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Pi comes off as very clever in Chapter 99. He disproves their doubt about bananas floating, he disproves their doubt about the island using a bonsai tree, he tries to disprove their doubt about the tiger by bringing up the Zurich black panther. Why isn't he wholly successful in fighting the doubts?
Great section in Chapter 99: "Don't you bully me with your politeness!" In fact that whole section of the novel is solid. Your thoughts?
So which story do you believe...the first story of the boat wreck, or the second?
Whenever one sees something different or odd in the structure of the text it should send up a red flag that cries for attention from the locals. What is the significance of the author using bold with different font for the translated Japanese? What does it add to the story?
Which story does the Japanese insurance man end up believing? Why do you think that's so?
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Thursday, July 19, 2012
Life of Pi: Chapters 99-100
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24 comments:
Pi is not successful in disproving his doubters because his story is so far far fetched. It's hard for many people to believe something that is that unbelievable. I like that Pi uses the argument that you don't have to see something to believe in it. This is the argument that people use to support the belief in God, wind, gravity, Santa Clause, ect.
I thought chapter 99 was very enjoyable. I liked that it was written as a dialogue. I also liked how Pi was able to argue using educated reasoning and how he told such an interesting story. The way the author showed how Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba communicated together in Japanese was cool. It adds to the story a point of view of the doubters. The two men only speak in Japanese when they are trying to talk behind Pi's back about their uncertainty towards Pi's stories and reasoning. I think the Japanese insurance agents believed the story with the humans. They wanted something that was more believable and Pi gave it to them. I, on the other hand, believe the story with the animals. I don't believe Pi could kill a person. I also find all the savagery and cannibalism hard to believe. Also, like the insurance agents, I find the animal story a more enjoyable story.
I enjoyed chapter 99 very much. I thought it was interesting how the author put the interview conversation into the book. The bolded parts of the conversation were because they were originally in Japanese and then translated. The two officers, Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba, talked to each other in Japanese because they didn't want Pi to know what they were saying about him. It adds the element of nonbelief to the story. When Pi told his original survival story of him and the animals, the officers didn't believe that something that rare could actually happen. Pi tried to get them to understand that you could believe in something without seeing it, that there has to be some sort of element of faith involved. Personally, I like the story with Pi and the animals better. I think it's more entertaining and always kept me wondering what would happen next. The insurance men also end up liking the animal story better because they say it was much more enjoyable to listen to.
Pi isn’t fully successful in making Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba believe him because his story is so crazy. It’s hard to believe that he lived on the boat with a tiger and that the tiger didn’t kill him. It’s hard to believe that in the ocean he meets another castaway. It’s also hard to believe that he found an island of seaweed with freshwater. No one has ever seen it before. I thought chapter 99 was very interesting to read. I also thought that it was a funny chapter. How Mr. Chiba and Mr. Okamoto argued I thought was funny.
I believe the story with the animals. The whole book was about how he survived on a boat with animals. I can’t see him making everything up about how he trained the Tiger. The author uses bold with different font when Mr. Chiba and Mr. Okamoto are talking in Japanese so Pi doesn’t understand. I think it makes the story even more realistic. It also adds humor to the story because Mr. Chiba’s comments. I think at the end the insurance man believes the second story even though he says he believes the first one. The second one just makes a lot more sense and seems relalistic to him.
As others have said, Pi isn't successful in fighting off the doubts of Mr. Chiba and Mr. Okamoto because they are the type of people that must see to believe. The doubts are coming from people that have to see to believe and since Pi has almost no evidence, he will always have trouble fighting off those who doubt his story.
I enjoyed chapter 99 because it was a change of pace from the rest of the novel. In chapter 99 there is dialogue, which we have seen very little of since the beginning of the novel. The argument about the bonsai tree and trying to create equivalents to help Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba understand Pi's adventure were humorous to me. This section of the novel adds many things that really weren't found in other chapters that made this novel rather enjoyable.
