Life of pi part 1

Explain Pi's concept of the Brahman nirguna.

Brahman nirguna is the fundamental spiritual essence, which is beyond human understanding.

What is significant about the details the fictional author chooses to reveal about Mr. Patel?

Essentially, the author confirms Mr. Patel's gentle nature and possibly nervous demeanor.

What is suggested by the fact that the authors note was sent in italics and chapter 1 is that in normal text

Italics are the authors comments and normal text is Mr. Patel's story.

Why does Piscine like praying in the mosque?

Pi finds the Islamic method of prayer, which involves kneeling and bringing his head down to the ground, to be physically satisfying.

How does Pi feel about growing up in a zoo? In terms of the Bildungsroman narrative, what might the zoo symbolize?

Pi loves living in a zoo. He calls it "Paradise on earth," indicating that this is the idyllic, Edenic period of Pi's life, before his story of maturation.

What is significant about the narrator's name?

Piscine was named after a famous swimming pool, and he loves to swim.

According to Father Martin, what is the key to the entire Christian story? l

love

What, according to Pi, does "an animal hate above all else"?

the unknown

What did Piscine's father do for a living?

zookeeper

What is Brahman saguna?

Brahman saguna is Brahman, or God, made manifest in physical things. Unlike Brahman nirguna, Brahman saguna can be understood by human beings.

What does Pi say made him a Hindu?

He says that the rich sensory details of Hinduism made him love the religion from the start. But he is also a Hindu in his religious philosophy.

What confuses Pi about Christianity?

Pi can understand and appreciate the Christians' concept of God suffering challenges, but he cannot comprehend a deity's being willing to subject Himself to abject humiliation. To Pi, that is amazingly un-godlike.

Why did the author go to India?

To work on the rest of his novel.

Who is the man Patel calls Mamaji, who teaches Patel how to swim? How have we already met him?

Mamaji is Francis Adirubasamy, the man who told the fictional author, "I have a story that will make you believe in God."

Who do we assume is the speaker of chapter 1? What suggests this?

Mr Patel because the authors note ended with the introduction to Mr. Patels tells story.

What might the origin of Patel's name foreshadow?

Patel's story is most likely going to involve water.

What are some of the reasons Pi gives for animals' wanting to escape from zoos?

He says that animals whose enclosures are not just right may try to escape, as may wild animals suddenly brought into captivity. But animals may also try to escape for no good reason, as a result of the "measure of madness" built into all living things.

What is the most significant thing about the story that the author hears

Mr. Adirubany says that the story the author is about to hear and which we are about to read, "will make you believe in God"

What is the power of Pi's response to the competing religious men?

The power of Pi's response lies in its simplicity. Pi simply wants to "love God."

What is a "flight distance"?

A "flight distance" is "the minimum distance at which an animal wants to keep a perceived enemy." Put more simply, "flight distance" refers to how close an animal will allow an enemy to get to it before it flees.

Why is an understanding of animals' flight distance important to a zookeeper?

A caged animal that cannot flee when its enemy is too close experiences extreme stress. It is in the animal's best interest—physically and emotionally—for the zookeeper to minimize the animal's flight distance so it can tolerate being observed by humans at close range.

What does Pi mean when he says, "The obsession with putting ourselves at the centre of everything is the bane not only of theologists but also of zoologists"?

A central theme of the book is the inability of humans to understand the natural world or God except through the lens of human experience and reason. The truth is, however, that we can really understand neither by comparing them to ourselves.

What problem does Pi have with agnostics?

Agnostics are unable to commit to any position. They live in a state of perpetual doubt.

What happened to the leopard that escaped from a zoo in Zurich in the 1930s, and what does the story illustrate?

Although hunting dogs were set loose to chase her and traps were set to catch her, the escaped leopard lived for two months in the area around the city. Pi says that the fact that this leopard lived so long without being seen and did not attack anyone while she was out proves that escaped animals are not dangerous and are actually just trying to fit into the new environments in which they find themselves.

What does Pi mean at the end of this chapter when he says, "in that elusive, irrational number with which scientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge."

Another important theme in this book is the question of order in the universe; Pi says many times that stories are our way of making sense of a baffling existence.

Why does Mr. Kumar not believe in God?

As a rationalist, Mr. Kumar looks for the cause to every effect. His story about having polio as a child illustrates his rational approach. What God would have let a boy suffer from such a disease? Meanwhile, it was not God who saved him, but medical science.

What is the tone of his language as he describes the religious objects?

At least some of the artifacts make the narrator smile. He seems to have a positive view of these objects and of the breadth of Pi's faith.

Who is Richard Parker who "preys on [Pi Patel's] mind"?

