What might the island, and/or its inhabitants, symbolize? Explain.
24 comments:
Anonymous
said...
The island symobolizes false hope for Pi. When he first discovers it he believes that it is truly a gift from God. However, when he discovers the horrible nature of the island at night time, he realizes that instead of a heaven he has stumbled upon a hell. This hope was not real, just like Pi had false hope early on that a ship would come to his rescue. The plants symbolize the ever present threat of death that he must face. Richard Parker is both a companion and a threat to Pi, much like the plants gave him food but also could have killed him in time.
The island could symbolize a false hope. The island appears as a salvation from his dreaded passage at sea, however, it is nothing of the sort. The island is not an acual island, and turns into an acidic doom once night falls, leaving Pi to never touch the ground or get burned to death. The island also does not have much food and will slowly kill him. The island gives some company through the meerkats that live there, and can in a way drive Pi to leave the island and look for a real rescue.
I agree with perfectly flawed. Obviously after such a traumatizing experience the island represented everything Pi longed for on his seven month journey at sea. The symbols described by perfectly flawed are exactly right. Pi's relationship with Ricahrd Parker is comparable to the salvation the plants would give him.
The island that Pi and Richard Parker land on is not like a regular island. It has meekrats and it has algae that dissolves into acid at night. "One night the meekrats woke me up. they were chattering and shaking" (Martel 276). Due to the odd things found on this island, Martel used them to symbolize life. Although they were unusual things, after Pi being out to sea for so long this showed signs of life to Pi. After only seeing fish, turtles, and ocean for so long Pi was amazed by the meekrats and the algae and the green-pigmented things. Pi healed while being on the island, as well as Richard Parker, so it helped bring life back to Pi. He was able to go back out to sea to wander some more to see what else he could find.
I agree with with everyone who said that the island symbolizes false hope. Pi believes that God sent him to the island to help him survive. However, he realizes the island is not all what he expected and this is why the island represents false hope. -Athena
I agree with perfectly flawed. The island does symbolize false hope for Pi and Richard Parker. The Meerkats probably symbolized his memories of his family. The meerkats stayed with him while he was on the island as if they were his family and gave him the companionship that he needed.
After being in the lifeboat for so long, Pi finally reaches what he thinks is solid ground, a place with people who will be able to help his weak self and his tiger. However, this island was not like any other island. There were meerkats and algae that turned into acid at night and slowly ate the flesh off of the body. Pi is very happy to have found such a land. "The combined shock of solid land and cool water gave me the strength to pull myself forward onto the island" (Martel 258). Pi beleives that he has found a way out of this nightmare. However, he is wrong. All of the things on the island start out as being good, like the algae having fresh water, but in the end, he realizes that they are all bad, and this symbolizes being able to come through a struggle, and not giving up. It symbolizes that faith he had in G-d to be false, because all this time he beleived that G-d was showing him land to save him, when all he did was show him another death trap he had to get out of.
The island symbolizes hope for Pi. He felt like he was going to die and the island brought him back to life. The island gives him hope to keep living as well as glitches along the way. Pi realizes that he can live, but there are going to be struggles along the way; like the struggles he came across on the island.
At first, Pi is extremely grateful for the island because he believes that his torment is finally over. However, he is in for a shock because the island is actually more dangerous than the ocean. At night, horrible things set in and terrify Pi as he tries to sleep. The island represents all the dangers that Pi will continue to face. The only inhabitants on the island were the meerkats who are just an illusion. When Pi came on the island, he believed that it was a safe place becaue the meerkats lived on it, and meerkats are very gentle creatures. It's almost as if the meerkats lure people onto the island.
I agreed with Calypso's comment in that it gives Pi a false hope. He gets very excited that there is land, fresh water, and fresh vegetation however there is a certain acid that is secreted by the island that burns Pi in the middle of the night. This is perhaps why the Meerkats sleep with Pi up in the trees at night, and why dead fish and sharks wash up in the pools of the island during the night.
I think the island and its inhabitants represented Pi's misfortune as a whole. His whole experience on the boat was filled with deceitful things that weren't ever what they appeared to be. He had first found great joy in discovering the island but in the night it was his worst nightmare, just as many of his nights had been on the boat. Everytime he believes to have found some bit of happiness or satisfaction, it is yanked from him in an instant.
