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Who is Steven Callahan? The Bailey family? Poon?
Wow! That's pretty amazing...he survived 227 days...seven months!Wow.
I see that his days are full of prayers, but I am not seeing a lot of religious thought on his part. Pi seems to share all of his other thoughts...it just seems strange that in a life and death situation, religious fervor or religious doubt don't creep into his thoughts once in a while. Why do you think this is so?
So Pi was rescued on Valentine's Day...any possible connection between the holiday's history and Pi's dilemma?
It would seem logical to me to keep track of days and to keep looking for rescue ships. Why does he stop?
24 comments:
Steven Callahan is an American author and sailor who became well known after he survived 76 days on a life raft stranded in the Atlantic Ocean in 1982. Following his rescue, Callahan wrote a book depicting his situation. The Bailey family, comprised of married couple Maurice and Maralyn Bailey, survived 117 days out at sea after their yacht sank on the way to the Galapagos Islands. The couple was forced to stay adrift in a rubber raft until finally being rescued 1973. Poon Lim was a Chinese sailor who survived being in the South Atlantic for 133 days. In 1943, Poon Lim landed and was rescued. Many of Pi's survival tactics (improvised fishing, drinking animal blood) were actually used by the real life castaways.
I think Pi stops counting days and looking for ships because he sees it as a useless hope. Perhaps Pi doesn't want to spend energy on something that wouldn't guarantee rescue and survival. Or maybe he has already given up hope and has already resigned himself to having to survive on his own.
I believe that not providing Richard Parker with water will have a stronger effect because water is harder for him to obtain than food. Richard Parker still has some animal carcasses left over that he could eat if need be, but he has no fresh water to drink. The whistle provides a sense of authority in this situation. The whistle lets Richard Parker know who is in charge and also who is providing him with his water and food.
Steven Callahan is a naval architect and author who survived 76 days in the Atlantic Ocean after being shipwrecked in 1981. The Bailey family is a couple consisting of Maurice and Maralyn Bailey who were shipwrecked in 1973. The couple survived on a rubber raft after their yacht sank on a trip from England to New Zealand. Poon Lim was a Chinese sailor who survived 133 days alone in the South Atlantic in 1942.
I believe the reason that Pi doesn't doubt his religion is because he knows he can't have any doubts in order to survive. He knows that by believing, he has a better chance of surviving what ever may come. He just needs to have faith that his religion can save him.
I think Pi stops counting the days because it just leads to agony and is a constant reminder that no one has found him and he doesn't know how long it will be before he is found. If he continues with his regular routine, he doesn't have to constantly be thinking about when his supplies are supposed to run out because of keeping track of time.
I think that the source of food is way more important because it would be harder for him to get food than something to drink. Tigers can drink salt water, their bodies can handle it much unlike human bodies. Richard was even drinking water from the bottom of the boat, so obtaining food would be harder for him than the water.
Pi's life is being take over by survival, and the fact that he needs to stay alive, that is way he is preoccupied and not thinking about religion as much as you would normally expect from the boy with three religions.
He probably thinks that counting and watching will become tedious and only get his hopes up for nothing. By concentrating on something other than counting and watching it might have helped him not to get as crazy, well as sane as he could be in the middle of the ocean....
I believe providing Richard Parker with food would have a stronger effect. By providing him with fresh, good food, Pi is showing R.P. that he would be more of a help alive rather than dead. Pi is presenting himself as a friend and as the person in charge. He could punish R.P. by withholding food, and he can reward him by giving the food. I think the food would have more effect than the water because water is all around them and R.P. has already shown that h is sea sick. I just don't think water is that appealing to him at that moment. The only reason he drinks, is out of necessity, not refreshment or pleasure.
I think Pi stops keeping track of the days because it is a constant reminder that no one has found him, and with that said it is not worth the energy if the only thing in return is pain.
