Life of Pi Discussion Questions

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=105 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="08f00690ezvthe.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Dr. Kathleen Ferracane</B></FONT><B>   |  </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dr. Kathleen Ferracane"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Revised Schedule"><U>Revised Schedule</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MLA Format: Crossreferences and Reprint"><U>MLA Format:  Cross-references and Reprints</U></A>   |   <B>Life of Pi Discussion Questions</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=200 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="090c8212ezvthe.gif"> <div> <IMG SRC="0ce537c0.jpg" border=0 width="83" height="124" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=375 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Life of Pi Discussion Questions</div> <div> <I><B>Life of Pi</B></I> by Yann Martel</div> <bR> <div> Possible Internet/Library research topics:</div> <div> Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Jewish mysticism (Cabbalism, Isaac Luria)</div> <div> Cannibalism</div> <div> Shipwrecks, survival stories, castaways, Richard Parker</div> <div> Bengal tigers, meerkats, sharks, dorados, sloth, hyena, Grant's zebra, orangutan</div> <div> Name of ship, <I>Tsimtsum</I></div> <div> Zoos, zoology, animal behavior</div> <div> Pi (mathematical concept)</div> <div> Indira Gandhi's government</div> <div> Carnivorous plants (Venus fly-trap, others)</div> <div> Is it true that pressing the eyes of fish will paralyze them?</div> <div> Geography of the novel:  Pondicherry, Bombay (Mumbai), Philippines, Pacific currents, Mexico, Winnipeg, Toronto; ocean currents</div> <div> Book reviews, interviews:  <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v24/n22/wood02_.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.lrb.co.uk/v24/n22/wood02_.htm"><U><U>http://www.lrb.co.uk/v24/n22/wood02_.html</U></U></A></FONT>, (book review) <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.anglicanmedia.com.au/index.php/article/articleview/547/1/50/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.anglicanmedia.com.au/index.ph"><U><U>http://www.anglicanmedia.com.au/index.php/article/articleview/547/1/50/</U></U></A></FONT> (religious response)</div> <bR> <div> Discussion Questions</div> <bR> <div> Compare and contrast the two different versions of the events following the shipwreck.  Which do you think is true?  Which version of the story do you prefer and why?</div> <div> At the end of the interview, Pi regrets that he can no longer remember what his mother looks like.  What is the significance of this failure in memory?</div> <div> What is the role of ethnicity in the novel? (nationality, race, religion)</div> <div> How is Pi able to hold the beliefs of three different religions?  Do you think this is a valid position?  What other religions are mentioned?  What does the author say about atheism and agnosticism?  What seems to be Martel's interest in religion?  What points does the novel make about religion?  What does it mean to have religious faith, to believe in God?  How does one believe?  How does Pi believe?</div> <div> Martel, in the ending of the novel, makes it possible to believe either version.  Why do you think he chose to end the book in this way?</div> <div> What is the importance of faith and belief?  Besides in relation to religion, how does the book deal with questions of faith/belief?  (Is there a difference between these two terms?)  How is reading an act of faith?  Was this a story to make you believe in God?  Does the novel encourage faith in God?</div> <div> Can you draw a simple but accurate and complete diagram of the lifeboat?  How does it compare to the illustration on the cover of the novel?</div> <div> What is the symbolism of Pi the character and of <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Symbol" >p</FONT> the mathematical symbol?  What is the importance of the circle?</div> <div> Could there be flesh-eating algae?  Could there be an island of it, with meerkats living on it?  Why do you think the author included this section?  If this island is purely a product of Pi's mind, why do you think he produced this particular fantasy?  What is the significance of the island for the novel?  (Cf. Circe in <I>The Odyssey</I>)</div> <div> Could Pi have met a blind Frenchman, a fellow castaway?  What is the significance of blindness?</div> <div> How much of the story is factual?  Why does Martel include so many facts?  How much is the product of Martel's imagination?  What makes the story credible?  What makes it hard to believe?  What is the truth, and how does it apply to this novel?  What is a fact?</div> <div> Why does Martel jump around in time in the first part of the novel?  Why does the writer's voice (in italics) alternate with passages spoken in the first person by Pi?  Contrast the writer with the Japanese investigators, <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times" >Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba</FONT>. What is the difference in their kinds of writing?  Compare the conclusions they come to.  </div> <div> Why do the Japanese officials not believe Pi's first version?  Why does Pi change it?  What is their final reaction?</div> <div> What is the significance of the choice of each animal in the boat?  Of the color orange?  If Hinduism is associated with orange and Islam with green, what color would you make Christianity, based on the novel?</div> <div> Discuss the following Chapters:  22, 23, and 99.  See also the Reading Group Guide questions.</div> <div> What is the significance of Richard Parker's disappearance at the end of the novel?  </div> <div> Comment on the ideas about writing, and especially about writing fiction, which are suggested in <I>Author's Note</I>.</div> <div> Discuss <I><B>Life of Pi</B></I> as a work of Magical Realism.</div> <div> What is the significance of the fact that the zoo no longer exists, and that the train no longer stops where it used to be?</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>