What do You think about Life Of Pi (2006)?
I discovered early in The Life of Pi why the main character was named after a infinite number - the book is an interminable bore. This book is sort of a Rorschach test for religious belief, so here's my take. If you haven't read Pi yet and want to, the rest of my review will spoil it for you, so be warned. The story is told in 3 parts. The opening is a reflection back on Pi's childhood at the zoo in Pondicherry. During this segment, he tells us that his story will lead us to have faith in God, a
—Tiffany
"If we, citizens, do not support our artists,then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothingand having worthless dreams."Life of pi is the story of survival in the face of death ,and the struggle to live And the transition from modern civilization to the more primitive existence on the open ocean in a boat.It is a madness that has the power that could make a normal human with decent and basic moral become a cannibalistic slaughterer. and how, a vegetarian could kill animal and eat raw meat.“All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive.”Pi's father put a living goat into the tiger's cage which did not eat in days, and pi witnessed the tiger eat the goat alive.He didn’t know that this is the fate that was waiting for him And that his brother words would come true and he would be the next goat And that he would experience his deepest, horrible and terrifyingfear.Reading this book with its continuous relating and humanization of animals acts ,remind me of a story that I have read a famous and tragic accident ,remind me of a story that I have read it happened in 1972 at Cairo circus.The story began in front of a crowd of spectators in the circus when a lion tamer turned his back to the lionsTo receive a well-deserved applause for the perfect and successful performance.in a brief moment a lion jumped on his shoulder and attacked him by his claws and teeth the coach fell to the ground bleeding and it was too late to save him he died in the hospital in a few days ,what the lion did later was really strange. the lion was involved in a case of depression and refused food and the circus manager decided to transfer him to the zoo as this lion is not suitable for training in the circusany more the lion continued on a hunger strike, they get him a lioness but he cruelly beat and expelled her he continues his isolation and depression and psychotic insanity, finally he went on biting his body ,his tail and hand especially (the hand he put on his trainer)and started eating them in the wild, and raged manner ,he eventually bled and died,.the behavior of this lion, who committed suicide is very unique to this much he can understand and feel the responsibility of his act??!!And repent for his betrayalI cant call this action a"human action"As this is more noble animals only kill out of protection or out of necessity. Humans, on the other hand, kill for greed, insanity ,or forethnic or racial, religious purposesthis is whyI just want to believe the story with the animals.A similar theme was discussed in an old Arabic book of Ikhwan as-Safa or the Brethren of Purity,where a trial for human race was held by animals ."This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one. He ripped the flesh off the man's frame and cracked his bones. The smell of blood filled my nose. Something in me died then that has never come back to life."One of the darkest momentsAnd I think the temporary blindness was a strong symbolism for blindness of his heart And loss of insight Which is Worse than the blindness of eyes And his silence about the unjust cruel Crime that is done in front of him.Richard Parker didn’t give pi a “proper farewell” as Richard didn’t feel pi ’s love he was always running scared of him in fear that he may eat him.you cant fear AND love someone at the same time, if u love someone your fear would be you loose this love." fear. It is life's only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever,treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, showsno mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind,always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear, disguised in the garbof mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy. Doubt meets disbelief and disbelief tries topush it out. But disbelief is a poorly armed foot soldier. Doubt does away with it with little trouble."In order to save yourself from the enemy u should understand how his mind works. and this is when pi could interact with the tiger, when he could get into the tiger's mind.and the exhausting opposites" The worst pair of opposites is boredom and terror."" Misery loves company, and madness calls it forth"The inherent Conflict between good and evil and the algae island.Tree used to be a symbol of the Universal ManHere Martell is blending two stories an Islamic and a Christian one.From My understanding to the Islamic point of view , the forbidden tree was, the sexual act, not the tree of knowledge.The tree of knowledge is the lote tree which is the most sacred place and it is an Islamic metaphor concerning the uppermost boundary in knowledge a human being can possess .He is referring to spiritual experience of prophet Muhammad’s ascension, where he crosses the border of the domain of God. as an immense blessing and reward after a period of severe hardship and tribulations And Years of Sadness.So he was symbolizing for pi hard journey that ended in the island.the Tree of Death and black fruit, This tree represents the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden story. the teeth was the warning of what would happen to him if he would stay on the islandIn pi's path to find his own peace and love to God he adopted Hinduism,Christianity and Islam all together and practicing all the rituals of the three religions.In his hybrid faith he tried to unite the three together. if one man could love all the three religions and if rhinoceros and goats, snake and mice could lead a peaceful life.Then why people of different religious faith couldn't coexist easily and efficiently with each other?Why couldn’t they stop fighting and killing each other over religious beliefs?
—Hend
On the surface, it's the story of a 16 year old Indian boy named "Pi" who, when he and his zookeeping family decide to transplant themselves and some animals to Canada, ends up stranded on a lifeboat with a hyena, a zebra, an orangutan, and a 450-lb Bengal tiger named "Richard Parker."Don't let the Rudyard Kipling-ness of the plot fool you! In reality, this book is an examination of faith in all its forms. Young Pi loves God, and to prove it he becomes Christian and Muslim in addition to his native Hinduism. He also loves animals, and much of the book examines animal psychology and its relationship to human psychology in a vibrant, interesting way. This book had me asking questions about my life, my beliefs, and my society on just about every page....and when the reader gets to the end (which I won't spoil here), the reader is forced to ask themself the kind of person they really are. If ever there was a novel that could be called a litmus test, it's this one. "The Life of Pi" will, at the very least, entertain through its sharp storytelling, but it can also help a reader examine how they see the world - and isn't that the point of great literature?Favorite quotes:"I felt a kinship with him. It was my first clue that atheists are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. LIke me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them - and then they leap.""But I don't insist. I don't mean to defend zoos. Close them all down if you want (and let us hope that what wildlife remains can survive in what is left of the natural world). I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.""And so, when she first heard of Hare Krishnas, she didn't hear right. She heard 'hairless Christians', and that is what they were to her for many years. When I corrected her, I told her that in fact she was not so wrong; that Hindus, in their capacity for love, are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims, in the way they see God in everything, are bearded Hindus, and Christians, in their devotion to God, are hat-wearing Muslims.""Christianity is a religion in a rush. Look at the world created in seven days. Even on a symbolic level, that's creation in a frenzy. To one born in a religion where the battle for a single soul can be a relay race run over many centuries, with innumerable generations passing along the baton, the quick resolution of Christianity has a dizzying effect. If Hinduism flows placidly like the Ganges, then Christianity bustles like Toronto at rush hour. It is a religion as swift as a swallow, as urgent as an ambulance. It turns on a dime, expresses itself in the instant. In a moment, you are lost or saved. Christianity stretches back through the ages, but in essence it exists only at one time: right now."
—Teresa Jusino