I believe the story of the first boat wreck. For logic's sake, look at it this way. We spend 98 chapters hearing about all of the animals and Pi's survival of the boat wreck in detail and descriptively. Then we see him get saved and get interviewed by two Japanese men that don't believe his first story so they ask him for a second. The similarities between the stories show that Pi tweaks the first story to be more palatable for the interviewers. Logically, I choose the first story to believe.
The significance for the bold and different font as the translated Japanese is giving the reader an insight as to what Pi feels. It is different and out of the ordinary. It adds the sense that there are boundaries in the world, yet they can be overcome. It also adds feeling to the novel because it allows the reader to imagine the words of everyone differently and sometimes in different voice inflections.
Overall I think the Japanese insurance man believes or at least accepts that it was possible is the second story. With more humans and less exotic animals, it is more believable, which is very important to the insurance man, so it seems. He did however enjoy the second story, but to him it was just a story, not an actual event that happened to someone.
Personally, I believe the second story. I would love to believe the story with the animals because it's much more entertaining, impressive, and easier to digest. The second story is harshly realistic and something no one wants to remember. However, I believe this reality presents the message Martel was trying to get across- that fiction and religion are tools used by humans to cope with the harsh realities of life. A lot of people are commenting on how elaborate Pi's animal story is and how the majority of the book is devoted to this majestic story of survival, and how that merely proves the reality of Pi's animal story. But if the animal story were true, what significance would this book have? In my opinion, it would merely be a wonderfully entertaining story with no deeper significance, and therefore almost pointless for us AP kids to be reading. To me, this is a tale of how harsh reality can be and how humans use fiction to cope with life. The fact that Pi's real story is told in merely a few pages just accents the theme of how blunt and unelaborate (if that's even a word) reality is. The fact that Mr. Okamoto believed Pi's animal story in the very end further shows the need for fiction not just to cope with reality but to better digest it. In the end, the animal and real stories are both the same, only one has much more exciting characters and images and is easier to digest than the other. From the ending, I've gathered that Life of Pi isn't a novel of extraordinary survival- it shows that human needs go beyond merely biological and extend into the imagination.
Pi isn’t completely successful in proving his story because the Japanese insurance men think that Pi is crazy and there is no way his story could be true. They have never heard something like this happening before so they think Pi is making it up.
Once I read chapter 99, I can see how chapters 21 and 22 are at the core of the novel. By relying on reason, the Japanese men are missing the better story, which is what Pi was talking about in chapter 22. In chapter 99 when Pi is desperately trying to get the men to believe his story, he is just trying to get them to realize that sometimes not everything needs an explanation and if they constantly are searching for a reason, they will “throw out the universe with the bathwater.” When he gives them the story with humans instead of animals, he calls it “dry, yeastless factuality” which brings it back to chapter 22 when he explains an agnostics search for reason. Chapters 21 and 22 were important to the end of the novel because they explained Pi’s ideas on reason and faith and foreshadowed the conversation he had with the Japanese men.
I want to believe the story with the animals mostly because it is more interesting, but the second one also makes sense. The first story seems like it should be true because earlier in the novel, Pi’s father brought a lot of attention to how dangerous Richard Parker is, which I thought was foreshadowing, and we spent 98 chapters reading it. But the second story could be true because earlier in the novel, Pi mentioned that he couldn’t remember what his mother’s face looked like anymore, but he didn’t mention the rest of his family and his mother was on the lifeboat with him until the cook chopped her head off. I think no matter which story is true, the themes of the novel are still apparent. Clearly, this isn’t solely a story on a young boy’s survival of a ship wreck and his undying faith through his ordeal and whether the first story is true or the second story is true, this is still a book discussing the ideas of faith versus reason, fact versus imagination, and man versus animals/nature. Even if the first story is the real one, this book would still convey all the messages that Martel was trying to get across.
Pi in unsuccessful because although he disproved many of their thoughts, his story about his survival in the ocean is so out there that it is truly hard to believe. He even brings up the fact that you don't have to see something to believe it, which makes Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba question their thoughts about his story, yet they still believe it is not the truth. In the end, I don't really think they believe the story involving the animals even though it is more interesting.