The island is a symbol of the finish and journey, and also stability. I feel that since pi was in a rocky situation, like the ocean. That has different current to match the sturggle at hand. The island allows Pi some stability and a peace of solid mind. in the story pi goes on to say that the land is solid and he was able to pull himself foward in order to surivie. The land is very symbolic to his situation .
I'm going to have to jump on the "false hope" bandwagon as well. Initially I was just going to say it represented hope for Pi, but after reading the various explanations I changed my mind. I think the island was definitely a good thing, as it essentially saved Pi and Richard Parker's life, but the fatal acidity made the island too good to be true. However, it may have ended up being a good thing because it drove them out and allowed Pi to live a normal life.
Pi lands on an island after living in the lifeboat for a long period of time. Pi sees the island as a blessing and is so overwhelmed to have found it. "I babbled incoherent thanks to God and collapsed" (Martel,258). Once Pi is on the island, he discovers that terrible things hapen there. It seems like Pi has finally found his salvation and then it is suddenly taken away by the shocking discovery.This is like Pi's hope. This is just another instance when Pi thinks he will survive and his hopes are taken away.
I agree with everyone else on the idea of false hope. When Pi first arrives on the island he is overjoyed with all of the possibilities that the island may have to offer. He is soon dismayed as the negative aspects of the island reveal themselves (such as the carniverous tree and the burning sand at night). Once Pi discovers these things he realizes that he must leave.
There is one main thing that the island sybolizes for Pi is hope that he might soon get out of the terrifying sea. He believes that the island is a gift from god, however, when he sees what the island becomes at night he has other ideas. In the end, the island becomes a false hope as it does not help him in any way and he is forced to stay on the boat. -ZEUS
While the island could represent false hope as previously stated by other bloggers, I believe it symbolizes optimism and the fact that conditions are getting better. Pi arrives to the island that is a source of food and shelter. These are things that while on the boat at sea he was not assured. Although the island is acidic it is a step up from his previous condition and brings Pi and Richard Parker back from the brink of death. Before reaching the island they were both "skin and bones." The island allowed them to be nourishes and gave them hope that if there is land in one area, there could be more close by.
While the island could represent false hope as previously stated by other bloggers, I believe it symbolizes optimism and the fact that conditions are getting better. Pi arrives to the island that is a source of food and shelter. These are things that while on the boat at sea he was not assured. Although the island is acidic it is a step up from his previous condition and brings Pi and Richard Parker back from the brink of death. Before reaching the island they were both "skin and bones." The island allowed them to be nourishes and gave them hope that if there is land in one area, there could be more land close by.
I agree with Perfectly Flawed. The island does in fact symbolize hope for Pi. It provides him a place to live and it provides food. Usually an island leads to some form of a larger land mass. The island shows Pi that land is near by. The island will give Pi hope and the dtermination to reach land. -Leonardo
The island is a very important part of the story. When Pi finds it he thinks he could stay here for a while but later he realizes that would not be such a good idea. The inhabitants keep dying and this is symbolic that if Pi stays on the island he too will eventually die and will have given up on being rescued and going to Canada. He must live on to tell his story and leaves the island. -Squirtle
I agree with perfectly flawed in saying that the island represents false hope. While on the boat in the daytime Pi felt optimistic, but when night came Pi was scared because he knew people would not be able to see him and he did not know what was going to happen. This was also the case on the island. When Pi saw the island he thought that he was saved, but as the night came he saw how awful the island really was. He then came to the realization that he was not yet saved and that his journey was not yet over.
I agree with perfectly flawed, because thats exactly what it represented, false hope. the entire time all he wanted was salvation, and it ended up being ripped away from him. the plants symbolized that every where he went, everything he did, failure or disappointment was around the corner.
I agree with perfectly flawed, because thats exactly what it represented, false hope. the entire time all he wanted was salvation, and it ended up being ripped away from him. the plants symbolized that every where he went, everything he did, failure or disappointment was around the corner. mclovin
For Pi the island symbolizes false hope. When He and richard parker arrive they are overcome with joy and feel that god has sent the island to help pi. Then bad things start to happen at night even the ground burns his feet. He realizes that the island is not good and that he is not saved. This shows that his journey will become even harder yet and things are not always the way that they seem. Foxtrot
24 comments:
The island symobolizes false hope for Pi. When he first discovers it he believes that it is truly a gift from God. However, when he discovers the horrible nature of the island at night time, he realizes that instead of a heaven he has stumbled upon a hell. This hope was not real, just like Pi had false hope early on that a ship would come to his rescue. The plants symbolize the ever present threat of death that he must face. Richard Parker is both a companion and a threat to Pi, much like the plants gave him food but also could have killed him in time.
