Characters

Piscine Patel (Pi) is the main character in the story. He narrates it. He is a teenage Indian boy and he wants to be part of three religions: Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. This image is one of Dev Patel, because is very alike to Pi, and besides that, he is a Hindu and they have the same last names.

Richard Parker is a Bengal tiger that accompanies Pi when they are in the Pacific ocean. It is interesting how he eats all the animals that are in the boat except for Pi.

 Pi’s father is a zookeeper. He has strong political views and he wants to teach his son all that he can about animals and their psychology. He dies when the Tsimtsum sunk.

Father Martin is the one who introduces Pi to Jesus and to the Catholic religion.
Pi and Father Martin talk a lot and he says to Pi he can be part of multiple faiths.

Tomohiro Okamoto and Asturo Chiba are two Japanese men of the Ministry of Transport. They ask Pi about his survival story of the Tsimtsum sinking. They don’t believe him but they tape the interview and write it for their report.

Statements

One of my favorite parts of the book is when Pi meets both Mr.Kumar and it relates to me because I have met many friends with the same name, and when I talk about them, sometimes I get confused. It’s funny.

It is interesting how Pi wants to be part of three different religions: Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. Many people might think that this is a controversial decision but we all should be free of choosing the religion we want to believe in.

It is so sad how Pi lost his family when the Tsimtsum sank in the middle of the Atlantic. I think if I was Pi I would have died, because my family means everything to me and they support me all the time.

In the third part of the book it is sad how the guys that interview Pi don’t believe him, and it is more tragic when Pi reveals another version of the story, where the animals are replaced by humans. The zebra is the Chinese sailor, the hyena is the cook, the orangutan is his mother and he is the Bengal tiger.

The book was a little fictitious because it is impossible to be alone with a Bengal tiger for more than two months without being eaten. Also when he meets this other French guy in the middle of the Atlantic, also blind like Pi. It is something almost impossible, but we have to understand it is a book, and the imagination can take us wherever we want.

We can notice Pi is a very strong boy, because he fights against all the obstacles he meets over time. This relates to me because I also struggle with many problems in my life and I try to keep the positive side in any circumstance, looking for solutions to the problem.

Pi’s position is very difficult, because he is just a teenager, and in that situation he must navigate through those waters like an adult, being totally independent. He needs to grow up very quickly. This relates to me because sometimes adults treat me as if I was one of them, and I am not. I am just a teenager that has responsibilities and wants to have fun.

In the first part of the book Pi has a desire to be independent, but when he is alone, he realizes it is very difficult and he is unsure of what to do. Despite being without his family, only with a tiger, he needs to move on and figure out how to get through that in such a big world. 
This relates to me, because sometimes I would like to be independent, but then I realize how much I need my family to succeed in this world.

In part two, Pi almost dies because of the storm, and he almost loses all the things he has in the boat, so he gets very scared because he doesn’t want to die. This relates to me because it would be very scary to know that you are going to lose everything you have obtained with a lot of effort, just because of one simple mistake.

I really like how Pi survives for many days just with a tiger. I can notice he is a very strong boy that knows a lot about the world, and he is maturing very fast. I would like to have that ability, to be very calm and bright in moments like that.

Symbols

(Chapter 14, page 44): “Until it knows its rank for certain, the animal lives a life of unbearable anarchy.”
We can see the anarchy symbol. This quote is very certain because all animals want to do whatever they want, because they were born free and they need to keep it that way. Humans want the same; we don’t want anyone saying what we have to do at any moment, but if it was like that we would live in a society without control.

(Chapter 23, page 69): “Bapu Gandhi said, ‘All religions are true’.”
This image represents some of the symbols of the religions in the world, and every religion is in a different color. I think all religions are true. They may have different beliefs or customs, and I respect all of that, but in the end we all believe in one God. It doesn’t matter of what religion you are, we all are going to be connected any way.

The Life of Pi - Part 3 (Vocabulary)

Part 3
(Chapter 99, page 294): “’I’m sorry to say it so bluntly, we don’t mean to hurt your feelings…’”
Bluntly means being honest. Sometimes when we are blunt we may hurt other people’s feelings, so when we say something, we have to say it carefully.

(Chapter 99, page 296): “Clearly it was a strain.”
Strain means injury or damage, instead of saying damage we can say strain, for something we did wrong and we want to repair.