At this point, we cannot know with any certainty, but we should recognize the allusion to the Richard Parker in the Poe story—a young boy who was shipwrecked and killed by the other people on his life boat, who survived by eating him. We can only assume that Patel is either haunted by the Poe character, or that Richard Parker was one of the persons whom Pi encountered during his adventure at sea—possibly someone on the ship or on his life boat. The fact that he still "preys on" Pi's mind suggests that Parker came to some horrible end that somehow involved Pi.

How are atheists like believers, according to Pi?

Atheists also follow their reason; once they reach the bounds of reason, they "leap" by proclaiming that there is no God. Believers also go to the edge of reason, then find God beyond this edge.

What is the point of Pi's tale of Krishna and the milkmaids?

Being divine, Krishna was able to love all of the milkmaids at once, but, as soon as the girls became possessive, each wanting Krishna for her own, he would vanish. The point is that no one faith can "possess" God, claim Him for its own. If we start to believe that God belongs only to us, we lose our connection with Him.

Why is Mr. Patel still spending so much time discussing animal behavior and how humans gain "control" over dangerous wild animals?

Clearly the story is going to have a great deal to do with a wild animal in unfamiliar territory and a human's need to establish control over it.

What we can infer about Mr. Patel from his tone?

He seems to be a gentle, intensely emotional person. He expresses love for a boy who beat him in a scholarship competition, and he tells us that he once fainted when a faucet was turned on because the experience was so shocking. He is also very interested in and knowledgeable about animals.

What personal characteristics does Pi exhibit in choosing to change his own name?

He shows a will to survive and the ability to take control of a situation. These qualities will help him later in the book.

Why does the author mail his manuscript for the book about Portugal to a made up addressed in Siberia?

He thinks that his novel is worthless so he mailed his manuscript to a place that does not exist.

What, then, do each of Pi's three religions give to him?

Hinduism gives Pi his spiritual sense and his respect for all life. Christianity gives him a sense of humility and a closeness to God. Islam gives Pi a physical and satisfying means of expressing and practicing his faiths.

What did Piscine's father do before he became a zookeeper? What comment does Piscine make about the transition from hotel owner to zookeeper?

His father ran a hotel; according to Piscine, running a zoo is not very different, although the "guests" are much more demanding.

What does the name "Mamaji" mean?

In Tamil, an Indian dialect, "Mama" means "uncle." "Ji" is a suffix that "indicates respect and affection." Although not related to Mr, Patel, Mamaji was like a beloved uncle to him.

What does Pi mean when he says that "certain illusions about freedom plague" both zoos and religion?

Just as people who do not understand believe zoos imprison animals and deprive them of happiness, many people who do not understand believe religion deprives people of their freedom.

Why do zoologists "commonly say...that the most dangerous animal in a zoo is man"? What animal does Pi's father believe is "even more dangerous than us"?

Man is the one who causes problems in zoos by tormenting the animals. Human beings will feed dangerous items to animals just to see what the animals will do. Pi's father insists, however, that the anthropomorphized animal is the most dangerous of all. People must not make the mistake of believing that animals are like humans, with human understanding and emotions.

What is significant about the cities Mr. Patel says he would like to visit?

Mecca is the holiest city of Islam, one of Pi's three religions; Varanasi is a holy city in the Hindu faith, another of Pi's three religions; Jerusalem is holy to Muslims and Christians, Christianity being the third of Pi's three religions. Paris is a reputedly beautiful and romantic city. Oxford is the site of the great English university and a world-famous seat of academics.

Who first tells the author about Mr. Patels tells story? how many storytellers does this make in the book so far?

Mr Adirusany, A man he meets in the coffee house, tells the author the story. We now have a tell based on a story heard from a stranger in a coffee shop, re-told by an author we cannot be sure of.

Why did the person speaking in Chapter 1 choose to study the sloth?

Mr. Patel begins his story by saying that his suffering left him sad and gloomy. He chose to study the sloth because its "demeanor—calm, quiet and introspective—did something to soothe [his] shattered self."

What two intensely religious experiences does Pi describe in this chapter? Why are they significant?

One occurs when he is riding his bicycle back from the Muslim Mr. Kumar's house. Pi looks around at the trees, sea, and sky and suddenly sees how everything is connected. The second experience takes place much later, in Canada. Pi sees snow falling in the sunlight, and within the snow is the Virgin Mary. Both of these experiences take place in natural settings. The sense of all things' interconnectedness is a chief belief of Hinduism while a vision of the Virgin Mary is undeniably Christian. These two events underscore the depth of Pi's belief in multiple religions.

What were Mr. Patel's two majors in college? What connection does he make between the two? How do they foreshadow what is likely to come later in the novel?

Patel majored in both zoology and religious studies. He compares religious-studies majors—people who analyze religion, but will not commit to believing in God—to sloths; they are confused and hesitant. Sloths, on the other hand, remind him of God. Mr. Patel sees design, order, and beauty in the natural world. The combination of the two majors suggests that animals, God, and faith will play roles in the story Mr. Patel has to tell.