Chapter 99 was very interesting in the fact that the conversation between the three men was so intense and honest. All of the men said what they really thought and that was in a way comical to me. This chapter made me want to keep reading to see what Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba had to say about Pi's adventure.
I have to say out of the two story's I believe the second one only because it is more plausible. Although I believe the second story, I enjoy the first one much more.
I think the bold writing translating the Japanese adds a somewhat urgent tone to the story. The letters are big and bold and it seems like the author made it a point to make those conversations important.
I think Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba believe the second story only because it is more realistic. Although they believe the second story, they enjoyed the first story more.
I think Pi ended up not being wholly successful in fighting the doubts because people believe what they see. It's sad, but in most cases, this is true. The men listening found faults with it because they had never before seen, or even heard, of anything like that happening before. People tend to stick to what they know. It makes them feel safer and more in control, and heaven forbid man lose his control.
When people decide they don't want to believe in something, nothing can change their minds. All these men wanted was a reasonable account of the ship's sinking, not a story that could possibly change their outlook on life.
I enjoyed how Pi stripped down the Japanese men's arguments and fake personalities. I also enjoyed how humble and quiet they were in later responses.
Even if he didn't truly believe the story, the insurance man put on record that Pi survived Richard Parker. Because, even if they aren't true, interesting stories are worth more than boring ones.
Pi isn't fully successful because his story is so incredible, it's impossible to believe no matter how much evidence there is. Although he does prove that the bananas float and that if an animal doesn't want to be found it'll stay hidden, humans always think their right, are rarely anything can change their minds.
Pi knows that his story is unbelievable and also knows that the two men see him as a child that had been through a traumatic experience. What better way to make a traumatic experience even more exciting by adding some drama?
I think that the second story is the true one. However, I think that Pi believes the story with Richard Parker because otherwise, he watched and participated in cannabalism, helped cut a man's leg off, saw his mother be murdered, and murdered himself. I'd rather believe the tiger story, too.
The translated text makes me feel like the words are more honest and real. It makes the story a lot more believable and intense.
The Japanese insurance man clearly believes the tiger story. This is obvious in the last line of the chapter; "Very few castaways can claim to have survived so long at sea as Mr. Patel, and none in the company of an adult Bengal tiger."
First of all I'd just like to say that I found the Japenese men irritating. They kept whining about their own trip to Pi and that he was taking their food. They were so selfish!
Pi's story is difficult to believe, but for a reader who followed his story, I believe him.
I liked Pi's attitude towards the men. He was almost mocking them when he told his story with people instead of animals. He proved his points clearly and confidently.
The insurance men may have thought he was crazy but I don't.
Pi isnt wholly successful in fighting the doubts in his story because the story is so crazy and very hard to believe. It was a story that had aspects in it they had never herd of so they didnt think it was true. I didnt like the japanese men i felt like they were selfish and only wanted to believe what they thought would happen in that situation and only cared about getting out of that place and going home. I believe the story with the animals because the details are so presice and because i dont think Pi could kill another person or watch his mothers head get cut off and not do anything about it. The insurance man ended up believing the first story with the tiger becasue Pi's story is so crazy it would be hard to make up.
the chapter 99 was very nice to read after struggling though most of this book. The reason Pi was not able to perswade the insuance agents was the fact that it was such a hard story to believe. I myself did not believe it. But Pi did use good examples in trying to perswade the insuance agents thati do agree. I like the story of the people better, it may be harder to think of and understand why people would eat and kill one another, but I feel that it is a better story and an easyier one to read and believe. I think the insurance people believed the people story, but thought that te animal story was going to be easyier for people to know about and for Pi to be able to live with. I believe Pi replaced people with animals to keep himself sane.
Pi isn't successful in fighting the doubts because he doesn't have a tiger for his audience to see or the dead bodies of the human/animal victims along the way or the algae at that.
It is very hard to decide which story to believe. I prefer the emotional appeal in the original story, and the fact that Pi remains with this feeling of being abandoned from Richard Parker I'd like to believe it for the sake of Pi.
I believe that the men didn't fully believe pi because he had no evidence. No matter how airtight a story may be, without evidence a story like pi's is difficult to believe. Pi may have been able to prove that there is a possibility of his story being true he has no algae from the island or, more importantly, no Richard Parker to prove his story.
