Michele - Life of Pi

LisaT Posted: May 07, 2003 04:40 PM

Michele - Life of Pi

Tiger or no tiger?

I know thats not really the point of the story, but I'm just curious which way you went.

michele31 Posted: May 07, 2003 08:37 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

He needed to view the experience thru the use of animals so he could deal with what happened. So for him, yes there was really a tiger but in reality there wasn't.

LisaT Posted: May 07, 2003 08:40 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

I love that explanation. Though I kind of liked thinking of him with a tiger on board (rather than him being the tiger).

It was a great book. I enjoy almost all of your recommendations.

starhead Posted: May 08, 2003 01:56 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

Hey, I just finished this book myself. You guys really think there wasn't a tiger??? I thought there was....

michele31 Posted: May 08, 2003 04:35 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

There is NO right or wrong answer here. It is a matter of what you believe happened. I think he was a child and children cope with many tragic situations with their imagination. I am still trying to figure out the flesh eating island. This book was very complex and I really enjoyed it. I am SOOO glad that I have some people to talk to about it.

LisaT Posted: May 08, 2003 06:51 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

I was wondering if the cannibalistic island translated to his own cannibalism (eating the wounded soldier, etc)

but if it was his imagination, how do you explain the small bones in the boat? was there really an island?

its a very thought provoking book. DH stole it from me and couldn't put in down. I had to wait for him to finish so I could start reading it.

LisaT Posted: May 08, 2003 06:53 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

I thought it was pretty sneaky (and well done) the way they introduced Richard Parker into the story - all the while making it seem like a person and then he turns out to be a tiger.

starhead Posted: May 08, 2003 07:34 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

He was a child but he was 16. This definitely was a great book - different than a lot of stuff I've read lately and very though provoking. I had gotten the book from DH for xmas (i had asked for it), started it, then stopped and then when I picked it up again, I couldn't put it down!!

dandj Posted: May 08, 2003 07:50 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

This book sounds interesting... who is it by?

LisaT Posted: May 08, 2003 08:26 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

the author is Yann Martel

michele31 Posted: May 12, 2003 01:53 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

I think the small bones could have been from the fish he was eating. Remember if he saw his mother killed and eaten by a shark then the trauma to anyone, let alone a 16 year old, could cause him to believe in a tiger, island etc...

The fact that his father warned him about tigers and how afraid he was of them really set this story up very nicely. In his mind, the tiger is the ultimate enemy- as would be the man who killed your mother.

LisaT Posted: May 13, 2003 12:54 PM

Re: Michele - Life of Pi

If you give everyone an animal, Pi himself is the tiger.

wounded soldier that loses his leg - zebra
chef - hyenia
mom - orangatun
Pi - Tiger

The hyenia killed the orangatun, right? And the tiger killed the hyenia (as Pi killed the chef)
Only the Tiger survives, and that was Pi.