(Chapter 99, page 297): “If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn’t love hard to believe?”
Believability is the ability of believing in something, I honestly don’t have that ability, because it’s hard for me to believe in what other people say.

(Chapter 99, page 300): “You’re bringing our service into disrepute!”
Disrepute is like disfavor or disgrace, so when Mr. Chiba says this it is because his friend is doing bad work.

(Chapter 99, page 300): “They were meerkats.”
Meerkats are small, burrowing South African carnivores, of a grayish color with dark bands across the back, related to mongooses and having social behavior similar to that of prairie dogs.

(Chapter 99, page 304): “’’His right leg was badly broken at the thigh.”
Thigh is the part of the leg between the hip and the knee.

(Chapter 99, page 305): “I couldn’t believe a human being could survive so much pain, so much butchery.”
Butchery is brutal or wanton slaughter of animals or humans, carnage. So this means Pi was in a terrible situation.

(Chapter 99, page 307): “The dead flesh was too decayed to hold to the fishing hook; it simply dissolved in the water.”
Decay is to decline in quality, health, etc. So the body was almost dying.

(Chapter 99, page 313): “Can anyone fathom the workings of a drunken man’s mind?”
Fathom is to understand, to penetrate to the truth of; comprehend.

(Chapter 100, page 319): “…his story is unparalleled in the history of shipwrecks.”
Shipwrecks are the remains of a wrecked ship.

The Life of Pi - Part 3 (Photos)

Part 3
(Chapter 99, page 291): “’Did you have a good trip?’ ‘We had a wonderful trip. It was a beautiful drive.’”
I took this photo in the Amazon. It is an excellent photo because it captures the beauty of the Amazon and it looks amazing. When I arrived to Bogota, just right before being in the Amazon, everyone asked me if I had a good trip, and obviously I answered yes. It was an awesome trip I shared with my best friends.

(Chapter 99, page 297): “Isn’t love hard to believe?”
This photo shows my sister with me at the beach. I really love my sister, and that question is so true, because, I think you only can love your family. They are the only ones you can truly trust. So I think love is very hard to believe, because you only know a person until their true colors shine through.

(Chapter 100, page 319): “…is an astounding story of courage and endurance in the face of extraordinarily difficult and tragic circumstances.”
This is a photo of myself looking to the horizon in Santa Marta. When you are looking to the horizon, you start to think about all the good and tragic circumstances you have been through, and we have keep out the positive side even in the worst situation possible.

The Life of Pi - Part 3 (Images)

Part 3

(Chapter 95, page 290): “’We work hard.’”
This image is like a metaphor, because it shows the world in our hands. It is a very beautiful image, and it means we have to protect the world, we have to work hard for it, otherwise it won’t be the same anymore. I am trying to help it as much as possible, and I hope everyone is doing the same.

(Chapter 97, page 291): “The story.”
I really like this image, because it’s an open book, and inside of it, there is a big story. I think we all have a story to tell. For example I have been through many different situations in my life, and I could write more than one story to explain them.

(Chapter 99, page 294): “’Well, enough to know the possible from the impossible.’”

In this image we can see the word impossible, and a highlighter only highlighting possible. I have always been characterized for being a down to earth girl, and that includes knowing about the things that are good for me, and the ones that are not, for me not to make wishful thinking.

The Life of Pi - Part 2 (Vocabulary)

Part 2

(Chapter 37, page 97): “The water about him was shifting wildly.”

Shifting means to move or move something. So it means that the water was moving a lot. It is a very useful word because you can use it instead of saying moving.

 (Chapter 41, page 109): “They were bent and neatly tucked against its twisted torso.”

Bent is not straight, like a piece of bent wire, or when you say: do this exercise with your knees bent.

Neatly means tidy and in order. For example, every day I have to leave my bed neat.

(Chapter 41, page 109): “I was so eaten up by anxiety that I couldn’t dwell on it… ”

Dwell means to think or talk a lot about something. So when Pi says this, he is talking about Richard Parker, because he was astonished with this magnificent creature.

(Chapter 41, page 111): “…, fluffy, radiantly white clouds were beginning to light up in a vast fathomless…  ”

Fluffy is soft, light and containing air. Like when you have a teddy bear, you say it’s very fluffy.

 (Chapter 43, page 113): “In the preceding minutes its whining had been rising in volume to a scream.”

Whining is to complain in an annoying, crying voice, like when we were babies, we whined all the time.

