Life of Pi Part 2, Chapter 87 Quotes

Life of Pi Part 2, Chapter 87 Quotes

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Citations follow this format: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote 1

One of my favorite methods of escape was what amounts to gentle asphyxiation. I used a piece of cloth that I cut from the remnants of a blanket. I called it my dream rag. I wet it with sea water so that it was soaked but not dripping. [...]. I would fall into a daze, not difficult for someone in such an advanced state of lethargy to begin with. But the dream rag gave a special quality to my daze. It must have been the way it restricted my air intake. I would be visited by the most extraordinary dreams, trances, visions, thoughts, sensations, remembrances. And time would be gobbled up. (2.87.1)

Oh, this is weird. By gently asphyxiating himself, does Pi experiences multiple small deaths? Or is the dream rag part of a peculiar religious ceremony? (As in: Pi the priest induces a hallucinogenic state so he can experience the divine.) Could it be a little bit of both? In either case, Pi really, really wants to escape from the tedium of the lifeboat.