The fact that the translated Japanese text was handwritten out and bolded made me think of kids passing notes behind a teachers back. The men were like kids and pi was like a teacher and there were talking behind his back right in front of pi's nose.
I believe the men believed the story without animals because it was easier to believe a man resorted to cannibalism than a man-eating tree or a 450 pound tiger accepting a kid as the alpha male.
Pi is wholly unsuccessful in fighting the men's doubts about his story because it is so difficult to believe. If someone told me they spent the better part of a year on a life boat with a fully grown male Bengal tiger, I wouldn't believe them either. Also, since there has been so sign of Richard Parker since the arrival of the life boat in Mexico, Pi has no concrete evidence that his story is real.
The significance of the author using bold font when the two Japanese men spoke to each other was to show the reader how little respect the men had for Pi. They did not take him seriously in the least.
The Japanese men end up believing the origional story Pi told them because it was more interesting and they did not want to hear about cannibalism or other awful feats in the second story.
Pi is unsuccessful because his story is impossible to believe even if he had proof. Out of both of the stories I enjoyed the first one the most but I believe the second one. The second story was more believable to me because even though I have a hard time believing Pi could kill someone, I have a harder time believing he survived on a boat with the animals. I enjoyed the first story more because it kept me on my toes and I never knew what would happen next, it was more exciting to read.
I am more inclined to believe the second story because it is much more realistic. Psychologically Pi is obviously a little unstable, or he is repressing what really happened during his journey. Yes, what he went through was horrible, but since it was so bad he coped with it by making up his own "version" that made it easier to deal with. Going back to his home in India and the Zoo in his mind would be much more comforting to him than trying to grasp the reality of his situation. I think that in this story, the survival and life-or-death part of Pi ultimately won over and he actually became the tiger he portrayed in his account of the experience.
The bold lettering and different font was to put more emphasis on what the Japanese men were saying, the things that they thought and said about what they were hearing shape the end of the novel. The reader is left wondering what the real story is. Did the Japanese men just take Pi's side on the first story just to get done with it, or that they, like Pi, couldn't handle the reality of the second story? I think that the insurance man eventually ends up believing the first story though because he couldn't grasp the second, it was much more gruesome than the first.
The second story is more believable to me. Both seem totally far-fetched and weird though. Pi is unsuccessful in making people believe his story because he has no proof. The first story just seemed unrealistic while the second one, although I couldn't see him killing someone it is more believable.
I believe the second story. In psychology there is a Freudian called a defense mechanism that is created by traumatized minds to protect a persons mental health. The second story, in my opinion, is a more plausible outcome then a little boat filled with animals. With the second story being true it also explains why when Pi talks about the ship sinking he does in such a reserved way and also explains his emotional connection with the orangutan. As stated earlier in the novel, Pi when describing the orangutan also mentions how she has "two fine boys"(111).
The significance of the author changing the font when the text is translated into Japanese is to emphasis the fact they don't believe Pi. The bold text adds to the story a shock factor. The Japanese insurance men add the factor of the real world to the story and how the population would refuse to accept Pi's fist story.
I would go with the second story. Pi would have been delusional, and to cope with the situation, he probably did not know which was real himself. If he had to live with one, the animal one is far easier to deal with than his mother being murdered and eaten.
The bold text is meant to show the reader what was private between the two men. These were the true, unfiltered thoughts that the men had, not a part of a greater plan to placate Pi or something that had been changed to be more polite. It shows the men's true concerns.
Pi's story was hard to believe because it was very unusual and was told by a boy versus an adult; the japanese insurance men questioned the validity of the story from the beggining by doubting how the bananas floated and what not, and pi told them to not bully him with politeness because they were being overly polite and pi new their little tricks of talking in japanese because the japanese insurance men expressed their skepticism such as that pi knew they didnt believe him. I believe the animal story because its alot cooler then the one with the people. I think the japanese insurance men believed the animal story but documented the story with people for his insurance company, im not sure why its just a feelin.
The End.
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