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The voice inside Pi -- is that God or Pi's connection to God? Who is his self-affirmation addressed to?
Bated breath -- breath that is subdued due to some emotion or difficulty...Baited breath -- freshened breath that will lure others and attract them.
Suddenly, Pi becomes Bear Grylls (pictured above in Man vs. Wild) when putting his raft together. Is it plausible that Pi has these skills?
Can you identify the deus ex machina in this section of the story and explain how it works?
So where is Pi better off...in the lifeboat or on the raft?
All of Pi's plans concerning Richard Parker are violent and/or suicidal. Why do you think that is?
If none of his plans will work -- not even a war of attrition -- what plan do you think WILL work?
18 comments:
Ok... To be honest the first part of this book I personly thought was terrible. I wasn't able to keep interest and was very confused. Now having read up to chapter 56 i find the second part of this book much better. It can now keep my interest. I agree that waiting for the Tiger to die is a terrible idea. The only plan that had any hope in my eyes was to attack the Tiger with the hatchets and the knife.
The list of questions asked in Chapter 53 is an example of Pi facing the reality that he may be best off "surviving" for as long as possible on the lifeboat with the tiger, Richard Parker(I really liked the way the author explained Richard Parker, by the way). I believe the voice inside of Pi is his connection with God, but he is rewarding himself in Gods name. Pi may have had the skills to build the raft, but it is very unlikely, considering his background has nothing to do with handy-work.
The deus ex machina in this section is the shear belief in God which is overcoming all of Pi's fear, well sort of. I believe Pi is better off in the lifeboat, because he has a better shot at sanity as well as survival. I think all of Pi's plans towards Richard Parker are so violent because he feels that Richards necessary death with benefit him. I think the war of attrition will work if he lets natural selection take it's course.
alright well its a good thing i have been in this tiger lifeboat stranded in the middle of the ocean type scenario before. I can tell based on my experiences that if you dont want to be devoured by the man eating tiger you have to become friends with him/her. If i was piscine what i would have done was paint myself with orange and black stripes and get like a fake tail so i look like a tiger too, you cuddle up with the tiger while its asleep and when it wakes up next to its new tiger friend he will just be so happy and cheerful he wont even notice your human and now you have yourself a ferocious tiger friend. But dont let it know your human!
Well at this point in time Pi is better off on the raft rather than the lifeboat. His only knowledge of Richard Parker is a gruesome one, ever since his father showed him the animals true colors. So unless the weather was not cooperating and he had to get on the lifeboat to survive I say stay on the raft.
One reason Pi asks questions about the things on the list in chapter 52 is because he was having an anxiety attack. He was internalizing the actuality of the situation, that he might not be able to stay on the lifeboat with a 450-pound tiger and was trying to come up with a solution that did not involve death, mainly his own. If he were to try to swim, he would not be able to bring supplies with him, that justifies Pi asking questions that could be easily be answered.
I think for now Pi is better off on the lifeboat on top of the tarp. Why be on a flimsy raft where sharks can knock into it and push Pi into the water? Once Richard Parker is no longer scared of climbing onto the tarp then Pi should move onto the raft (I doubt the tarp will hold Richard Parker because of his sharp nails). Pi is in a catch-22 all around because if he stays on the lifeboat he could be killed by Richard Parker, if he is on the raft he could be killed by sharks or Richard Parker swimming to get him.
I think the plan that will work is one that has not been mentioned in Pi's list but is possibly foreshadowed, becoming the alpha and scaring Richard Parker into submission.
Pi asks the questions in chapter 53 because he is realizing that he can no longer stay on the lifeboat with a tiger. He now knows he has to do something but the questions prove that he has no idea what. The supplies provide food, water, a blanket for warmth, and some sort of life raft. Pi has a problem. He is stuck on a boat with a hungry and agitated tiger. When Pi knows he doesn't have much time, putting the raft together is the only thing he can focus on. That and Richard Parker. Pi miraculously throws together a device from the raft, life jackets, and oars. He is better off on the raft until he can do something about the tiger. His best plan is to kill the tiger. Plan Four sounds the most plausible to me since attrition is out of the question. Staying at a distance to choke the tiger is safest way to get his lifeboat and supplies back.
Pi asked so many questions because he was talking about swimming through the ocean. There’s no way he could manage to take everything he needs with him.
I think the voice in Pi’s head is his connection to God.
