Quartering in Haikus by Pearse Wolfe Liblong

Quartering in Haikus

By Pearse Wolfe Liblong

First Quarter:

When I had fallen

You were my saviour, lifting

Only to drop me.

This haiku represents how Chiyo (the narrator) was swept off of her feet in a time of need by Mr. Tanaka only to have him betray her and sell her and her sister off to the highest bidder. This haiku also expresses her profound disappointment in the breaching of her trust, which is why I chose to write it in the first person.

Second Quarter:

Water finds a way

Around the tallest mountains

The clock strikes midnight.

This haiku is about Chiyo’s flexibility in the face of adversity; her being the water, flowing around obstacles, and the mountains being the enormous problems in her life. The clock striking midnight is about when she first met the Chairman. He was the first one to show any real compassion towards her since she arrived in Gion and yet, unfortunately, their meeting was very short-lived.

Third Quarter:

Gaining momentum

Quasimodo, not the Prince

Fires extinguished.

The first line in this haiku is about Sayuri’s career. As time goes on, she becomes more and more successful and receives a record-setting for her mizuage. The second line is about how Mr. Nobu, a physically unattractive man (Quasimodo), is courting her, instead of her love, the Chairman (the Prince). Finally, the third line is about how her nemesis, Hatsumomo (the fire), has gone crazy and left the okiya. 

Fourth Quarter:

Revenge overdue

Wounded hearts bleed love no more

Horrors are over.

In this final haiku, the first line is about Pumpkin’s revenge on Sayuri. The second line represents how Sayuri and the Chairman finally come together and confess their love for each other. And then the third line is a “happily ever after”, with the horrific period of her life being over, with a tie-in to the quote “Oh the horror…the horror…” (Kurtz, from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now) using an allusion. 

 

Sources:

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Novel Response by Pearse Wolfe Liblong

“Oh the horror…the horror…” (Kurtz, from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now).

This quote ties in seamlessly with Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha simply because so many terrible things happened to Chiyo/Sayuri after she was taken from her parents (including the fact that she was taken from her parents). First of all, she was lied to and betrayed by a man that she trusted and was perhaps naively in love with, and sold into what was basically slavery. On top of that, she was tormented and sabotaged nearly every day by the malicious Hatsumomo. It seemed as thought every force in the universe was working against her. To top all of that off, her sister, who was forced to become a prostitute, had to run away without her (Chiyo) and her parents died before she could say any kind of goodbye to them. Oh the horror indeed…

Sources:
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Final Essay: A Scrutiny of Good and Evil by Pearse Wolfe Liblong

A Scrutiny of Good and Evil:
Examining the Effects of Hardship on the Protagonist

An essay by Pearse Wolfe Liblong

Jesus had the Devil and Harry had Voldemort but would their chronicles have been as captivating and famous if they had not had terrible things happen to them? Throughout the history of storytelling some of the most common themes have been unbeatable odds, adversity, and darkness. This gives the hero something to rise out of; after all, evil makes heroes and vice versa. In Memoirs of a Geisha, Sayuri (then, Chiyo) was taken from her parents and forced into a world of slavery. However, by the end of this Cinderella story, she has overcome the forces working against her, found her true love, and ends up living happily ever after. Perhaps one reason why this theme is so common is because it is relatable. Not only do most members of the human race harbour both good and evil, but tales of unlikely triumph resonate deep within, providing a sense of comfort, hope, and elevated self-esteem.

First of all, what is evil? Is it simply the absence of good? If so, then what is good and how is one able to recognize it when presented with an example? These are questions that have been pondered by philosophers and religious scholars through the ages. Traditional Judeo-Christian morality dictates that evil is that which is lacking in fundamental goodness; it is that “the man should be alone” which is the “not good” (Genesis 2:18), i.e. that which goes against god and society at large is evil.[1] Contrarily, the philosopher Benedict de Spinoza defines good and evil in his 1677 magnum opus Ethics by saying: “By good, I understand that which we certainly know is useful to us. By evil, on the contrary I understand that which we certainly know hinders us from possessing anything that is good.”[2] More importantly, however, he states in Proposition 68 “If men were born free, they would form no conception of good and evil so long as they were free.”[2] This implies that without the chains of societal expectation binding us in squalor to the moral ground, man would have no way of knowing what is good for the human race and what is not.