Steven Callahan was an American Author who survived for 76 days on the Atlantic Ocean. Maralyn Bailey and her husband Maurice survived for 117 days in the Pacific Ocean after their yacht was capsized by a whale off the coast of Guatemala in 1973. Poon survived by climbing on an 8' wooden raft that had a few things of biscuits, water, some chocolate, sugar cubes, flares, two smoke pots and an electric torch. I do not think that I would keep track of the days that passed by if I was trapped somewhere that i couldn't leave because knowing the amount of time i was out there would lower my spirits and so would constantly looking for ships that might happen to pass by.
I believe that it's better to give Richard Parker food because the food can also hydrate Richard Parker and if he is fed then there will be a smaller chance of the tiger attacking Pi as a source of food. The whistle shows Pi's dominance over the tiger and shows that Richard Parker is inferior to Pi.
Steven Callahan is an author who survived 76 days in the Atlantic after his ship wrecked. The Bailey family was a couple that were stranded ship wrecked in 1973 after their yacht sank. Poon Lim was a sailor who survived 133 days by himself in the Atlantic in 1942.
Pi survived 277 days on a life boat. That's incredible. For him not to speak much of his religions I believe is because he is so religious that he does not want to question his beliefs and his gods. On some days Pi believed he was lucky to be alive and thanked his gods for that, but on his bad days he tried not to think about that.
I would probably start out like Pi, counting the days and hoping for ships to be saved but eventually it would drive you crazy. Once you keep count of how long you have been alone and how long it's been without being rescued then you would lose hope. Losing hope is what kills you in situations like this.
Providing Richard Parker with food did seem to be a more pertinent activity for Pi than providing water throughout his trip. Food, be it fish, turtles, or other people, seemed to keep Richard Parker preoccupied and put Pi in the dominant position that he needed in order to survive. A hungry tiger seems much more dangerous to a person than a thirsty tiger – we look like food, not water. Satiating Parker’s hunger would thereby need to be taken care of first.
Although the stories of other survivors were interesting, I believe they were included in the story not to add charm or anecdotal references. I believe these real life experiences were included because the author wanted to have Pi’s experience seem as if it was nonfiction. Indeed, the entire book is set up to make the reader believe that Pi is real and his journey really happened, even though the book is fiction. Everything is presented as fact, and Pi is presenting himself as a feat of human survival. Adding real names, some of which the reader may know (the Bailey family) and some who are more obscure (Poon) create the impression that Pi’s journey was reality.
Water had a stronger effect on Richard Parker, as he needs water more urgently than he needs food. He does still have the rotting zebra and hyena to scavenge off of, even if that goes against his nature. Pi blows his whistle when water is supplied to the tiger, to show the tiger where the water came from.
Steve Callahan, the Bailey family, and Poon were all people who survived being stranded and lost in the sea.
Maybe Pi has no time to really think deeply into religion. Or, maybe he’s decided to let religion be and just be content to follow and believe while he concentrates on survival.
Pi stopped keeping track of time because he realized that the more he realized how long he was stranded, the more hopeless and desperate he felt. Same with keeping watch for ships. Every time he thought he saw a ship, he wasted a flare and just got let down. He let go of time to just be content to be.
I think pi has given up at this point. Like he just is focusing in surviving and not trying to get rescued. I personally would try to keep a log of the days be survived. I feel like he feels abandoned by God and doesn't want anything to do with him. I think a fresh water supPly is more important than food. You can survive 40 days without food but only 3 without water
I believe that Richard Parker being provided with water will have a stronger effect on him because fresh water is nearly impossible to obtain on that raft when you’re an animal. Richard Parker could get more food, but water would be more difficult. The whistle is letting Richard Parker know that Pi is the one in charge. Pi showing dominance with the whistle and then feeding Richard Parker is increasing Pi’s authority.
Steven Callahan is an author who survived 76 days in the Atlantic after being shipwrecked. The Bailey family was shipwrecked in 1793. The couple survived on a raft after their yacht sank. Poon Lim was a sailor. He survived 133 days in the South Atlantic.
