Life of Pi Essay: Prompt 3

             Critic Roland Barthes said, "Literature is a question minus the answer." Life of Pi is good literature because it raises a question and lets you decide the answer for yourself. Life of Pi raises the important question of truth, and almost everthing in the story relates back to truth. From the way Yann Martel structured the book to the content of the book, everything relates to the truth.
        Martel even kind of structured the book to seem like a lie. She sets it up so the reader thinks the story is real or nonfiction. The way she switches between the narrator and Pi almost confuses the reader and goes back to the central question of truth. Even the author's notes are misleading. They are fictional, but they seem real. The book leads back to that question without even looking at the plot. In Life of Pi, Pi practices several religions. Which religion is the truth? The book leaves that question open, which makes one even question the truth in religion. To Pi, the truth in religion doesn't even matter as long as one has faith in the religion or religions they choose.
        Life of Pi is a unique book because it elaborates on this plot of Pi being stuck on a boat with animals in the middle of the ocean, but near the end of the book, the reader finds that this story is possibly untrue. The new story isn't introduced until the 99th chapter, so the reader doesn't really know if the first 98 chapters are true. Pi tells the reporters the story that he was actually on the boat with people. After Pi tells the reporters both versions of what happened, he tells them to choose which one they like best because there is no evidence of either. So, which version of the story is true? Are either of the stories even true? These questions are also left open in the end. The book makes the reader question the truth every step of the way. The reader keeps reading to find out the truth, but in the end, the questions are still unanswered. According to Pi, the true story is irrelevent, which questions the relevence of truth in general. Pi feels that both stories were tragic and painful, so it doesn't really matter which one is true.
        Martel leaves many questions unanswered in Life of Pi, including the question of the relevence of truth. The structure of the story and the plot leave loose ends that are never tied together. The reader may never know the relevence of religion or the true story. Martel lets the readers decide the truth for themselves, but in the end, does the truth even matter?
             
          
         

Current event

      President Obama said the economy has been creating more jobs lately, but we need to be doing more about unemployment. In April, 115,000 fewer jobs were created than expected, but Obama stated that more than 1 million jobs have been created in the past 6 months. The jobless rate went from 8.2 percent in March to 8.1 percent in April.       I completely agree that we should be doing more to create jobs in the US. I have worried about my future several times because of the shortage of jobs. I think it is encouraging to hear that unemployment is going down. I think the government should dedicate more time and money to solving the unemployment problem. More jobs would provide people with more money to spend. If people have more money to spend, the economy will improve. I believe that the cost of creating more jobs would be paid back in the long run.

"Obama: Jobs Growing But Weyyyve Got To Do More." Fox News. fox News Network, LLC, 2012. Web. 5 May 2012.

Life of Pi: Part Three and Four

       Well.....the last part of this book is VERY disturbing and confusing! After I read it, I was so confused. It reminds me of when you watch a show and something crazy happens, but at the end of the episode you find out that it was just a dream. When Pi tells an alternative story of what happened by replacing the animals with humans, it makes you believe that that is the real story.
       I think Pi replaced the people with animals in his mind so he could deal with it. Once again, I am reminded of the first part where Pi finds that humans are the most dangerous animal. I think the stories with the humans is so much more grotesque even though it was basically the same as the story with the animals. It is so much more gruesome when you think of humans eating each other or decapitating each other.
      I also started to feel differently about Pi in this part of the book. I thought before that he was sympathetic and compassionate because of the way he acted towards the animals. However, after I found out that he ate a person, I just could not think of him the same way. No wonder Pi is involved in so many religions. He is probably just looking for something to help keep him sane after this tragedy. I really don't know how I feel about this book. I am still a little shocked at the ending. It was definitely not what I was expecting.

Current Event

       Robert Champion, a 26 year old student at FAMU, died after a hazing on a band bus. Charges are to be filed on Wednesday. The ritual hazing consisted of the pledges trying to run from the front of the bus to the back of the bus while being punched, kicked, and assaulted by seniors. He died within an hour of the hazing due to multiple blunt traumas to his body.
       I think the band members that assaulted this guy should be severely punished. They should definitely be kicked out of school and put in jail. I also think the students that sat by and watched the whole thing happen. I'm sure that out of the 100 band members on the bus, one of them was friends with this student, and they didn't say anything to stop the brutality. You hear about things like this happening in sororities and fraternities, but people don't expect things like this to happen with band students. This just kind of showed me that there can be cruel people in any clique or group. 


Phillips, Rich. "Charges to be Filed in FAMU hazing case." CNN 1                  May 2012, n. pag. 0.

Life of Pi Part Two

      The second section was much easier for me to read than the first part! I like this section more because it has more action instead of just talking about religions. This section also tells you the traumatic event that Pi alludes to in the first section.
      We find out that the ship Pi and his family were on sinks, and Pi's whole family dies. Pi ends up on a lifeboat with a tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan. Most of the section is about his struggle to survive on this boat. The book gets a little gruesome when the hyena kills the zebra and decapitates the Orange Juice. This part made me pretty upset, because Orange Juice is my favorite character in the book.
       Pi seems very compassionate towards the animals. For example, he basically saves Richard Parker by  getting him to get on the boat, so he won't die. He also feeds Richard Parker and keeps him alive. I guess he also did that so the tiger wouldn't eat him. When Orange Juice dies, Pi seems pretty upset.
       I thought it was really interesting that Pi holds on to religion. I think religion kind of kept him holding on because it gave him hope. Pi's passion for religion in the beginning of the book is probably because it helped him get through this time. 
        It's pretty cool that Pi is able to pretty much train Richard Parker and they kind of bond. The weirdest  part of the book so far is when Pi runs into another blind guy in the middle of the ocean. What are the chances that he would run into some other guy in the ocean. Ii shows the bond between Pi and Richard Parker when Richard Parker kills the guy for trying to kill Pi. This reminded me of Pi learning in the beginning of the book that humans are the most dangerous animal. 

Current Event: Spate of Bomb Threats Annoys Pittsburgh Students

        Since February, the University of Pittsburgh has had over 50 bomb threats that were all false alarms. These threats have continuously disrupted the university campus. About 29000 students attend the university, and each threat is followed by an evacuation. The campus has had to tighten security, but they are still receiving threats.
        I think it is crazy that someone is sending bomb threats to this school just to cause a scene. I definitely think it is good that the school has tightened security just to be safe. I think the worst thing about these bomb threats is that if there is a real bomb threat, the students may not take it seriously. Also, several students' classes have been disrupted which can definitely hurt their education. I do think the school needs to try a little harder to track the threats and solve this problem.
        

Life of Pi: 1

           So far, I like this book more than I thought I would. Other people had told me this book was boring, but I think it is a pretty interesting book. It is a little difficult to read at some points because it is completely different from any book I have ever read. At first, I was a little confused about the switch from Pi talking to the narrator talking, but I caught on when you explained it in class.
           I like that the book kind of has some mystery to it in the beginning. Pi alludes to a tragedy from his past, but he doesn't tell you what happened. I think this technique made me want to keep reading to find out more. Pi also pursued degrees in religion and zoology, which seems kind of random because they are completely different. I am not sure if these two degrees are connected in some way or have some kind of symbolism.
           Pi talks a great deal about his passion for religions. He kind of believes parts of several religions, but he hates people that don't believe in anything. I can't really decide if Pi is just really open-minded or confused. It seems like the more he learns about religions, the more confused he becomes. Pi also talks a lot about his interest in zoology. His dad used to own a zoo, and Pi loved the animals. At some point, Pi learned that the most dangerous animal of all is man.