"You can't visit the sins of the father upon the child."

Act one, scene two opens up with Rose singing, “Jesus build a fence around me”. This opening song is foreshadowing of the strong religion theme that is present in this scene. (The presentation in a work of literature of hints and clues that tip the reader off as to what is to come later in the work.) The conversation between Rose and Gabe uses many allusions to the angel Gabriel and Saint Peter.( a passing or casual reference; an incidental mention of something, either directly or by implication) Gabe has suffered brain damage from a war injury; so he sees things that others don’t. He talks to Rose as if he knows Saint Peter personally. He is also warns Troy about Judgment Day. In this scene, the audience sees a more selfish side of Troy. Troy is very rude to Rose when she is talking to him about playing the numbers. It is very clear to the audience that they have a one sided relationship. Also the audience learns that Troy is in charge of Gabe’s money, and we learn that he uses some of it to buy their house. Troy knows that without Gabe’s money, his family would still live in poverty. I also find it very selfish of Troy to have t Gabe live with Miss Pearl instead of with him.

            In act one, scene three, Cory returns home from football practice and Rose is upset with him. Rose is angry because Cory didn’t do his chores or help build the fence. Troy returns from “Taylor’s” and him Cory began to work on the fence. At first Troy and Cory’s conversation is friendly. Cory ask Troy for a new television set and Troy agrees to go half on the purchase of the television set with him. Then the conversation turns bad… Cory begins to talk about the players that idolizes in baseball, and Troy’s attitude becomes very negative. Cory’s character is a symbol for the progression of African Americans. (Something that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention, especially a material object used to represent something invisible.) While Troy is very bitter about the racism he faced in the minor leagues. Troy takes his bitterness out on Cory by refusing to let him play College football. Troy’s selfishness causes him to hold back a promising young athlete.

            In act one, scene four; the scenario is the same as the scene one. Troy and Bono are on the porch, drinking and talking. Troy has received a promotion and is going to become the first African American garbage truck driver. I find it very ironic that after that big racial injustice is overcome; Troy begins to make another racist comment. When Troy’s friend Lyons invites him to listen to jazz music, he scoffs. Troy refers to Jazz as Chinese music. This comment again shows Troy’s unwillingness to accept progression in the African American community. We also learn that Troy went to Cory’s school and told his coach that he quits the team. Cory is very enraged with Troy. Troy warns Cory not to “strike out”.

           

Stereotypical Images and African Americans in Fences

The play opens up with a dialogue between two friends, Troy and Bono. (Conversation carried on between characters in a literary work.) In this conversation, we learn that the two men are garbage collectors. The two men talk about a co-worker, Brownie, who is embarrassed about eating a watermelon. The watermelon is a direct symbol to a racist stereotype of images of African Americans. (A person, place, or thing that is used to represent something else.) The two men also discuss how they think that is unfair that Blacks are unable to drive the trash truck and are only allowed to pick up the garbage. Wilson uses irony with the language that Troy and Bono use. ( The writer uses a word or phrases to mean the opposite of its literal or normal meaning.) Although Troy and Bono are very upset by the racism at their job; they use the racial slur nigger freely when referring to each other. Bono interrupts Troy’s conversation about racism to question him about a woman named Alberta. But, just when Bono is getting to the bottom of Troy’s relationship with Alberta, Rose, Troy’s wife, suddenly appears. Rose tells Troy that their son Cory is being recruited by college scouts for football. It is revealed to the audience that Troy use to play in the Negro Leagues but was too old when African Americans were being accepted into the major leagues. It is very clear to me that Troy is bitter over these turn of events so, he decides that he doesn’t want his son to play sports but learn a trade. This struggle between father and son could be one of the conflicts in the play. (The primary source of tension within a story.) I look forward to reading more!

The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar.... Pi's Testimony of Human Will

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a great story of triumph and the test of human will. Pi was able to survive a ship wreck, loss of family, dehydration, famine, wild animals, loss of sight, and cannibalism. It is very clear that Martel is trying to stress to the reader that living creatures will do extraordinary and unexpected things to survive. However, they will also do barbaric acts when faced with the same circumstances. For example, the hyena’s treachery and the blind Frenchman’s turn toward cannibalism show just how far creatures will go when faced with the possibility of extinction. Another theme that was present in the story was the connection between Pi and Richard Parker. (This is the deep structure consisting of the text’s ideas and truths, which the writer tries to convey through the action and exposition of the story.) At the end of the story, Pi realizes that he and Richard Parker is actually aspect of his own personality. This realization is made aware to the reader when Pi is retelling his story of despair to the two officials from the Maritime Department in the Japanese Ministry of Transport. They don’t believe his story, so Pi replaces the animals with people. Could this story have been an extreme hyperbole??? (Exaggeration or overstatement of the truth) I assume that Pi has made up the story about the animals as a coping mechanism and a way to disconnect with the horrible things he had to witness. Martel uses theses parallel stories to show the symbolism between animals and humans. (Person, place, thing that is in a text, used to represent something else.) Furthermore, he drives home the point that we humans are not so different from animals after all. Deprived of the luxuries and conveniences we have built up for ourselves in modern times, we resort to our basic instincts and animalistic roots.

Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life!!

This section of Li of Pi opens with Pi and his family boarding the Tsimtsum and journeying to Canada. Pi is awakened out of his sleep by a loud noise from the ship. Pi’s investigative nature causes him to explore the ship to see what was going on with the ship. Pi decides to take matters in his own hand when he unsuccessful wakes up Ravi and skips over his parents’ room. This action is a motif in the story. Pi is stepping into to manhood and exploring things independently from his family. (A motif is a frequently recurring theme or idea in a work of literature.)


The reader soon finds out that Pi is forced to become a man way before his time. The booming sound leads to the Tsimtsum’s demise. Once Pi comes to the realization of what is going on with the ship, it is too late. With the rising water approaching, Pi finds the crewmen to ask about his family and to see what he needs to do. The crewmen fling Pi into a life jacket and throw him overboard and he lands into a life boat. Suddenly a zebra jumps into the life boat alongside Pi. Then Pi begins to address Richard Parker, who is in the water trying to get into the life boat. Martel finally reveals that Richard Parker is a Bengal Tiger. Immediately the tone of the novel changes, as I read this part I began to fear for Pi’s life. (Tone is similar to mood, it relates to the overall feeling a story creates in the reader.) “Had I considered my prospects in light of reason, I surely would have given up and let go of the oar, hoping that I might drown before being eaten.”

Later on in the novel, more animals appear on the boat. Pi discovers that a hyena is also aboard and Orange Juice, monkey from the family zoo, later sails up to the boat on a bunch of bananas. Pi is very relieved to see Orange Juice and has sympathy for her. Both Pi and Orange Juice seem to have similar reactions to the situation they are in. They both are sad about the loss of their family and are seasick. Pi is amused by how much Orange Juice’s reactions are like his own human reactions.

Pi is forced to deal with the brutality of the hyena’s behavior as he begins to attack the zebra and Orange Juice. Pi is able to deal with these situations because of his knowledge of animals from living at the zoo and talks with his father. For example, Martel describes Pi thinking about the hyena’s diet and hunting schedule. Pi knows that hyenas will eat anything they come across. I believe this prior knowledge helps to keep Pi safe and gives him the ability to anticipate oncoming danger from the antagonist characters, Richard Parker and the hyena. (The antagonist is the most prominent of a story’s characters who oppose the hero in the story.) Also Pi seems to be fueled by his fear; accepting his own death makes his fear less paralyzing and enables him to take action. This demonstrates another important theme in Life of Pi, the will to live. Keep living and keep reading!!

“He Seems to be Attracting Religions the Way a Dog Attracts Fleas”

In this section of the novel, Pi explores different religions. Pi describes his earliest memories as a baby being connected to Hinduism. He goes into to detail about the Hindu philosophy of life and how he embraces it. “That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression, is the same thing.”


One day on vacation, fourteen year old Pi begins his long journey of Theology. Pi discovers a church during this vacation and goes in out of curiosity. He meets Father Martin and he explains to Pi the beliefs of Christianity. During this conversation, Martel describes an exchange between Pi and Father Martel. “He patted me on the head. It was more of a thump, actually. His hand went BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM on my head." This is an example of onomatopoeia. (A use of words whose sound defines its meaning.) Pi develops a relationship with Father Martin and decides to become a Christian.

At the age of fifteen, Pi describes his experiences with a Muslim baker and mystic, Mr. Kumar. Pi and Mr. Kumar began talking but Mr. Kumar interprets their conversation to pray. Pi is fascinated with Mr. Kumar’s ritual of praying. Pi returns the next day to ask Mr. Kumar about his religion. Pi then begins to attend mosque regularly.

Pi’s parents become very confused when discovering that he is practicing all three religions. This behavior causes rising conflict among Pi, his parents, and the three religious figures. (The primary source of tension within a story.) His mother has some hesitation about discussing religion with Pi after he asks to be baptized and request a pray rug. But, Pi explains to his mother that his only purpose is to love God. Pi’s early practicing of multiple religions is foreshadowing of him becoming involved with religious studies. (The author giving hints of what will come later in the story.) I love the way the author shows the different religions through the eyes of a young boy. He helps the reader develop empathy for other religions that he/she may have never encountered before. (The act of placing yourself “in the shoes” of another and forcing yourself to imagine how that person must feel.) I feel that Life of Pi is a great tool to help students understand and see multi-cultural characters that may have not been exposed to before, in engaging and entertaining way.