The island could symbolize a false hope. The island appears as a salvation from his dreaded passage at sea, however, it is nothing of the sort. The island is not an acual island, and turns into an acidic doom once night falls, leaving Pi to never touch the ground or get burned to death. The island also does not have much food and will slowly kill him. The island gives some company through the meerkats that live there, and can in a way drive Pi to leave the island and look for a real rescue.
-Calypso
I agree with perfectly flawed. Obviously after such a traumatizing experience the island represented everything Pi longed for on his seven month journey at sea. The symbols described by perfectly flawed are exactly right. Pi's relationship with Ricahrd Parker is comparable to the salvation the plants would give him.
The island that Pi and Richard Parker land on is not like a regular island. It has meekrats and it has algae that dissolves into acid at night. "One night the meekrats woke me up. they were chattering and shaking" (Martel 276). Due to the odd things found on this island, Martel used them to symbolize life. Although they were unusual things, after Pi being out to sea for so long this showed signs of life to Pi. After only seeing fish, turtles, and ocean for so long Pi was amazed by the meekrats and the algae and the green-pigmented things. Pi healed while being on the island, as well as Richard Parker, so it helped bring life back to Pi. He was able to go back out to sea to wander some more to see what else he could find.
I agree with with everyone who said that the island symbolizes false hope. Pi believes that God sent him to the island to help him survive. However, he realizes the island is not all what he expected and this is why the island represents false hope.
-Athena
I agree with perfectly flawed. The island does symbolize false hope for Pi and Richard Parker. The Meerkats probably symbolized his memories of his family. The meerkats stayed with him while he was on the island as if they were his family and gave him the companionship that he needed.
After being in the lifeboat for so long, Pi finally reaches what he thinks is solid ground, a place with people who will be able to help his weak self and his tiger. However, this island was not like any other island. There were meerkats and algae that turned into acid at night and slowly ate the flesh off of the body. Pi is very happy to have found such a land. "The combined shock of solid land and cool water gave me the strength to pull myself forward onto the island" (Martel 258). Pi beleives that he has found a way out of this nightmare. However, he is wrong. All of the things on the island start out as being good, like the algae having fresh water, but in the end, he realizes that they are all bad, and this symbolizes being able to come through a struggle, and not giving up. It symbolizes that faith he had in G-d to be false, because all this time he beleived that G-d was showing him land to save him, when all he did was show him another death trap he had to get out of.
The island symbolizes hope for Pi. He felt like he was going to die and the island brought him back to life. The island gives him hope to keep living as well as glitches along the way. Pi realizes that he can live, but there are going to be struggles along the way; like the struggles he came across on the island.
At first, Pi is extremely grateful for the island because he believes that his torment is finally over. However, he is in for a shock because the island is actually more dangerous than the ocean. At night, horrible things set in and terrify Pi as he tries to sleep. The island represents all the dangers that Pi will continue to face. The only inhabitants on the island were the meerkats who are just an illusion. When Pi came on the island, he believed that it was a safe place becaue the meerkats lived on it, and meerkats are very gentle creatures. It's almost as if the meerkats lure people onto the island.
I agreed with Calypso's comment in that it gives Pi a false hope. He gets very excited that there is land, fresh water, and fresh vegetation however there is a certain acid that is secreted by the island that burns Pi in the middle of the night. This is perhaps why the Meerkats sleep with Pi up in the trees at night, and why dead fish and sharks wash up in the pools of the island during the night.
I think the island and its inhabitants represented Pi's misfortune as a whole. His whole experience on the boat was filled with deceitful things that weren't ever what they appeared to be. He had first found great joy in discovering the island but in the night it was his worst nightmare, just as many of his nights had been on the boat. Everytime he believes to have found some bit of happiness or satisfaction, it is yanked from him in an instant.
