Response Journal Entry #1

When I first heard the name of the book, Life of Pi, I thought it was going to be very boring because it sounds likes like biography and nobody likes it. After finish the first part of the book, I can honestly say that this is the most interesting book about of person. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, is very interesting and educating. It not only tells us many things about Pi’s life but it teaches us lessons in life and the nature and beliefs.

Piscine Molitor Patel is his real name and he is a very unique and complicated character. I was most shocked when I founded out he was deifying three different religions at the same time, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. At first I thought he was crazy, but he is just in love with God. He was in a situation where all the three wise men met at one place and they asked him to pick a religion. Pi replied, “ All religions are true. I just want to love God,” (Pg 76). I agree with this idea because all religious are true but in reality you can only follow one.
He is actually very educated about all the three religions, and he understands that they are all similar to each other, which is also very true. For instance, I found Chapter 26 (Pg 79-82) really funny because he had a discussion with his father and his mother about religious and how he wants to be baptized and at the same time he wants a rug to pray. I can’t believe he actually asked his parents. I’m scared to ask my parents for anything that is against our religion, such as piercing my ears. Let alone, he actually asked them to be baptized and a rug. The ironic thing was that his parents really did not have anything to say to Pi but they wanted him to follow one. I can imagine asking my parents the same thing and waking up with broken arm the next day.

The part that made me most angry was when Santosh Patel, Pi’s father, forced Pi and his older brother, Ravi, to watch a goat in a hungry tiger’s cage, in page 39. It was a bloody, disturbing scene to see a helpless goat being eaten by a tiger that wasn’t fed for three days. I understand the dad was trying to teach them a lesson on how dangerous and violent tigers and other animal can be, but Pi and Ravi were still young. Pi was only 8 years old. I can only pity them for all the nightmares they went through. I would never tolerate to see such a bloody scene, especially if I am 8 years old. I’m turning 16 soon, and I am still seriously scared of dogs. If I were to watch a dog hunt its prey, such as the tiger and the goat, I don’t think I would be able to walk past any four-legged species. I would probably run away from every dog.
It was an important lesson for them to learn that not only tigers are dangerous, but also any other animal is just as equally brutal if you temper it and invade its territory.

I really consider the author’s opinion when he compares freedom of animals to humans. Some of us, as humans, think its wrong to put animals into cages for attraction and tourism. It is actually benefiting the animals because life in the wild is a survival for the fittest. Animals in the wild have to hunt for their food, find their own shelter and hide from predators and they are lucky to survive each day. Every species likes a home that is settled. One phrase I really like is when Pi humorously says, “If you went to a home, kicked down the front door, chased the people who lived there out into the street and said Go! You are free! Free as a bird! Go! Go! - do you think they would shout and dance for joy?”(pg.18) It statement is incredibly funny yet very true. I love my house. It is where I most safe and spend most of my time and I would never abandon it to the streets.

I enjoyed the section when Santosh Patel painted a question on the wall at his zoo. It said, “ DO YOU KNOW WHICH IS THE MOST DANGEROUS ANIMAL IN THE ZOO?” An arrow followed this question into a small curtain, with a mirror behind. (Pg.34). I really found this idea amusing because people were very curious and eager to find out the most dangerous animal and when they looked inside the curtain, they saw themselves. It really shows the facts at WE, as humans, are the most dangerous species in mankind. On a global scale, we are killing more animals everyday and destroying our ecosystem with the spreading urban culture. We are harming the nature everyday to a point where everything will just wipe out, by continuing to cut down more forests, pollute the water, and cause more air pollution. In the book, Pi talks about how people in the zoo, particularly, are harming the animals using just about anything (pg 32). It’s very surprising how cruel people can be just for some little excitement.

Pi’s life is filled with many exciting events and it makes him a very appealing and curious person. So far, he enjoys life and on his way to a new place, Canada. We have already foreshadowed the danger he encounters, with the wrecked ship, but it will be very interesting to find out how he is going to survive in a boat with animals. I can’t wait to continue reading this wait!