Life of Pi Part 2, Chapter 41 Quotes
Life of Pi Part 2, Chapter 41 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
I began to wait. My thoughts swung wildly. I was either fixed on practical details of immediate survival or transfixed by pain, weeping silently, my mouth open and my hands at my head. (2.41.15)
Pi stops weeping only when he's working out the immediate details of survival. He has plenty of reason to cry. Most often, Pi worries about Richard Parker and Richard Parker's claws. Don't forget, though, he's just lost his entire family. Pi doesn't talk about the loss of his family as much as he talks about Richard Parker and the methods of his survival, but that loss is still there.
Quote 2
I had a chance so long as he did not sense me. If he did, he would kill me right away. Could he burst through the tarpaulin, I wondered.
Fear and reason fought over the answer. Fear said Yes. He was a fierce, 450-pound carnivore. Each of his claws was as sharp as a knife. Reason said No. The tarpaulin was sturdy canvas, not a Japanese paper wall. I had landed upon it from a height. Richard Parker could shred it with his claws with a little time and effort, but he couldn't pop through like a jack-in-the-box. And he had not seen me. Since he had not seen me, he had no reason to claw his way through. (2.41.5-6)
Did you think Pi the Hindu-Christian-Muslim and eminent spiritualist would renounce the use of reason? Wrong. Pi uses reason to help him manage his fears. If Life of Pi, in addition to being a novel, is also a survival manual for our diverse, contemporary world, then Martel suggests you make use of every tool available. And yes, that means Yann Martel wants you to think.
Quote 3
Several times I had fits of fearful trembling. Precisely where I wanted to be most still – my legs – was where I trembled most. My legs drummed upon the tarpaulin. A more obvious rapping on Richard Parker's door couldn't be imagined. The trembling spread to my arms and it was all I could do to hold on. Each fit passed. (2.41.8)
It's easy to forget how extremely frightened Pi is – he's often humorous and playful during his 227 days at sea. But here an uncontrollable fear takes hold of Pi. He's unable to calm his body and his trembling is so bad he almost incites Richard Parker. Kudos to Pi, though. We at Shmoop would not only be trembling, we'd be dancing the ugly breakdance of terror.