I believe that water is more important for Richard Parker, because he can survive longer without food, and there were other options for food. Although tigers can survive on salt water, it is not the same as having fresh water to hydrate with. The whistle is used to show Richard Parker that Pi is in control, and to make sure that Richard Parker realizes that he needs Pi in order to survive. Steven Callahan, the Bailey family, and Poon are all people who endured difficult shipwrecks, battled to survive, and ultimately defied the odds by surviving.
Steven Callahan is an American author, naval architect, inventor, and sailor who survived 76 days on a liferaft in the Atlantic Ocean. He later wrote a book about his time stranded and it became a New York Times best-seller. The Bailey family survived 118 days after their yacht was struck by a whale and sank.Poon was on a chinese seaman that survived 133 days until being saved. ALl of these people were hope for Pi that he would one day be rescued too.
I can not imagine being stuck on a life raft for 227 days. That takes a strong willed person to not give up.
I found him not having a lot of religious thoughts was odd too. Maybe he was too distracted by other things that the thoughts did not creep into his mind as much as usual.
I think Pi might have stopped keeping track of days and looking for ships because it was eating away at him. I know if I were stranded I would constantly being looking for boats. I think my mind would play tricks on me and I would get my hopes up so I think that is why he probably stopped.
Withholding food from a tiger would have a much stronger effect than withholding water. Think about training dogs or even cats or really any domesticated animal. What do you use? you certainly don't reward your dog with a fresh bowl of water after performing a trick successfully. You give him a treat. Controlling Richard Parker's food will give Pi all the control. Also the whistle he uses also backs up his control even more. Animals respond to noises. Like training a dog with a clicker. Or punishing a dog by shaking a can full of pennies. It shows them who is in control.
Pi stops counting the days because it has become his usual routine to live on this island and survive. We don't wake up every morning and go "ahh here goes day 6,552" No one does that. We do keep track of important days but we don't count everyday of our regular routine.
I also think Pi didn't speak much of religion because he got stuck in a sort of rut or routine. Like many of us we get consumed by our daily lives and routines and often forget about God. Not to mention when everything is against us we hardly want to turn to God. We more want to blame God. I think Pi merely got into one of these ruts and just sort of survived mindlessly.
Pi providing Richard Parker with food rather than water would have a greater effect on Richard Parker because he could drink salt water for several days without consequence but if he killed Pi that may feed Richard Parker 2 days tops and he would lose his access to fresh water and fresh fish. the whistle as Will posted is a training device to assert dominance and control Richard Parker's behavior.
Steven Callahan is an American Author who survived 76 days on a liferaft in the Atlantic Ocean, and wrote a widely successful book on his trials. The Bailey family survived 118 days at sea after their yacht crashed into a whale and sank. Poon was a Chinese seaman that survived 133 days stranded in the Atlantic before rescue.
I think that Pi doesn't speak much of his religion because he realizes that he cannot sit idly by waiting for his religion to save him and that he wants to survive he has to save himself. Constantly searching for rescue ships would be a waste of time and he may give up hope if he counts the days because after a certain amount of time if one is lost people give up looking and that is given someone knows you are missing and no one knows Pi is missing due to the fact he was migrating to Canada and nobody knew him.
I think being provided with food will have a stronger effect on Richard Parker, and will decrease the likelihood of Richard Parker having Pi as his next meal. The whistle reminds be of a noisier, scarier version of clicker training an animal. It also shows Richard Parker that Pi is the dominant one on the boat.
I think Pi stops his search for rescue, and keeping track of days because it would increase his feeling of desperation. If he had the knowledge of time then I feel like he would lose hope and eventually his desire to live.
Overall, I think being provided with food will have a stronger effect on Richard Parker. Richard Parker can obtain water in a variety of ways; sure, maybe it’s not as great as being provided with formal fresh water in a bucket but point being he will get water in the end. As for the food situation, Richard is not on land. He simply cannot supply himself with food (excluding the rare chance of catching flying fish), and that is where Pi plays an important role in Richard’s life. This gives Pi dominance over Richard, because Richard now relies on Pi for his personal survival. This lesson is taught and enforced using the whistle.