 (Chapter 47, page 129): “She thumped the beast on the head.”

Thump is to hit somebody or something hard, especially with your closed hand. For example, some guys, when they are pissed off, they thump somebody in any part of their bodies.

(Chapter 53, page 149): “I was feeling faint with fear.”

Faint means feeling weak, tired and likely to become unconscious. In this case Pi felt like that because he thought his life was in danger.

 (Chapter 53, page 156): “…and I believe it was terror as much as wind and current that widened the distance between raft and lifeboat so swiftly.”

Swiftly means to do something quickly and immediately. So instead of saying fast you can say swift, like ‘she moved swiftly to the rescue.’

(Chapter 55, page 159): “…and the waves that threw a path over me and trod me underfoot one after another.”

Trod is the past tense of tread, which means to put your foot down while you are stepping or walking. In this part of the book, Pi must have felt very scared.

 (Chapter 78, page 215): “The sky was nothing but falling water, a ceaseless deluge that wrinkles and bloated my skin and froze me stiff.”

Deluge is a very heavy fall of rain. So it means that the deluge wasn’t stopping, and it was a bad weather for Pi.

Wrinkles are lines or small fold in your skin, especially on your face, when you get older. This shouldn’t be happening to Pi, because he is just a teenager, but this kind of things happens when you are in those conditions; when you don’t have anything to protect your skin, I think no one would like to have wrinkles.

Bloated means full of liquid or gas and therefore bigger than normal, in a way that is unpleasant.  This is another effect to Pi’s skin, in such a terrible situation, he must have felt very weak .

Stiff means firm and difficult to bend or move. I don’t imagine myself being in that situation, it must be horrible.

(Chapter 86, page 234): “Oh, what bliss!”

Bliss means extreme happiness. I really like this feeling, because everyone likes to be happy. And when Pi was in that ship, he must have felt like that.

The Life of Pi - Part 2 (Photos)

Part 2

(Chapter 69, page 200): “Water around the raft, until a moment before opaquely black, showed itself to be crowded with fish.”

In this photograph you can see me with a friend. In the back sea life, are corals, anemones and many fishes swimming. I took this picture when I was in Chicago’s aquarium.

In the book we can see that Pi sees lots of fish, as I did. It’s very beautiful to see sea life.

(Chapter 78, page 215): “There were many seas. The sea roared like a tiger. The sea whispered in your ear like a friend telling your secrets.”
In this picture you can see me looking toward the ocean. It is a very beautiful ocean because as Pi describes it, it seems like if there were many seas in one, because of the different colors you can see. It is an amazing view, and I know that Pi was astonished when he first saw that.

(Chapter 79, page 217): “There were sharks every day, mainly makos and blue sharks, but also oceanic whitetips, and once a tiger shark straight from the blackest nightmares.”
In this photograph you can see a tiger shark, I took this photo in the Aquarium of Chicago, it was really cool, because the shark was up on me, so I felt like I was swimming with them. It was a nice experience.

(Chapter 45, page 119): “Warmth came only when the sun, looking like an electrically lit orange, broke across the horizon, but I didn’t need to wait that long to feel it.”
This photograph is a very beautiful one, because you can see the horizon lit orange, as Pi saw. I took this picture in Santa Marta a year ago. It is very beautiful, and when I see this picture I remember all the good times I spent there.

(Chapter 62, page 189): “A turtle turned up, a different kind this time, a green sea turtle, bulkier and smoother-shelled, but curious in the same fixed way as a hawksbill.”

I took this photo when I was in Chicago’s Aquarium. You can see two heads of some green sea turtles; they are hiding behind a yellow rock. It is interesting how Pi saw many animals that I have already seen as well, they all are very beautiful.

(Chapter92, page 258): “It came to my olfactory sense, full and fresh, overwhelming: the smell of vegetation.”
This photograph is a very beautiful one, because it is in the Amazon. We were in the middle of the jungle and all was green, and you could feel the smell of vegetation. It was a really good view.

The Life of Pi - Part 2 (Images)

Part 2

Chapter 37, page 97): “Don’t give up please.”

We can see in the image a rock with the words don’t give up on it, and the rock is in the soil.
This is a sentence that Pi says to Richard Parker. Sometimes in our lives we need to keep going because we may fall down once, but we won’t twice.

(Chapter 37, page 98) : “Every single thing I value in life has been destroyed.”

