Sunday, October 23, 2005

 

Section 5: Chapter 29-36

First written Oct 13/05:

Pi talks about the reason people move: to seek a better life than the one that came before.
Isn't that what motivates most people in most areas of their lives? "Will this make my life better?" they ask. This way of thinking may help in the short-run, but it will do nothing for us in eternity. Only believing in, and working for the Son of God, Jesus, will protect us on the day of judgement.

It's odd how Pi talks of Mr. Kumar and Mr. Kumar, the teacher, and the baker. I wonder why he does this. Is he going to compare them, show how similar they are? That may explain why he makes them seem almost like the same person. Or maybe, he's just trying to show that everyone, no matter how different they may seem in beliefs, and culture, and career, is basically the same as everyone else.

I don't quite understand what the author is getting at when he says, "That measure of madness that moves life in strange but saving ways" (pg 95).

Update:
He's saying that there is some irrationality or madness that is strange and unexplainable, but that sometimes saves us. For example, you do something that you don't normally do (for no apparent reason), and later on, you look back at that incident and are thankful for the way it played out, thinking of the consequences if you had've done your usual thing instead.

I noticed a few things that the author wrote:
1.) He says that putting animals to sleep and doing tests is cruel
2.) He also says, "You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it" (pg101).

The first I disagree with, and find it odd for him to be saying this. Pi tries to (and succeeds in my case) show us that life in a zoo is really better than life in the wild, because the animal then has easy access to shelter, food, and medical care. Then Martel says that giving an animal medical care is cruel. How does that make sense???
The second I both agree and disagree with. When things don't go the way we would have liked, we can't just give up. But, also, things can change when we ask God for help. We don't have to suffer through everything. But, if He says no, then we must accept our straw and not despair or complain.

Martel writes about his introduction to Pi's family (if they can be called introductions, especially since he didn't even know those people existed). I don't know why Martel writes about this, or why Pi never told Martel about his family. It seems odd.

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