SYMBOLS:

SYMBOLS

In this story, there are three big categories from which I can extract the most relevant symbols: Catholicism, Hinduism and Islam. Besides, there is one symbol that is apart from these three categories I consider relevant. However, it is important to start with the main character of the story.

PI

“My name is Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as Pi Patel. For good measure I added p = 3,14.” (Life of Pi, page 22-23.)

·         Pi is the main character of the story and this name has many different meanings. In other words, Pi, has many different connotations. First of all, as the quote says, Pi means p = 3,14. Another thing that comes to my mind when I seep, are the letters of the Greek alphabet, that also contains Alpha ( ) and Omega ( ).

CATHOLICISM

This first category is completely based on the following quote:

“Academic study and the steady, mindful practice of religion slowly brought me back to life” (Life of Pi, Page 3)

Catholicism is the second religion Pi was taught to follow, so I consider from here, I can extract some relevant symbols that are related to the book.

·         Alpha ( ) and Omega ( ): Two of the main symbols of Catholicism are the alpha and omega. This is interesting because Pi, as I said before, is one of the letters of the Greek alphabet together with alpha and omega. The latter, for Catholicism, represents God. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet, and Omega is the last one. According to this, God is the beginning and the end of everything.

This is related to the book, because we’re talking about religion. Pi believed in God, the thing is that he started to be into other religions.

·         The cross: The cross is the symbol of Catholicism. In ancient times, it was a symbol of torture and humiliation, but nowadays it is a symbol of Jesus’ death and his resurrection as well.

This is related to the book, as Catholicism was the first religion Pi was taught to follow. In addition, I can relate this to the  baptism, because when we get a sacrament, the priest crosses us in those kinds of sacraments.

“My baptism was a slightly awkward affair.” (Life of Pi, Page 77).

·         The sacred heart: This is a symbol of the love of Jesus for us. This heart has thorns and a cross in it , symbolizing that he was willing to suffer just because he loved us.

This is related to the book in one specific quote that I liked a lot: “[…] many people seem to lose God along life’s way. That was not my case.” (Life of Pi, Page 47). Pi loved God, and he was aware that although he was going through difficult situations and he even doubted many things, God would always be there for him, being his greatest support.

HINDUISM

Hinduism was the first  religion Pi seemed to be interested in. The way in which everything started is shown in this quote:

“[…] The figure in question for me was an older sister of Mother’s, of a more traditional mind who brought me to a temple when I was a small baby. […] “It’s a samskara!” symbolic indeed. […] I am a Hindu, because […]” (Life of Pi, Page 47).

According to this, the most three relevant symbols that I found in the book are:

·         Vishnu: Originally related to the sun, this God is the universe conservative and the incarnation of love. This God is considered as the supreme God. This God has come to earth in many different shapes, human, animal, and the last one is a horse that has not arrived yet.

“I felt like the sage Markandeya, who fell out of Vishnu’s mouth while Vishnu was sleeping and so beheld the entire universe, everything that there is.” (Life of Pi, Page 177).

This is clearly related to the book, as Pi remembered all those stories when he was feeling afraid. He couldn’t even sleep just by the fear he was feeling, when just thinking that Richard Parker could eat him.

·         Krishna: It is an incarnation of Vishnu. It represents the divine love and its adventures are represented or told in the Bhagavad Gita. This is an other relevant symbol in Hinduism. This is related to the book, because Pi names it right after describing Brahman. He remembers a Krishna story.

“I am reminded of a story of Lord Krishna when he was a cowherd.[…]” (Life of Pi, page 49).

·         Brahman: It´s four heads symbolize the four rooms, the four religious texts, and the four castes of Hinduism. This symbol relates to the book, because Pi starts describing why “he is Hindu.” In this part, he describes Brahman.

“There is Brahman, the world soul, the sustaining frame in which upon which is woven, warped and weft the cloth of being, with all its decorative elements of space and time.” (Life of Pi, Page 48).

ISLAM

Islam is the third religion Pi is interested in. And the main symbols that are described, named or represented in the book are based on the following quote:

“Islam followed right behind, hardly a year later. I was fifteen years old and I was exploring my hometown. The Muslim quarter wasn’t far from the zoo. A small, quiet neighborhood with Arabic writing and crescent moons inscribed on the façades of the houses.” (Life of Pi, Page 58).