We can see a man walking through a bridge that is vanishing in the sea. In this quote, Pi expresses how he is feeling, and who wouldn’t feel like him in a situation like that? In a situation where you have lost everything you have, your belongings and especially your family. You have no one but yourself.

(Chapter 43, page 117) : “An animal to pain the eye and chill the heart.”
In this image we can see some hands holding a heart. This quote is very interesting because Pi tries to say that the animal doesn’t want to show the pain he feels inside, so he prefers the pain to be in the outside. This is what happens sometimes with us, we try not letting the pain enter inside of us.

(Chapter 45, page 119): “…hope increased until it was like a song in my heart.”
This image shows a girl jumping. It is a very beautiful image. When someone tells you something that brings you hope, I think that is like a song in your heart, it has happened to me a couple of times, and it is a magnificent feeling.

(Chapter 46, page 127): “With that second sunset, disbelief gave way to pain and grief.”
We can see the sunset in the sea in this picture. Watching a sunset is a very beautiful thing, so when the sun disappears, I feel like if I have lost something, I don’t feel pain as Pi, but I get disappointed.

(Chapter 55, page 160): “All about me was flatness and infinity, an endless panorama of blue.”
In this picture, as the quote says, we can see flatness and infinity panorama of blue; the ocean. I remember when I was in a trip and all I saw was that, it was very beautiful and I really liked it.

The Life of Pi - Part 1 (Vocabulary)

Part 1

(Chapter 1, page 3): “My suffering left me sad and gloomy.”: Gloomy means depressing, this word is more useful than another word because is a feeling that all human beings feel in any moment of our lives.

(Chapter 4, page 12): “The riot of flowers is incessant.”
Incessant means never stopping. When someone never stops bothering you or harassing you, you can use wisely this adjective.

(Chapter 5, page 23): “I repeated the stunt with every teacher.”
Stunt is a dangerous and difficult action that somebody does to entertain people, especially as part of a film or movie. This next quote uses this word very assertive: - “As much as possible, I try to encourage people to use stunt men because that is really their job.” Sammy Neill

(Chapter 7, page 25): “Mr. Kumar was the first avowed atheist I ever met.”
Avowed means that something has been admitted or stated in public, for example when you avow your love for someone you really love and want to spend the rest of your life with.

(Chapter 8, page 31): “There was so many eager, curious hands that pulled at the curtain that we had to replace it regularly.”
Eager means to do something very interested and excited by something that is going to happen about something you want to do. This is a very useful word because when you really want something you are eager.

(Chapter 9, page 39): “The key aim is to diminish an animal’s flight distance, which is the minimum distance at which an animal wants to keep a perceived enemy.”
Aim is the purpose of doing something, like the objective. So instead of saying “the objective of this”, you can use instead “the aim of this”, and it is, as well, a very useful word.

(Chapter 12, page 42): “Each time is the same: my taste buds shrivel up and die, my skin goes beet red, my eyes well up with tears, my head feel like a house on fire, and my digestive tract starts to twist and groan in agony like a boa constrictor that has swallowed a lawn mower.”

Shrivel means to become or make something dry and wrinkled. This word is useful because you don’t always mean it to refer to a plant but also to a person.
Beet is a plant with a root that is used as a vegetable; you can use this to refer to your appearance, when you get flushed like Pi.
Groan is to make a long deep sound because you are annoyed, upset or in pain, or with pleasure. This word is very useful because you groan many times during your whole life, it depends on the feelings mentioned before.
Swallowed means to make food, drink go down your throat into your stomach. This happens every day in our lives so it’s a very important word.

(Chapter 16, page 47): “If there is a change, it is usually for the lesser rather than the grater, many people seem to lose God along life’s way.”
Lesser is not as great in size, amount or importance as something else, it is a very useful word because you can compare anything with it.

(Chapter 16, page 49): “The night is dark, the fire in their midst roars and crackles, the beat of the music gets ever faster.”
Midst is the middle part of something. You can use this word in any context you are anytime.

(Chapter 16, page 49): “She was my foster mother.”
Foster mother is the one who has raised you since you were a child. You have one when you don’t have a mother of your own and when you grow you don’t know how to thank her.

(Chapter 23, page 67): “Those were drooling epileptic fits brought on by the swaying of his camel, not divine revelation.”
Drooling is to let saliva come out of your mouth. This happens most of the times in babies or when you say, for example, you are drooling for him, it is because you are totally in love with him.

