[Life of Pi], pt1 -- discussion of themes and quotations

Pi's names: Piscine Molitor VS Pissing VS Pi

"Reason, that fool's gold for the bright" (5) DISCUSS

"Every morning before I was out the main gate I had one last impression that was both ordinary and unforgettable: a pyramid of turtles; the iridescent snout of a mandrill; the stately silence of a giraffe; the obese, yellow open mouth of a hippo; the beak-and-claw climbing of a macaw parrot up a wire fence; the greeting claps of a shoebill's bill; the senile, lecherous expression of a camel" (14-5). FIND EXAMPLES IN YOUR OWN LIFE

 "It was my luck to have a few good teachers in my youth, men and women who came into my dark head and lit a match" (25). WHO WERE THESE TEACHERS FOR YOU?

"Mr. Kumar was the first avowed atheist I ever met. I discovered this not in the classroom but at the zoo. He was a regular visitor who read the labels and descriptive notices in their entirety and approved of every animal he saw. Each to him was a triumph of logic and mechanics, and nature as a whole was an exceptionally fine illustration of science. To his ears, when an animal felt the urge to mate, it said "Gregor Mendel", recalling the father of genetics, and when it was time to show its mettle, "Charles Darwin", the father of natural selection, and what we took to be bleating, grunting, hissing, snorting, roaring, growling, howling, chirping and screeching were but the thick accents of foreigners. When Mr. Kumar visited the zoo, it was to take the pulse of the universe, and his stethoscopic mind always confirmed to him that everything was in order, that everything was order. He left the zoo feeling scientifically refreshed" (25-6). ATTEMPT TO REPRODUCE THIS TECHNIQUE, WHERE A PERSON'S PERSPECTIVE AFFECTS OBSERVATIONS

 "That is God as God should be. With shine and power and might. Such as can rescue and save and put down evil" (55). SUPERHEROES VS HINDUISM V JUNGIAN ARCHETYPES

"Mr. and Mr. Kumar were the prophets of my Indian youth" (61). WHO WERE THE PROPHETS OF MY YOUTH?

"The [baptism] water trickled down my face and down my neck; though just a beaker's worth, it had the refreshing effect of a monsoon rain" (77). A STRANGE JUXTAPOSITION, WHAT WITH A MONSOON BEING A HEAVY, TORRENTIAL DOWNPOUR WITH STRONG WINDS THAT LASTS FOR A LONG TIME -- THESE CONDITIONS BEING DESTRUCTIVE AND FREQUENTLY FATAL. IS THIS TO SAY YOU MUST OPEN YOURSELF TO RELIGION, WITH ALL ITS BENEFITS AND DETRIMENTS; YOU CANNOT PICK & CHOOSE WHICH PARTS OF IT TO ACCEPT BUT MUST ACCEPT IT ALL?

"People move in the hope of a better life" (77). CONSIDER YOUR MOVES.

"Strange in a familiar way, familiar in a strange way" (82) USED TO DESCRIBE MEETING THE FIRST MR. PATEL IN THE ZOO AFTER A LONG STRETCH OF TIME (MUCH OF WHICH WAS SPENT WITH THE SECOND MR. PATEL)