Thursday, December 14, 2006

 

Section 11: Chapters 92-94

The island that Pi comes across is absolutely amazing. If I have have transported to a beautiful place by language, this is a hundred times better at least.
I love green; I love nature, so full of vibrant life, and I love far-removed paradises where I can imagine myself living, my body and my mind preserved for thousands of years solely by the vitality emanating from the growth around me.
To me, that is paradise. A beautiful, remote island of lush green-ness and vibrant colors of the rainbow splashed upon everything. A place where the imagination can roam free, and life's troubles disappear into the depths of the warm, sapphire ocean, and are drowned by by the colors so radiant and numerous that no words ca describe them.
I can imagine plants, both rare and exotic, that no one has ever seen before, air so clean and clear that every breath is a joyous event, water so pure and untainted that you can see the glorious fish swimming freely at its deepest, animals so alive and lovely that you can spend your whole day gazing at them, running, playing, jumping, and you can't hep but think that maybe, just maybe, life is perfect.
My island is such a place that your lips are always curved upwards in a smile, and your soul soars with the eagles through light, wispy clouds. It's a place where no frown or look of anger has ever been seen, nor sadness ever felt.
It's a place of perfection, a place of peave and tranquility and reflection. And, best of all, it's my place, untouched by others, protected from the evil, decay, death, sorrow and hurt that plague our natural world, and best of all, it's saved eternally for me and the select few I choose to share it with, just as each person's special place is saved for them and theirs. I love my island, and Pi's reminds me of it a lot.

I was just thinking about how cool it would be to draw, design and program my actual island into a sort of game - a game in which just abotu anything is possible (swimming, climbing trees, introducing new species of plants and animals, creating a family, and interacting in millions of other ways).

"The island was Gandhian: it resisted by not resisting" (pg 300). This is sometimes the best solution: Don't fight back, or go offensive, nor defensive, but just don't even acknowledge negative thoughts that enter the mind. This isn't always the best way though, as nothing is conquered this way, but sometimes, it is the only way to avoid being crushed.

On page 301, Pi talks of his idea that the island isn't anchored to the bottom of the ocean, but rather is a floating mass of algae, a true 'living island'. I would like to research this and see what I can find.

The deadly danger of the island was surprising, to say the least. Haha, my island certainly doesn't have acidic algae. Anyway, I don't quite understand why Pi decided to leave the island. Though it can't be stood upon at nightm the rest of the time it is perfect, and people normally sleep at night anyway. What suddenly changed his attitude toward the island? The teeth? He's eaten human flesh before, so that shouldn't bother him. Was is the prospect of never being found? Nope, he said himself that the island might make itself to land, thereby saving him. If not these, then what?

Update:
He would rather search for land and people than live a half-life of "physical comfort and spiritual death". This is another theme in the book. Pi decides that life is more than nice scenery and good food; life requires a spiritual aspect as well. However good our lives seem, they amount to death without God.

It was really sad the way Richard Parker left Pi. I can understand Pi's sorrow. His only friend, his only family, gone, with no words of gratitude or farewell spoken. Gone forever. That is a sad thing, very sad.

I agree with Martel when he says, "It's important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go" (pgs 316-317).
When things are left hanging, left uncompleted, we can only move so far ahead in life before having to come back and deal with those things which were left behind.

I like how martel includes in the book Pi's 'Thank You' to all the kind people who helped him when he landed. Though short and simple, it was well-done.

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

 

Section 10: Chapters 86-91

I can almost feel the disappointment, anger and helplessness of being stuck in the middle of the ocean, having a tanker motor past me, a flare aim incorrectly and be rendered useless, and the tanker continuing on its way, oblivious to the fact that I'm RIGHT beside it.
This has to be one of the worst feelings ever. I still wonder why he didn't just set off another flare. Was he out? Did he figure that the crew wouldn't be able to see it anyway? I may never know.

Pi's feelings toward Richard Parker have continued changing. At first, he admired and respected him because he was a tiger, then he was angry at, and deathly afraid of him because of the danger he presented to Pi's own life. Slowly the fear diminished with Pi's training regime and now, as the tanker disappears into the horizon, Pi loves Richard Parker. He loves him for the complany he offers, for the interest he provides. He loves him because he is a friend, an unknowing friend.

I was interested in the dream rag and Pi's contemplation times. I try to do the same thing occasionally, but I have a wandering mind and can't stay inactive for so long.
I know, however, that dreaming is a necessary act. It allows our mind to work out our problems in a fictional way so we can apply the solutions in our nonfictional lives. Daydreaming is the same, and they say it is actually very healthy and beneficial to daydream. I'm definitely a daydreamer.

The trash was disgusting. But, he got one good thing from it: a bottle to put a message in. Even if it never reaches anyone, it will be something for him to think about.
Actually, I'd like to put a message in a bottle sometime, just for the fun of it. It would be awesome if I actually got a reply.

The shark would be amazing to see. I would be scared, but at the same time, bedazzled. Twenty feet long, deadly, and graceful. A tiger shark. That's something I would like to see..from a distance, preferably. (pg 265)

I would, if it were I in Pi's position, have to say that one of the worst things that happened was that my pens ran out. I'm a reflective person, and if my life were threatened daily and my survival a true miracle, I would write like mad. Not being able to write my thoughts and feelings on paper would be torture.

I'm going back a little bit, to Section 9, and I wonder, how could Pi and Richard Parker be so constipated? From what I understand, the solar stills produce a total of 8 liters of water. That's plenty for the two of them. The only problem I can think of is a lack of fiber. Other than that, there should be no reason for them to be dehydrated.

Chapter 90 is odd, but I can understand how that would happen when a person is half-dead. Hallucinations and other strange occurences would take hold of the mind.
Like daydreaming, with I talked about earlier, your mind would try to fix all of the problems that you're facing, but near death, it would be much more urgent, so the would (I'm just guessing of course) solve problems in the most powerful way it can: by making fiction seem like reality.

I would really like to try coconut yam kootu (pg 271). It sounds really good. I'm actually going to find a recipe for it. And, I'll try to find out what coconut chutney and mint chutney are.

The whole food part was hilarious. Talking about figs and how many figs he has and Pi wondering if he can have some. The other voice talking about different types of meat and how good they taste. The two say some funny things, especially when they tell the story of the banana.
"Once upon a time, there was a banana and it grew. It grew until it was large, firm, yellow and fragrant. Then it fell to the ground and someone came upon it and ate it" (pg 278). That's a funny story, a very funny story. [Apparently, I was as mad as the character in the book. That doesn't seem so funny anymore. Lol]

Then, the other person jumps onto Pi's boat and attempts to strangle him. Pi thinks it's just an overzealous hug. The person steps on the floor and Richard Parker eats him.
Pi gets his sight back from crying and rinsing his eyes. He begins eating strips of the dead man's flesh.

*Update: I found coconut yam kootu, only it is called erisheri in the recipe I found. It looks really good, and I'm like to try it sometime.

*Update: I don't think the other person was blind. I think he said he was blind so he could trick Pi into letting him come close enough to eat Pi. It almost worked, but then he stepped into Richard Parker's territory, who responded by eating him. A little ironic, wouldn't you say?

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