(Chapter 26, page 74): “’Good grief,’ she said.”
Grief is a feeling of great sadness, especially when somebody dies, so when a familiar or someone very special for us dies we can say we have a lot of grief.

The Life of Pi - Part 1 (Photos)

Part 1

(Chapter 1, page 3): “I had the great luck one summer of studying the three-toed sloth in situ in the equatorial jungles of Brazil. It is a highly intriguing creature. Its only real habit is indolence. It sleeps or rests on average twenty hours a day”
In this photo you can see me holding a sloth in Brazil, in the Amazon. When I read this quote I remember when I went to the Amazon and I hold a sloth. These animals are very slow and soft, they are very cute, and it is amazing how Pi describes that while he was studying them he was in Brazil, I was as well in Brazil.

(Chapter 1, page 6): “It is a great country, much too cold for good sense, inhabited by compassionate, intelligent people with bad hairdos”
In this photo I am in Minnesota in winter where you can see the coldness in the environment. This image relates to this quote because Pi says that Canada is cold as well, with not many people outside.

(Chapter 15, page 45): “His house is a temple. In the entrance hall hangs a framed picture of Ganesha, he of the elephant head.”
This is an image of Ganesha surrounded by a blue blanket. I remember when I took this picture when I was in The World’s Fair in Chicago, and there all the different cultures had to show all their representative objects of their culture.

(Chapter 16, page 48): “But religion is more than rite a ritual. There is what the rite and ritual stand for. Here, too, I am a Hindu. The universe makes sense to me through Hindu eyes.”
This picture shows my hand with Hindu art. I did this when I was in the World’s Fair, and there I learnt a lot about the Hindu religion, is a very beautiful religion and that’s why Pi says that everything makes sense through Hindu eyes.

(Chapter 32, page 84): “There are confirmed stories of drowning sailors being pushed up to the surface of the water and held there by dolphins, a characteristic way in which these marine mammals help each other.”
In this photo we can see some dolphins helping each other, I took this picture in Sea World, as the quote says, these marine animals help each other a lot, they are very beautiful ,and The Life of Pi describes many animals I have seen and its very cool how I identify with Pi.

(Chapter 32, page 85): “Whatever the case, the mouse was bitten by a young viper but devoured-and immediately-by an adult.”

 This photo shows a tour guy who was bitten by a viper in the Amazon. You can never trust in animals because you never know how their instincts will be, but if you are in harmony with them they won’t harm you.

  

The Life of Pi - Part 1 (Images)

Part 1
(Chapter 7, page 28): “I asked myself every day, ‘Where is God? Where is God? Where is God’ God never came.”
In this image is written WHERE IS GOD? Sometimes all the people wonder where is God when we need him, because we pass through many rough times in our lives, but in the end we’ll always find him, even though we think he hasn’t appeared at all.

(Chapter 29, page 77):  “Why do people move? What makes them uproot and leave everything they’ve known for a great unknown beyond the horizon?  ”
This image is very beautiful, we can see the horizon in the sea with some tree trunks on the side. This quote relates to everyone, because we all have to make decisions at any time of our lives, and we don’t know what will happen in the future, so we allow the world to take us to where it wants.

(Chapter 8, page 39): “But what can you do when you love your father?”
We can see two crossed hands, one of the father and the other of the daughter. This quote relates with me because I love my father. He’s the one who has given so much to me and I don’t know how to be grateful with him for all the things he has done during my life.

(Chapter 35, page 91): “Things didn’t turn out the way they were supposed to, but what can you do? You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it”
In this picture we can see a woman doing exercise in front of a very beautiful landscape. This quote is very interesting because sometimes you take decisions and they don’t come as they are supposed to, they come in a wrong way, so you have to confront them and make the best of it, because whenever you fall down you have  to get up.

(Chapter 36, page 91): “The cities are large and memorably crowded in India, but when you leave them you travel through vast stretches of country where hardly a soul is to been seen.”
In this image we can see a street almost without no one walking on it, is really ironic how in some places of the world there’s a lot of people celebrating, reunited all together, very kind and happy, and in another there’s no one, as if it was soulless.

 (Chapter 36, page 93): “This story has a happy ending.”
In this image we see a kid playing next to the sea. Happiness can come in many forms, when you are with your friends, with your family, the feeling you get when someone else’s dream come true, it is okay to let yourself be happy, because you never know how short that happiness will be.