Tuesday, May 13, 2008
"My Brother"
After reading to the end, I began to wonder what - if any - the significance of the "blind man" Pi met out at sea was, as well as why the term "brother" was used. I also began to wonder if there was any significance to Pi's blindness throughout this portion of the story. Did it have any significance other than to make the story a bit more interesting?
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2 comments:
The scene is a metaphor for Pi's whole voyage. Their blindness represents how all of them are lost on the ocean without knowing where they're going.
The frenchie is also part of the metaphor for the cook. In that scene, he also about how he killed a man and a woman, which is what the cook did.
The term brother seems to be a term used for someone who you feel a, well, brotherly bond to. A close male friend; a comrade.
Brother is also used as a term for someone of the same religious order.
It could be symbolic of his loss of faith, seeing as this is the point in the novel where Pi is most desperate. Earlier in the novel he says "atheists are my brothers and sisters of a different faith", so perhaps the other man was his subconscious doubt in God. It's also interesting to note that Richard Parker kills this man, and if Richard Parker is Pi... well, you do the math.
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