I think Pi abandons his religious thoughts because he finds himself aggravated with religion. If he were to think about it he would doubt his religious beliefs. It’s something he doesn’t want to do. He knows no one can save him, if he wants to survive this is something he will have to overcome by himself, but every time something positive happens he prays which shows he hasn’t given up on religion.
Pi quits looking for rescue ships and quits keeping track of days, because it’s simply not worth it. He must save himself. He encountered a ship in the book that nearly ran him over, because they couldn’t see them, much less save them.
I feel like being provided with food will have a bigger effect because Pi talked about how tigers have strong enough kidneys to injest saline water. The whistle works because if Richard Parker really wants it enough he will try to do anything in order to obtain it.
Steven Callahan is a man who had survived seventy-six days at sea. The Bailey family had survived 118 days at sea. Poon was a Korean merchant sailor who survived the Pacific for 173 days in the 1950's.
If you put it into perspective, the bible is more of a law on how to live in communities. If you were stranded would you rather have a bible or an encyclopedia/farmers almanac? I'm sure you would choose the book that teaches you how to survive. As long as he's praying and keeping God close to his heart there isn't really any influence around him to convince him of devilish ways. All he wants to do is to keep the will to live.
I know that when I get bored in class, I try not to glance at the clock too much and focus on something like doodling instead. Pi's using the same technique when he doesn't keep track of the days. If he were to wake up every morning and write down the date, the reminder would have the same effect as periodically checking a clock: it makes time seem to slow down. He gets lost in his "chores" instead, keeping himself preoccupied all the time.
Also, I think he stopped checking for any sign of rescuers because he knew what to expect. He'd seen an empty horizon for over a month and most likely felt that, if he was to be saved, it would've already happened.
Pi eventually stops counting the days because I think that having each day pass without anyone in sight it just a constant reminder that he may never be found. I believe that he doesn't mention many religious thoughts because he doesn't want any doubt in his mind. Such as if he were to pray to be rescued and he never was then he would doubt his god and wonder why his prayers were never answered. I don't think he would want to get his hopes up with religious thoughts if there was a chance that he may never escape this ordeal.
Even though it seems like food would be more useful to get Richard Parker, water has the stronger effect. Considering the fact that so far pi has continuously been worrying about if Richard Parker will eat him, you would think tht feeding the tiger would have the greatest effect. This, though, is overrode by the fact that Richard Parker has a supply of fish at his dispense. Richard Parker has no way to get water, so he has to rely on Pi to get it for him. This creates the greater effect of water with Pi's training scheduale.
Pi's decision on providing Richard Parker with food over water had a stronger effect. As long as Pi could keep him happy with his food it kept him safe. Pi could survive with little food and water but the tigers instinct would be that as soon as he is hungry he would have to eat and since Pi probably looks absolutely appetizing to him, the book would probably end quite abruptly.
Food is everywhere for Richard, to be honest he could eat Pi if he wanted, but water on the other hand he has no control of. As Pi explained earlier in the book animals like control, owning their own territory for example. When things aren't in the way they like they get stressed.
I find it hard to believe he survived 7 months at sea. Sure maybe he has a fighting chance, but then there's that one little thing, a TIGER! I mean seriously! Even him being a zookeepers son it's darn near impossible.
Why keep count of the days and looking for a ship? Just seems depressing to sit on a lifeboat whittling away at the thought that you've been stuck for 227 days with no help.
I think at this point in the book food may be more important than water but they'll be if equal impotance pretty soon after.
The whistle acts as a roar does with a tiger.
Steven Calhoun, Bailey family and Poon were all people that survived alone at sea.
I know! When I read that he was out there for 227 my eyes popped open. I was definitely shocked.
I feel like it may have been really hard for Pi to really think about anything but life on that boat, even though you would think he would get bored of it. He might have felt that all that religiousness was so much a part of his old life that it seemed a little out of place, like he was only going through the motions of it all and making sure he made his five daily prayers (for muslims) at the correct times as well.
Sometimes reality heiress too much to think about. That's why he did want to know the date. I wouldn't want to either. What happens happens and it will happen in it's own time. It's just easier not waiting and being so conscious of time.
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