At university Pi studied both religion and zoology and in the novel he hints at a parallel between the two.
In answer to the commonly held view that animals in zoos are unhappy because they are confined, Pi argues that animals in the wild are not really ‘free’ either – freedom when you must fight in order to survive isn’t really freedom. Do you agree? Could it be that good zoos allow animals a safe territory within which they truly can be free.
What do you think Pi means us to understand when he says, ‘I know zoos are no longer in people’s good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both.’
If you’ve read further along in the story to Pi’s adventure at sea, you might like to think about Pi’s how loss of freedom, living in a lifeboat, parallels the idea of animals in captivity.
Twitter responses:
- dhebblethwaite: Some interesting stuff on belief and zoos so far (to Ch. 7), but I’ll see how it pans out before commenting on it further.
- dhebblethwaite: Ch 8: I think the point about animals not being ‘cuddly’ is true and well-made.
- dhebblethwaite: Chs 8-15: Must admit the zoo stuff is genuinely intriguing. I’ll be interested to see how Martel uses it later on.
Lisa
said:posted 7 August 09
“Freedom is not free”
Pi’s comment on freedom as an illusion is apt, there is always a constraint in place that limits the extent of an individual’s freedom. Freedom is a concept and as such is based on individual perception. Freedom for one is a cage for another.
Cecile
said:posted 7 August 09
Actually i didn’t think Pi was in prison when on his boat but rather on his way to a kind of freedom as a quest to finding who he really was behind his name. Right at the beginning we know that his questions about religion are more a way to find his self away from his family’s creeds and traditions. The comparison with the animals behind bars in the zoo is interesting, who is freeer, those inside or outside the fence?
Maria do Céu Costa
said:posted 9 August 09
Well, as for animals in captivity I believe some of them might feel “free” provided that they feel their territory as safe. I mean, if they are provided with adequate, and suitable food, if they are cared for, if they feel adapted to their environment, they might experience “freedom”.
But there are others that despite being well adapted to their territory, they might feel “exciting moments” leading to an escape…
Regarding Pi, I think there’s a great difference: he is a human whose intelligence and spirituality count before the concept of freedom. Pi might have been a “fragile” human giving up his fight. But he went on fighting, regardless of hardships, his family loss. More than feel “free” Pi wanted to survive: “I had to organise my survival.” His freedom would come after his survival.
Alfred Nobile
said:posted 10 August 09
Pi’s belief in the zoo system could stem from the belief that animals are protected from the uncertainties of the outside world. The same could be said of his religious search, because religions hold true certain beliefs and boundaries which could be seen to protect the believer from the vagaries of the world.
Jesse
said:posted 11 August 09
Pi refers to the freedom that some cling to by rejecting a relationship, of any sort, with God. This is the “illusion” that plagues zoos and religions. Many reject religion as a binding cage. And though some institutions pose that threat, Pi asserts that people reject a relationship to the divine with the hope that they will run free. Instead of a love that provides, they end up with a lonesome, animalistic life, in which “they must fight in order to survive.”
Tricia
said:posted 25 August 09
if a parallel exists between religion and zoology perhaps it is that in this context both are discerned as disciplines of study . to submit that there is a connection between happiness or unhappiness and freedom or confinement is but individual and subjective. the principles of freedom are not necessarily associated with survival but rather with opportunities to, and action of making a subsequent choice. The living space for Pi on the lifeboat is similarly confined, as is in a zoo for animals – freedom to choose remains, but opportunites of choice maybe/can be confined by external conditions.
DVG
said:posted 26 August 09
My opinion, there is a parallel between religion and zoology. While religion keeps you confined with various moral guidelines to live by, zoos keeps animals confined by taking away their freedom to live, run and do things animals do.
I am a firm believer that if we are to have zoos that they should not be the traditional. Animals need space as much as we need our freedom to make our own life choices. But in both animal and human, we learn by our experiences.
Jo Dang
said:posted 27 January 12
My anus is streched
Jo Dang
said:posted 27 January 12
I mean really streched, I can fit my fist up there with no problems is that weird?