·         The Koran: This is the great symbol of Islam. They guide their lives according to this book. As in the book we talk about  Islam, it is important to take the Koran as a symbol. As a symbol of Allah perfection, some Islamic countries reject the fact of having living beings represented in art. Koran texts represent the authority and the truth of God’s words.

·         The Night Journey: This is a really representative story for Islam. In one of Mahammed deams, the archangel Gabriel appeared and took him to heaven. This symbol is important, as in the book Pi’s journey was at night and he was there, when he admired everything that surrounded him.

·         Muslim Prayers: Another important thing is the way in which Muslims pray. They usually go to the mosque and they kneel towards Mecca repeating the words “Allah is great”. These words symbolize and reflect their submission to God.

This is important when talking about the book, because Pi prayed a lot. That was his way out of all the suffering, problems and loneliness he go through.

WRITING TASK 6:

What strikes your fancy about the book, Life of Pi?

I found the first part in which Pi describes his childhood, growing in the Pondicherry zoo, really interesting, because there he learned a lot of interesting things about animals. He also relates the way in which animals and humans grow. He says it is done in a very similar way, for example the fact of having to satisfy every single necessity. I agree with this, because nowadays animals are treated like humans. Another important event that I found in this story was that Pi meets Mr. Kumar, the first avowed atheist he ever meets in his life. Mr. Kumara became the best teacher for Pi, because both shared the same love and fascination for animals. This is related to my life in the way in which I also love animals.

Another interesting thing was “The most dangerous animal is the man.”This talks about the way in which people kill animals and damage the world. I agree with this, because we all know that each day man is causing even more hurt to both animals and earth. An important fact is when Pi  says that we all are born as Catholics, but along the life people seem to lose God. I do not agree with this, because each one of us passed through difficult times during our life and we need to remember that God is always present helping us.

I found really important and interesting the fact that Pi wants to take a little part of each religion (Catholicism, Hinduism, and Islam). Even though I don’t agree with this, Pi´s position is acceptable, because we all have the right to believe in what we want to believe. Another really interesting fact and one of my favorite, is when Pi is leaving India with all of his family in a cargo ship to live in Canada. I really like this part of the book in which Pi was cast adrift in a life boat with a tiger named Richard Parker, a hyena, a zebra and an orangutan Orange Juice, because in this part is when the adventure and the exiting   things happen.

Another relevant fact of part two is that everything is related to survival. Throughout the chapters in part two several things go through in the life boat and with the animals. Animals start eating each other. At last the survivors were Pi and Richard Parker, the huge Bengal tiger. This caught my attention, because the most important thing in life is to survive no matter what is situation is. An important event is when Pi starts feeling lonely and starts suffering. I feel very connected with this part, because everyone has experienced the same feelings during life. It isn’t easy for Pi to know that everything he loved had disappeared in the middle of the sea.

I found the part in which Pi starts having different strategies to tame Richard Parker really interesting. I think he uses an excellent strategy using the sources he has. He uses a whistle. Each time he uses it he move the boat one side to another, and he made Richard Parker sick. That was his defense mechanism. 

VOCABULARY PART 2:

1.    “He stirred in the water and made to swim.”(Life of Pi, page 98)

Stirred: v. To mix together the ingredients of before cooking with a spoon.

2.    “I leaned over and looked down at the bunk below.”(Life of Pi, page 101)

Leaned: v. To bend or slant away from the vertical.

3.    “I looked beyond the end of the tarpaulin.”(Life of Pi, page 108)

Tarpaulin: n. heavy-duty waterproof cloth, originally of tarred canvas.

4.    “The animal nervously peered beyond the boat.” ( Life of Pi, 113)

Peered: v. Look with difficulty or concentration.

5.    “As the horizon became a neat, sharp line, I scanned it eagerly.” (Life of Pi, page 119)

Eagerly: adj. Strongly wanting to do or have something.

6.    “The queerest thing about the reptile was simply that it was.” ( Life of Pi, page 123)

Queerest: adj. Strange; odd.

