Preliminary discussions: One of the first topics our group tackled was the idea of “Canadianess” in Yann Martel’s novel. At first, I felt as though I could not relate this book to my Canada because my definition was limited to my own experience born and raised in the geographical location of Canada. One of my group members said that their definition of "Canadianess" came from have the personal experience of immigrating to Canada; therefore immediately found a personal relation to Pi's story. My definition to what makes a literary work was meant to be expanded. Through stories and experiences, one can define Literature in Canada.
Since then, some groundwork has been done to affirm what we wanted to communicate with our group project. First, we like the power of “the will to survive” that is so heavily rooted within Martel’s novel. The physiological aspects of the is another measure that we wish to explore through our project. And in addition, religion is incorporated into Piscine’s life and this too speaks a loud message we would like to touch on. Lastly, we would like to incorporate a map to illustrate the travels Pi takes to Canada and emphasize how “Literature in Canada” is defined to us. Presentation Style? A prezi presentation will guide our arrangement of ideas in an esthetically appealing way to illustrate our points to the class. Our plans are to begin with “Abandonment” and use this to initiate the topics we will discuss. Creative idea: Have a map of the world be the backdrop of the prezi presentation. We would then jump through the geographical locations discussed in Yan Martel’s novel as we move through our points.
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My section of the presentation will focus on discussing the aspect of “Canadianess,” and what it means to our group. As a class we are aware of what Ericka believes Canadian literature is made up of. By moving one step further with our presentation, we would like to distinguish what separates Canadians from the rest of the world. There is a deeper meaning behind being lost. I would like touch on the classes’ aspirations for survival, if they were stuck out at sea with a Bengal Tiger. What would keep them going; would it be family, friends, a loved one, etc? The short clip we will be presenting ties in with the show Lost that Hannah will go into detail with and how the character in lost relates to Life of Pi. All three of us would like the class to think about three topics that will be mentioned on the day of the presentation.
Nayef:
Human Psychology: How Pi’s mind and will power allowed him to survive in his time of crisis. After discussing with my group members, we decided to divide the work of the presentation in to three different pieces. I will be talking specifically on the idea of how the power of the mind works in this novel. Pi’s journey across the sea is not an easy one. Being put in a boat with a Bengal tiger and with no food but the sea’s population, this was going to be one up hill battle. One would assume that an ordinary human being would just cave in under the pressure of the situation but Pi defies the odds and actually does survive this experience. But how did he do it? What drove him to live? What drove him to survive and be able to tell his story to the world? This is the question I will try to answer in my part. The human mind is a strong tool in the body, if used properly it has great power. One instance where Pi’s mind shows strength his simply when faced with the hyena and Richard Parker, he does not breakdown. Most people in this situation would simply cave in under the pressure of having predators in such a near proximity that it would put them out. However, Pi shows mental strength in marking his territory and staying strong. My instinct is that because of the traumatizing experience Pi’s father put him through by making him watch a tiger eat a goat, that made him stronger subconsciously. In the novel, we are made to question that act, but we come to realize that indeed that was an act, which would teach him a lesson: the lesson to survive. In my time with the class, I hope to shed light on the question of the will to survive, but looking through the lens of human psychology. Cheers  Life of Pi is a three part story of Piscine Molitor Patel, a sixteen- year- old South Indian boy who survives out at sea with a Bengal tiger for 227 days. Pi is raised in Pondicherry a Southern city in India, where his father runs a zoo. At the age of fifteen he adopts three religions Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Pi has been a Hindu from an early age, but considers himself to be devoted to all three religions.
Due to commotion by the government that has been bugging Pi’s father for quite some time, the Patel family decides to close the zoo and move to Canada. At sixteen, Pi, his mother, father, brother, along with the zoo animals all board the Tsimtsum (the animals are on the ship so they can be sold all around the world). An unknown reason causes the Tsimtsum to sink, and Pi is the only person to make it onto a lifeboat and survive. The lifeboat including Pi contains a hyena, a zebra, an orang-utan, and Richard Parker a Bengal tiger. As the journey continues most of the animals end up killing each other, leaving pi and Richard Parker as the sole survivors left on the boat. While at sea, Pi and Richard Parker face challenges that only a pessimist could survive through. Without a sufficient amount of food and fresh water, both Richard Parker and Pi become severely weak and encounter high amounts of pain. During a severe period of starvation, Pi and Richard Parker become blind. They encounter a Frenchman that’s hidden agenda is to kill Pi and eat him. Without any idea of a tiger being on the lifeboat, The Frenchman steps into Richard Parker's territory and immediately gets attacked and killed. Note: This is just an interpretation that we thought would be interesting to tackle with. There is no absolute definition being given here, only our thoughts and perspectives on a story.
In relation to the course, we have been exploring what we each define as “our Canada.” Through some discussion, we have come to realize that even within our group, our personal definition varies from one person to the next. With this is mind, we have different expectations when reading a novel that has been canonized as “Canadian Literature.” Every person who reads a book will have a different interpretation. A person who has traveled around the world, a grown up in the local nation will have different thoughts on how and what to perceive from the book. While reading Life of Pi we are given an extension to our belief of what is Canada to us. Through these interpretations and thoughts we can collaborate to create a unique web of knowledge that will encompass thoughts from different perspectives. While looking back to the angle we choose to tackle GGRW with “Our Canada” we thought long and hard about how this piece of Literature is Canadian or shows some aspect of ‘Canadianess.’ Finally after thinking long and hard we decided a new story about what the phrase literature in Canada means. Literature in Canada does not mean literature that has some meaning to Canada or has some item or symbol that shows in the book, literature that inspired to the author by being physically or spiritually in Canada. Life of Pi holds many concepts and teachings that we try to understand ourselves e.g. religion, human behavior. This book does an exceptional job to encompass large issues such as these into one book and try and bring some perspective to these ideas. Yahnn Martel was not physically present when he completed this book, but his inspiration began from his room in Montreal. Thus we can conclude that sometimes you do not have to be a Canadian born person to be part of Literature in Canada, but any idea that comes from the influence of Canada is what it means to be part of Literature in Canada. Goal: Broaden our concept of “ Our Canada” and Literature in Canada | AuthorJust a few students exploring Pi's Life. ArchivesDecember 2010 Categories |
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