The island is a symbol of the finish and journey, and also stability. I feel that since pi was in a rocky situation, like the ocean. That has different current to match the sturggle at hand. The island allows Pi some stability and a peace of solid mind. in the story pi goes on to say that the land is solid and he was able to pull himself foward in order to surivie. The land is very symbolic to his situation .
I'm going to have to jump on the "false hope" bandwagon as well. Initially I was just going to say it represented hope for Pi, but after reading the various explanations I changed my mind. I think the island was definitely a good thing, as it essentially saved Pi and Richard Parker's life, but the fatal acidity made the island too good to be true. However, it may have ended up being a good thing because it drove them out and allowed Pi to live a normal life.
Pi lands on an island after living in the lifeboat for a long period of time. Pi sees the island as a blessing and is so overwhelmed to have found it. "I babbled incoherent thanks to God and collapsed" (Martel,258). Once Pi is on the island, he discovers that terrible things hapen there. It seems like Pi has finally found his salvation and then it is suddenly taken away by the shocking discovery.This is like Pi's hope. This is just another instance when Pi thinks he will survive and his hopes are taken away.
I agree with everyone else on the idea of false hope. When Pi first arrives on the island he is overjoyed with all of the possibilities that the island may have to offer. He is soon dismayed as the negative aspects of the island reveal themselves (such as the carniverous tree and the burning sand at night). Once Pi discovers these things he realizes that he must leave.
There is one main thing that the island sybolizes for Pi is hope that he might soon get out of the terrifying sea. He believes that the island is a gift from god, however, when he sees what the island becomes at night he has other ideas. In the end, the island becomes a false hope as it does not help him in any way and he is forced to stay on the boat.
-ZEUS
While the island could represent false hope as previously stated by other bloggers, I believe it symbolizes optimism and the fact that conditions are getting better. Pi arrives to the island that is a source of food and shelter. These are things that while on the boat at sea he was not assured. Although the island is acidic it is a step up from his previous condition and brings Pi and Richard Parker back from the brink of death. Before reaching the island they were both "skin and bones." The island allowed them to be nourishes and gave them hope that if there is land in one area, there could be more close by.
While the island could represent false hope as previously stated by other bloggers, I believe it symbolizes optimism and the fact that conditions are getting better. Pi arrives to the island that is a source of food and shelter. These are things that while on the boat at sea he was not assured. Although the island is acidic it is a step up from his previous condition and brings Pi and Richard Parker back from the brink of death. Before reaching the island they were both "skin and bones." The island allowed them to be nourishes and gave them hope that if there is land in one area, there could be more land close by.
I agree with Perfectly Flawed. The island does in fact symbolize hope for Pi. It provides him a place to live and it provides food. Usually an island leads to some form of a larger land mass. The island shows Pi that land is near by. The island will give Pi hope and the dtermination to reach land.
-Leonardo
The island is a very important part of the story. When Pi finds it he thinks he could stay here for a while but later he realizes that would not be such a good idea. The inhabitants keep dying and this is symbolic that if Pi stays on the island he too will eventually die and will have given up on being rescued and going to Canada. He must live on to tell his story and leaves the island. -Squirtle
I agree with perfectly flawed in saying that the island represents false hope. While on the boat in the daytime Pi felt optimistic, but when night came Pi was scared because he knew people would not be able to see him and he did not know what was going to happen. This was also the case on the island. When Pi saw the island he thought that he was saved, but as the night came he saw how awful the island really was. He then came to the realization that he was not yet saved and that his journey was not yet over.
I agree with perfectly flawed, because thats exactly what it represented, false hope. the entire time all he wanted was salvation, and it ended up being ripped away from him. the plants symbolized that every where he went, everything he did, failure or disappointment was around the corner.
I agree with perfectly flawed, because thats exactly what it represented, false hope. the entire time all he wanted was salvation, and it ended up being ripped away from him. the plants symbolized that every where he went, everything he did, failure or disappointment was around the corner.
mclovin
For Pi the island symbolizes false hope. When He and richard parker arrive they are overcome with joy and feel that god has sent the island to help pi. Then bad things start to happen at night even the ground burns his feet. He realizes that the island is not good and that he is not saved. This shows that his journey will become even harder yet and things are not always the way that they seem.
Foxtrot
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