What impact is his growing friendship with Mr. Patel having on the fictional author?

Patel's life is so full, so meaningful, and Patel himself is so full of life that the author is now—more than ever—convinced of the hollowness of his own life.

What might Pi mean by the following: "And they expected to find—ha! In the middle of a Mexican tropical jungle, imagine!"

Pi has been saying that even cities house more forms of wildlife than people can imagine. Here he seems to be saying that some unusual creature was able to hide in the Mexican jungle without being found.

Why doesn't Pi argue with Mr. Kumar about the existence of God?

Pi is afraid that Mr. Kumar's rational words will take a hold of him the way the polio virus took hold of the young Kumar. Pi does not want Kumar's rationality to destroy his faith. He says, "What a terrible disease that must be if it could kill God in a man."

What does Pi like most about Christianity? How does he compare it to his own Hinduism?

Pi is impressed by Christianity's humanity. He is "compelled" by the idea that Christ is God incarnate. He likes the idea that God is accessible to all people because His son was human. Hinduism, then, provides Pi with a spiritual sense of the interconnectedness of all living things, and Christianity offers him a means to approach God.

To whom does Pi refer when he speaks of "the (three) wise men"?

Pi is talking about the priest, the imam, and the pandit.

What might be significant about the name Pi chooses for himself?

Pi is the ratio of a circle's radius to area and diameter to circumference. Circles will play an important role in this novel, with Pi eventually realizing he is the center of his own circle.

Compare the ways Pi comes to know Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam.

Pi is, at first, frightened by both Christianity and Islam. To him, Christianity has a "reputation for...violence." He is so wary of it, in fact, that he is afraid to go into the church. If Christianity has this reputation, "Islam [has] a reputation that is worse." Pi learns about each religion by one-on-one interaction with members of that religion. His aunt and mother take him to the Hindu temple when he is small; he strikes up a friendship with the priest who teaches him about Christianity; and he likewise meets a Muslim baker who teaches him about Islam.

What comparison does the adult Piscine make between the impulse to "free" animals and invading a person's home and "freeing" him? Why is this comparison significant?

Pi says that no person with "all the usual ties—to family, to friends, to society" would willingly choose to be cut loose from these things. This is significant because this is exactly what will happen to Pi.

What language and imagery does Pi use to describe Mr. Kumar? Why is it significant?

Pi says, "[Mr. Kumar's] construction was geometric: he looked like two triangles, a small one and a larger one, balanced on two parallel lines." Mr. Kumar represents the world of abstract reasoning. Like Pi, whose name also represents an important geometric ratio, Mr. Kumar is associated with these theoretical concepts.

What is Pi's father's attitude toward religion?

Pi's father has a completely pragmatic attitude toward religion. While he is not a man of faith himself, he has two small Hindu shrines at his zoo for public relations.

What first impresses Pi about Islam?

Pi's first impression of Islam is its immediacy. When the baker hears the call to prayer, he immediate rolls out his prayer matt and begins praying. To Pi, Muslim prayer is "quick, necessary, [and] physical..."

The second speaker in Chapter 22 says he "can well imagine an atheist's last words: "White, white! L-L-Love! My God!" Why does he think that these would be the last words an atheist would utter before death?

Pi, of course, would believe that an atheist would come to believe in God at the time of death.

Does Piscine believe animals are better off in the wild or in a zoo?

Piscine clearly believes that animals are better off in a zoo. In a zoo, animals have regular medical care, plenty of food, and a well-needed schedule. In the wild, they lead lives of "compulsion and necessity."

What is Piscine implying when he says that "a house is compressed territory, where our basic needs can be fulfilled close by and safely"?

Piscine is essentially comparing a house to a zoo. Just as humans—who once roamed "free" in jungles and on plains—have adapted satisfactorily to sheltered lives, so too do animals— especially those born in captivity—adapt to habitations in which all of their needs are met.

What is Piscine implying when he says that the only "relentless imperatives" felt by animals is avoiding enemies and securing food and water?

Piscine is implying that "freedom" is not a high priority for animals, and that those humans who criticize zoos for depriving animals of this "freedom" do not understand the truth of the situation.

What is ironic about the meeting of the three religious men?

Rather than acting like men of God, faith, and love—practicing the principles each has been teaching Pi—they act like competitors with Pi as the prize.

Why is social hierarchy important to animals? What does this have to do with the story Mr. Patel is going to tell the narrator?

Social hierarchy is important because much of animal survival depends on knowing precisely where it fits in that hierarchy. The story Patel is going to tell the narrator most likely has to do with animal territorialism and dominance.

What is ironic about the Muslim baker's name? What is Martel suggesting by naming him this?