7.    “Orange Juice could had been one of this forlorn pets.” ( Life of Pi, page 129)

Forlorn: adj. pitifully sad and lonely.

8.    “Her back legs had given way and her balance on her front legs was woozy.”(Life of Pi, page 133)

Woozy: adj. informal unsteady, dizzy, or dazed.

9.    “Why, feel my brow! My forehead was wet with fresh, clean, refreshing, perspiration.” ( Life of Pi, page 142)

Perspiration: v. give out sweat through the pores of the skin as a result of heat, physical exertion, or stress.

10. “I build a raft.” ( Life of Pi , 148)

Raft: n. a flat buoyant structure of timber or other materials fastened together, used as a boat or floating platform.

11. “I gazed upon this urban hurly-burly like someone observing a city from hot- air balloon.” ( Life of Pi, 176)

Gazed: v. Look steadily and intently.

12. “All sentient life is sacred.”( Life of Pi, page 183)

Sentient:  adj. Able to perceive or feel things.

13. “The valleys we found ourselves in were so deep they were gloomy.”

Gloomy: adj. poorly lit, especially so as to cause fear or depression.

14.  “Twice I saw an albatross.” ( Life of Pi, 230)

Albatross: n. a very large seabird with long, narrow wings, found chiefly in the southern oceans.

15. “His butchered, dismembered body lay on the floor of the boat.” ( Life of Pi, page 255)

Butchered: n. A person whose trade is cutting up and selling meat in a shop.

CHARACTERS PART 2:

Richard Parker: A Bengal tiger weigh   450 pounds. The tiger kills the hyena on the lifeboat l. Richard Parker got this name from a clerical error. Richard Parker lives in the boat with Pi.

The Zebra: He jumps through the life boat and his legs got broken; the hyena            attacks him and eats him alive.

Orange Juice: An orangutan. Orange suffers the same tragedy as the zebra both are eaten by the hyena.

LAURA CASTILLO

               9a

 Description of 6 images:                

1. DESCRIPTION:

Teaching religion is one of the most important things nowadays. The spiritual way is important for everybody and we learn that from our parents initially and it is strengthened at school. In the image we see a mother teaching her son the principles of religion. They’re looking at the cross as the biggest symbol of religion or the spiritual presence.

HOW IT RELATES TO THE BOOK?

 “Academic study and the steady, mindful practice of religion slowly brought me back to life. […] My majors were religious studies and zoology.” (Life of Pi, page 3)

  In the story we find Pi getting into religion at his school. His doubts about religion make him think about what beliefs to follow.

As Pi does, I also doubt about what religion to follow, and on what I should believe. So that’s why I feel identified in this way to Pi.

2. DESCRIPTION:

This image is a photo of a nebula. After the photo was taken people realized it had a particular shape. It seemed to be an eye, so from then on people called it God’s eye.

HOW IT RELATES TO THE BOOK?

“[…] Scientists are a friendly, atheistic, beer –drinking lot […]” (Life of Pi, page 5)

This image has a clear relation with the book, specifically with the quote extracted from the book, because there are scientists who doubt the existence of God. For them it is important to have tangible or real proofs about the existence of God.

3. DESCRIPTION:

In this image we see a mother feeding her baby, or at least trying to, because it is obvious they are suffering from famine.

HOW IT RELATES TO THE BOOK:

“We are all born like Catholic, aren’t we –in limbo, without religion, until some figure introduces us to God? […]; many people seem to lose God along life’s way.”(The life of Pi, page 47)

Nowadays people tend to blame God for human beings’ misfortunes. This is related to the second image as well, because people stop believing in God when passing through difficult times. This is clearly represented in Dr. Neel Burton’s blog when he says: ” […] however, even if God exists and even if he had an intelligent purpose in creating humankind, no one really knows what this purpose might be, or that it is specially meaningful.”[1]

It also relates to me, because I also stop believing in god when something happens to me.

4. DESCRIPTION:

We can see a group of men being proud of the elephant’s death. Although the elephant is a big, dangerous animal for the human being, it is easy prey.

