How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
You may be astonished that in such a short period of time I could go from weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death a dorado. I could explain it by arguing that profiting from a pitiful flying fish's navigational mistake made me shy and sorrowful, while the excitement of actively capturing a great dorado made me sanguinary and self-assured. But in point of fact the explanation lies elsewhere. It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even killing. (2.61.32)
We think it's cute and heartbreaking how much trouble Pi has killing his first flying fish. He cries. He compares himself to Cain. He wraps the fish in a blanket so he doesn't have to see it. But Pi changes drastically. In later chapters he drinks hawksbill blood, eats human flesh, and throws a shark to Richard Parker. The kid gets tough. However, Pi returns to a strict vegetarian diet once his ordeal ends. Do you think Pi still carries guilt over the fish and animals he had to slaughter? Or does he see his actions as simply necessary for his and Richard Parker's survival?
Quote #5
Lord, to think that I'm a strict vegetarian. To think that when I was a child I always shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animal's neck. I descended to a level of savagery I never imagined possible. (2.66.9)
Pi must have been a sensitive child. Or a morbid one. Think for a moment about the contradictory attitudes Pi takes toward living creatures. On the one hand, he cares for Richard Parker like Richard Parker is family. On the other hand, he bludgeons fish and snaps the necks of birds. So are these attitudes really contradictory? Can you care deeply for one living creature while killing others?
Quote #6
When rough weather abates, and it becomes clear that you have survived the sky's attack and the sea's treachery, your jubilation is tempered by the rage that so much fresh water should fall directly into the sea and by the worry that it is the last rain you will ever see, that you will die of thirst before the next drop falls. (2.78.6)
It's easy to forget how precious Pi's supplies of food and water are to him. At times he has stores and stores of rainwater and biscuits and turtles from the sea. At any moment, however, things can take a turn for the worse. It doesn't rain for weeks. He can't catch any fish. Then Pi sees, between half-empty bags of rainwater and biscuit packages, his own death staring back at him.