Pi may have these skills; then again he may have been winging it to keep himself safe from Richard Parker.
Pi is better off on the lifeboat because he survived for three days and didn’t even know there was a Tiger on the boat. Who says he still can’t keep it that way?
In this situation there really is no nonviolent way to kill a tiger.
A plan would be to just put things the way they were before Pi found out Richard Parker was still on the lifeboat.
I think that Pi is asking himself these questions for two reasons: they are reasonable questions to ask yourself before making such an important decision, and because he is doesn't want to make a decision yet. I believe Pi is attempting to give himself more time before doing anything too radical. I honestly dont think that Pi would have the skills to build such a raft. From reading about the first 16 or so years of his life, it sounds like he didn't get much training from any boy scouts, he even admits that he doesn't have any knot tieing experience. Maybe he could fashion himself a small raft but I doubt it would prove useful after a few harsh waves swept through. If Pi can keep some kind of distance withing him and Richard Parker, and manage not to draw much attention, I think he would be safer on the life raft. Since Pi had convinced himself that his family is gone, I suppose he also believes that he has nothing left to lose. This could be the reason for his outlandish and daring ideas to off Richard Parker.
The list of questions in the second paragraph of chapter 53 is in reference to the problems Pi would face if he jumped overboard and swam away, even with a buoy.
I think that the voice inside Pi's head is his connection to God.
I think there is a slim chance that Pi already had these survival skills, but I also think that when put in such a scenario, one's will to survive takes over and has a lot to do with they way he/she does things and looks at things. I'm willing to bet that's how Pi managed to string together that raft with such quick thinking; a little adrenaline goes a long way.
To me, the deus ex machina in these sections is the motivation and boost that Pi gets from his belief in God. His belief drive his will to keep going and trying.
I think Pi is better off in the lifeboat, given that is where all of his supplies is. His night on the raft didn't go very well. The lifeboat seems to be the lesser of two evils.
I believe the voice inside pi's head is his connection to god.
It is possible that pi had these abilities because he was in a life or death situation. Life or death situations bring out abilities you may have thought you never had.
Pi is better off on the raft because sharks will only attack if they feel threatened or if pi bleeds or drops some form of food source in the water nearby.
I think the plan to kill Richard Parker is the way to go. The war of attrition is not the best because Richard Parker will find a way to get food. He is a wild animal with instincts to kill and survive. Pi is not.
First off, I would like to say that I was picturing Bear Grylls throughout the raft-making scene. I really do not think it would be that difficult to put together a raft the way Pi did, as long as he really does know how to tie a knot.
Pi is definitely better off in the raft. He has almost no chance of escaping a hungry tiger in a lifeboat, but a shark eating him in a raft is not likely.
Interestingly enough, I thought of the flare idea as soon as Pi opened the locker and the war of attrition as when he made the raft. I think that the best plan is for Pi to grab all of the flares he can, wait on the raft, and shoot Richard Parker when he moves for the kill. The splash should wake Pi up when Richard Parker gets into the water, and I doubt that it will be hard to hit him while he is swimming. The knife tied to a stick would be a last resort, unless it could be tied to a flare and fired at Richard Parker.
I believe that Pi is much better off in the boat compared to the raft. The boat has the animals, but the raft offers no protection from rough seas or sharks. He hasn't been having any problems with his safety on the boat, so why wouldn't he stay rather then risk his life even more on the raft. At this point, if I was Pi, I would find a corner to curl up in and keep all the goods and then stay there until a rescue ship arrives.
I think Pi asks these questions in chapter 53 because he is weighing his options. He knows he has to get away from the tiger and is deciding on his best shot at survival. It is plausible that Pi could build a decent raft especially since he has some mad knot tying skills. The fact that he is surrounded by a bunch of buoyant objects helps too. In my opinion the raft is the better option than living with a hungry, pissed off tiger. The plans to kill Richard Parker are all violent because there is really no clean way to kill a tiger in the given circumstances. He has no access to any long range weapon and that kinda sucks. I think his best bet may be to snare the tiger and then axe its head while it is snared...or just wait it out. Not much to lose at this point!
Josh, just hope he doesn't mistake you for his mate.
The end.
Of course he is better off on the life raft. Sitting on a life boat with a tiger is not a smart idea. Waiting three days was long enough.
I believe that Pi was definitely better off on the life raft. Like Kevin said, being on the boat with the tiger was not the best idea.
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