hmk for 3/04 and 7/04 or 9/04 Ch 99

CH 99 extract
Study the extract page 303 to 307 from “The ship sank […]upon some memory in mid-air”
I. The real tragic story of the murder in the lifeboat
1) Who is talking? Who is he talking to? Compare the beginning of the extract to the beginning of CH37.
2) Who are the characters in Pi’s story? Where and when does it take place?
3) What’s the health problem of the Chinese sailor? What do they do to him?
4) How is the sailor characterized? Is this extract close to a tragedy or a comedy? Why?
5) Where is the climax of the extract? What’s the kind of speech? What are the effects? Is there an anti-climax?
II. which shows Pi’s loss of innocence and his guilt
1) How was his mum characterized in ch 37?
2) How is she characterized in this extract? Is there an evolution in her behaviour?
3) Is pi happy that his mother doesn’t scold him? Why?
4) Does Pi recognize his responsibility in the murder or does he blame someone else?
5) What is the role of the cook in Pi’s loss of innocence? What do you think of the “evil whisper” of the cook?43, MB 54 P 52 Is the cook whispering or is it something else? (Think of the Picture of Dorian Gray!)

HMK FOR THE 7/04 OR 9/04
III. and explains the need for imagination to survive a tragedy.
1) Which characters do the hyena, the zebra and the orang-utan symbolize? Find common points in the two stories (the one with the animals and the ‘real’ story)
2) What does the tiger symbolize? Is it part of Pi or can he get rid of it?
3) What could the infected leg symbolize? Considering what happened to the sailor when they cut his leg, can you get rid of it?
4) Do you remember the name of the ship? What could it mean about the two stories? Can you find a metaphor of it in the extract?
5) Read the two pages before ch 100. Which story do the Japanese officials prefer?
6) Explain Pi’s answer to them “And so it goes with God.”
7) Explain Pi’s answer as they ask about Richard Parker .
8) Comment this quote from the author “How do you live with evil? Art is traditionally-certainly with my secular background-the answer, but art is very self-referential, whereas religion claims to go beyond the bounds of human existence”
www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/oct/23/bookerprize2002.the bookerprize