The Muslim baker has the same name, Mr. Kumar, as Pi's favorite teacher—the biology teacher and atheist who loved the zoo. Martel is most likely suggesting parallels between atheism and faith, and faith and reason. The two vastly different Mr. Kumars also parallel Pi's ultimate decision to major in zoology and theology.

Why is the animal with the "lowest social standing" also the easiest to train?

The animal with the lowest social standing has the most to gain from associating with the alpha member of the group.

What does the author's description of Patel's kitchen suggest?

The author notes that Patel's kitchen is jammed with far more food than he could eat, as if he is hoarding food against some possible disaster.

What do the phrases, "dry, yeastless factuality" and "the better story" suggest?

The author, having just finished another visit with Patel, is most likely thinking about what Pi has said to him. Here we have the suggestion that the "better" story is not necessarily the "factual" one, that there might be something lacking in the relating of mere facts. Perhaps the story Patel is telling the narrator is not precisely factual.

What is the point of the episode Pi relates about the ravenous tiger and the goat? Why has Martel placed this episode in the same chapter with the discussion of anthropomorphism? What might this episode foreshadow?

The brutal death of the goat graphically illustrates the viciousness of natural world. Set beside the discussion of anthropomorphism, it illustrates that wild animals are not humans with the same emotions and rational thought processes. Martel might be foreshadowing an incident in which human nature and brute animal nature meet one another—possibly dealing with a tiger.

On what kind of note does this chapter end?

The chapter ends on a mildly humorous note. The three religious men walk away, essentially dissatisfied that none of them has "won." Pi's father has uttered a statement that Pi finds ridiculously out of character for him, the mother smiles warmly at her son—amused, but not upset—by her son's ecumenicalism, and life returns quickly to a pleasant routine of ice-cream sandwiches and Sunday afternoon walks.

What can be inferred from the religious artifacts that the author sees in Patel's house about the person who lives in that house?

The narrator describes the house as a temple. There are items in this house from three different religions; all three appear to be equally revered. There are depictions of the Hindu god Ganesha, the Buddhist deity Krishna, and Jesus Christ, the central figure of Christianity. The person whose house this is appears to be a devotee of three of the major religions of the world: Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity.

In this chapter, we finally learn the full name of our narrator. What is it and how did he get it?

The narrator is Piscine Molitor Patel. He was named after Mamaji's favorite pool in Paris, France, the Piscine Molitor.

What does the narrator's saying that Pi Patel "bobs" on the "ocean of memory" foreshadow?

The narrator is foreshadowing the telling of Pi's story, when, as a teenager, Pi floated in a life boat on the Pacific Ocean for two hundred twenty-seven days.

What distinction does Mr. Patel make between the ocean and the swimming pool? What is the significance of this distinction?

The ocean is chaotic and uncontrollable, while the swimming pool has a "proper rectangularity and [a] formal flatness." The significance is that the chaotic and uncontrollable nature of the ocean is going to figure strongly into this story.

Briefly outline each religious man's argument against the other two religions. What is the point of this scene?

The priest asserts that Christianity is an all-exclusive religion— "There's salvation only in Jesus." Further, he discounts Hindus as "idolaters," and dismisses Muhammad as an "illiterate merchant." The pandit insists that both Islam and Christianity are foreign, colonialist faiths imposed upon the native Hindus. The Imam asserts that Hinduism, with its caste system, is a system of slavery. He further insists that both Hindus and Christians are idolaters. The point of this scene is clearly that, while Pi has seen beauty and truth in all three faiths— and obviously does not see them as mutually exclusive—the three religious men devote much more energy to denigrating the other religions than pointing out the beauties of their own.

What is suggested by the authors comment about fiction being "the selective transforming of reality? the twisting of it to bring out its essence"?

The story is true but he twist stuff to bring out the essence.

What does the zoo represent to Mr. Kumar?

The zoo reassures Mr. Kumar that the universe is orderly. He seems to think that it is people, with their emotions and irrationality, who cause problems.

Why does Pi goes into such detail explaining how zoos work?

The zoo was an important part of Pi's growing up. The entire book is a study of the behaviors of humans and animals in unnatural and unexpected circumstances.

What significant trait did the narrator and Mamaji share?

They both loved swimming.

What do the language and format of this chapter establish for the reader?

This chapter is again in italics and written in the third person point of view. This establishes that Yann Martel is using plain text and first-person narration for Mr. Patel to tell his story, and italics in the third person for the fictional author's insertions.

Why does Mr. Kumar love the zoo?

To Mr. Kumar, an avowed atheist, every animal in the zoo is a "triumph of logic and mechanics" and a symbol of the nature of science.

What can we infer about the narrator so far?

We can infer that he has suffered great hardship and loss ("My suffering left me sad and gloomy"). He came from India ("I have nothing to go home to in Pondicherry"). We can also guess that the story he has to tell involved illness or injury ("The doctors and nurses at the hospital in Mexico were incredibly kind to me").