HOW IT RELATES TO THE BOOK:

“We commonly said in the trade that the most dangerous animal in a zoo is man.” (Life of Pi, page 29)

It is related to the book, because this situation of killing animals and people is something we witness every day. God is not the blame of the situation that most of the people are suffering from all around the world. It is men, because we all are causing irreversible damages.

5. DESCRIPTION:

In this image you can observe a man who is repenting in front of Jesus.

HOW IT RELATES TO THE BOOK:

“I can well imagine an atheist’s last words:”white, white! L-L –Love! My God! “-and the deathbed leap of faith-.”(Life of Pi, page 64)

It is related to the book, because the image shows the repentant. According to the author, the people who don’t believe in God tend to repent when they are about to die.

This is related to my life because for me there is a unique God, that is our father. He is always present at any time in our life. Each time we do something wrong or good, he is always willing to help us, hear us and heal us.

6. DESCRIPTION:

In this image you can see many people working together on a specific goal.

HOW IT RELATES TO THE BOOK:

“It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our name.”(Life of Pi, pages 20)

It is related to the book, because it is important to work together. When we work together we might find people who are willing to help us and change our minds in case we need it.

In my life, it is better to work together for achieving a specific goal. Sometimes we need other for getting what we want. We must realize we are not alone and we need other’s help.

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[1] Burton, Neel. Taken from: http://www.unlimitedmagazine.com/2010/06/the-perils-of-positive-thinking/

DESCRIPTION OF 6 PHOTOS:

1.    1.RELEVANCE BETWEEN THE PHOTO AND THE BOOK:

As we are talking about religion, praying is really important for every single religion. Each has a different way of praying.

According to the book this is important because when Pi prayed he said his prayer helped him remember that the earth was the creation of God and sacred at the same time.  (Life of Pi, page 76)

This relates to my life, because as a catholic, for me and my family, it is very important to pray and go to the church every Sunday.

2. .RELEVANCE BETWEEN THE PHOTO AND THE BOOK:

Baptism is mentioned in the book. This is well reflected when Pi describes his own baptism. In the description it is clear that it has many elements that make it a complete and important ritual. (Life of Pi, page 77) 

As a catholic, baptism is one of the sacraments I need to have for becoming god’s child. Therefore, I believe in this and I have already baptized.

3. .RELEVANCE BETWEEN THE PHOTO AND THE BOOK:

Nature is one of the most important things for Hinduism. This is represented in Brahman as the book says: “Brahman expressed not only in Gods but in humans, animals, trees, in a hand full of earth, for everything has a trace of the divine in it.”(Life of Pi, page 48)

This relates to my life, because I love nature and I think it need to become important for all of us.

4.   .RELEVANCE BETWEEN THE PHOTO AND THE BOOK:

“In this trouble times it’s good to see a boy so keen on God. We all agree on that. But he can’t be a Hindu, a Christian or a Muslim, it is impossible. He must choose.”(Life of Pi, page 69)

This photo is relevant, because according to the book there is confusion about what religion to follow. We are told to follow just one religion because we cannot mix them and also we cannot believe in all of them at the same time.

This is relevant to my life, because I understand the feeling he had when choosing a religion. For we all teenagers, it is difficult to understand why we should choose one religion and the reason why.

5.    .RELEVANCE BETWEEN THE PHOTO AND THE BOOK:

“Things didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to, but what can you do? You must take the way it comes at you and make the best of it.”(Life of Pi, page 91)

This image is relevant, because having passed through many difficult times; Pi gives up and tries to accept his reality. You could take advantage of everything in life even if you don’t like it. 

In my life I take advantage of all the situations and experiences I have the opportunity to do or to take, because I am aware it is going to be what we call experience for life.

6.    .RELEVANCE BETWEEN THE PHOTO AND THE BOOK:

“If I walked by him without seeing him he would be hurt. He would think I had changed my mind and didn’t want to be seen with a poor Muslim baker.”(Life of Pi, page 80-81)

Discrimination of religion is a really big issue nowadays. According to the book Pi doesn’t want to be seen as a disrespectful person. Maybe he doesn’t agree with religion discrimination. It is important to respect people’s beliefs and not to make fun of them.

Something that really concerns me is religion discrimination. It is unbelievable that people are dying because of religion, when the only thing god cares about is loving him and loving each other.