. Dr. Hovaugh accuses the government for putting a “lock” on the Native Americans. This shows that the government is trying to restrict the Native Americans into a small area because they do not want the Native culture to expand. On the other hand, the other perspective of the “lock” is that the Native Americans are known to keep their culture, traditions and secrets to themselves. When the Natives are “locked”, there culture is not passed on because their stories stop.

The Beginning…

IN CLASS:

The story that was told in class today and the story of creation I heard in the past have many similarities. Being skeptical, I have always questioned any sort of fact that was thrown at me. In today’s story, sea creatures and An Ancient Woman named Margie already existed and they were in the position to create the world. Margie started off by creating land with mud, followed by the creation of mountains, rivers and valleys. She created human last to accompany the sea creatures.

According to the Genesis, God created the world in Seven days. God gave light to the world on the first day, water on the second day, solid ground on the third, the sun, the moon and the sky were created on the fourth day to guide us with days, nights and seasons. On the fifth day, he created birds along with sea creatures and created humans and other land animals on the sixth day. Finally, on the seventh day, he looked at his creation and took rest.

Being a Science student it was always difficult for me to digest such imaginative stories. According to Science, it takes billion and billions of years to create a galaxy and it is believed that other galaxies exist as well.  Also coming from a religious family, it was difficult for me to put forth any opinions against God. I was always forced to believe what was told and was not to question religion or God. If Science and evidence are true, how is it possible for one to create “The Earth” in days or matter of fact in seconds?

The Creation story told today is not as engraved in everybody as is the Genesis. But to an extent it is as equally as imaginative as the Genesis. I’m clearly not an Atheist and in fact, I do believe there is a power above us humans but whether its God or not is a phenomenon that will never be clear.

 

AFTER CLASS:

Hello Everyone,
I really wanted to expand a little more on creation stories after the in-class “essay writing” so here’s a continuation of my post. I grew up in a family that keeps religion at heart. Since my parents were busy with work, my grandparents raised me. Grandparents and elders are known for story-telling.  Another creation story i have heard is the creation story of hinduism. According to Hinduism, there are many worlds and many universes and all the universes were created by Lord Brahma. The story begins by Lord Brahma being very lonely and splitting himself into two: a male and a female and thus started the creation of humans. The creation of other animals as well as insects were done the same way. It is believed that once every thousands of millions of years, Lord Brahma will fall asleep for a night and that night the world will experience a natural disaster.

Struggling to Fit…

Since I do not know many Native American Myths I did not feel connected to the novel. As soon I started reading about the Native Americans fighting to fit into the modern English Culture, it reminded me of the struggles my parents faced being the first generation to be in Canada.

In many ways, my life in the west is clearly different from the lives of my parents who grew up in Sri Lanka. My parents faced many surprises and challenges as they grew up. They had difficulty meeting their daily essential needs and were forced to overcome their wants. Having had little education, little wealth and their dreams being pushed way, they were forced to move to Canada. As my parents emigrated from Sri Lanka to Canada, it was difficult for them to adapt to the Canadian culture. They experienced some discomfort before they are able to function well in a new setting. They saw this as an opportunity to improve the lives their children. They adapted to this new situation because they wanted me to live the life they missed. I, being born in a western country did not face as many challenges as my parents. I grew up getting most of what I wanted.

As my parents had many ups and downs during the period of transition to a new culture and missed their home country greatly. They did not know much about Canada so it was difficult for them to anticipate many events and were not successful in adjusting to life abroad. The learning and absorption of the new culture, the initial period of settling, and differences between my parents’ lifestyle and my lifestyle is an adventure to itself. There are many struggles and differences between people in life but that’s what makes life so worthwhile.

 

MY CANADA

If one were asked about Canada, undoubted the key aspects that would be brought up would include: Culture, Multiculturalism, Democracy, Language and Immigration. When closely analyzed, these characteristics are what bring together Canada as a nation.

The different segments of Canada are linked to one another. Culture is the image in the minds of ancestors and their experience that is passed on to later generations through stories. Said by author Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the use of words and images and the inflexion of voices to effect different tones is important to pass on the tales and stories. Language allows to communicate the morals and values that are set by the culture. The acceptance of multiple cultures is very visible in Canada, which is the promotion of Multiculturalism.

In many ways, my life in the west is clearly different from the lives of my parents who grew up in India. My parents faced many surprises and challenges as they grew up. They had difficulty meeting their daily essential needs and were forced to overcome their wants. Having had little education, little wealth and their dreams being pushed way, they were forced to move to Canada. As my parents emigrated from India to Canada, it was difficult for them to adapt to the Canadian culture. They experienced some discomfort before they are able to function well in a new setting. They saw this as an opportunity to improve the lives their children. But other Canadians allowed my parents to adapt to this new situation and allowed me to live the life my parents missed.

Bharati Mukherjee is a Indian-born Canadian writer while, Michael Ondaatje is a Sri Lankan-born Canadian writer. Michael Ondaatje and Bharati Mukherjee are two Canadian authors who use these characteristics as tools to write about their immigration experiences. For the reason that Mukherjee was born into a society where woman were not expected to explore themselves, she saw that moving to the west was a great opportunity for her to explore the horizons of her education. Immigration allowed her to be educated and identify herself among others, but at the same time a loss of her culture, tradition, language, and land and of herself as an Indian. Ondaatje analyzed and gave voice to immigrants about their experience in Toronto. He used his own immigration experience and the concept of language to express his views on the notion of multiculturalism.

Here’s an article that contradicts the concepts that I brought up in my writing but it is worth reading. On the other hand, here’s an another article that discusses democracy in North America.

 

English 222

Hello Everyone!
I’m Thayalini. I am a Sri Lankan born raised in India. I am currently a Cognitive Systems and Computer Science Major and did not get many chances to take courses apart from my specialization. I came into university hoping that English 12 would be the last English course I would have to take but English 112 was a requirement for my degree, forcing me to take another English course. The unique and enthusiastic teaching styles of Professors and Teaching Assistants at UBC changed my perception on not only English courses but other courses as well. I went on and took English 110 and English 468-Children’s Literature, two courses that allowed to explore different dimensions of literature. Being a Canadian university student, I thought it would be wise to take English 222 to gain more knowledge on Canadian Literatures and their authors. I have friends who have previously taken this course and have told positive comments on this course as well as Dr. Paterson’s teaching approaches.

Due to a loss of a family member, I’m still in India. So let me know how the course is so far!

Hoping to meet you all soon,
Thayalini