Before she was taken from her parents, Chiyo was a relatively happy girl. Although she and her sister were relegated to the position of a proxy-mother, because theirs was sick and dying, Chiyo had a normal childhood; she played with the other children in the village and was respectful of her elders. One day she met Mr, Tanaka, a handsome, gracious man. Chiyo, figuring it would be easier on her father, made a plan for her and her sister to be adopted by Mr. Tanaka. On the day of the adoption, however, they were taken by Tanaka’s assistant to Gion, where Chiyo was sold to an okiya and her sister, Satsu, was forced to become a prostitute. This event was only the first of a series of traumatic episodes, the likes of which might have driven some people to the point of insanity or suicide. Other tragedies that befall her include constant sabotage by the malicious Hatsumomo, and living in exile during World War II. Eventually, she finds true love and all is well in her life, but this ending would not have been so extraordinary had she not become such a close friend with catastrophe. It is the contrast between her life before and after misfortune that distinguishes her ending from those more ordinary.

This archetypal “Cinderella Story” appeals to the very basics of human nature. It includes elements of love, good eventually prevailing over evil, Prince Charming; some of the earliest and most common themes found in literature.  The majority of people in western society are not living their ideal lives and have to work very hard to make a living. When reading Memoirs of a Geisha and similar stories, one can find solace in the belief that if a broken woman like Sayuri or Cinderella can emerge from their cocoon of discontent, then it is not impossible for one to do the same.

All evil needs good and all good needs evil. They are two opposing forces that contradict as much as they compliment each other. Without evil, how would we know what is good and vice versa. Although they mix as well as oil and water, one cannot exist in the absence of the other. Even if all present evils were eradicated, would we not simply find something new to demonize? It is this balance that makes the stock rags-to-riches folkhero such a popular character. They (the hero/heroine in question) serve as a motivational device and moral compass for any hopeless, lost soul who might hear the tale; and again, as Benedict de Spinoza wrote: “If men were born free, they would form no conception of good and evil so long as they were free.”[2]

Citations/Quotes:
1. The Bible: Book of Genesis (2:18)
2. Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza, translated by R. H. M. Elwes, Part IV: Of
Human Bondage of the Strength of the Emotions. (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ethics_%28Spinoza%29/Part_4)
Other Sources:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_of_evil#Christianity 2. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Final Essay, Sierra Dean

Memoires of a Geisha/ Lord Of the Flies

Japan/ Germany

It can be argued that World War II began with a loss of power. This can be seen through the involvement of Japan and Germany in World War II, as well as through the characters Sayuri, from Memoirs Of A Geisha, written by Arthur Golden, and Ralph, from Lord Of The Flies, written by William Golding. Although the two stories are very different, a distinct change can be seen when the characters lose their power. This is also demonstrated in World War II, ultimately ending in the defeat of the Axis, an alliance including both Japan and Germany. Similarly, loss of power leads to “war” in these two novels.

A strong connection can be made between Ralph and Germany. Germany suffered a huge loss of power at the end of World War I, under the treaty of Versailles. Germany lost almost 13% of its land mass as well as precious resources and soldiers. This ultimately led to a need to regain control and assent power. In Lord Of The Flies, Ralph is put into a position of power, with several objects that signify his reign. The first is a conch shell, which is a sign of democracy. The conch shell symbolizes the self government that Germany obtained before the treaty. The second object was a pair of glasses used to create fire. Being on an abandoned island, fire was a key element to Ralph's escape. The glasses work as a symbol of the self government Germany lost to the treaty. Without the ability to govern and with the absence of soldiers, resources and money, Germany lost their hope to regain their power through government while Ralph lost his hope for escape. Ralph's main rival, a young man named Jack, defeats Ralph's leadership and rids him of both the conch and the glasses. This was a shift in the novel, when Ralph has ultimately lost his power. Germany's loss of power resulted in a strong approach to World War II, in hopes to regain some of its power. Germany initially intended to invade Poland and within a month had managed to divide all of Poland. This is reflected through Ralph as he attempts to regain the glasses and his power. For both Ralph and Germany, this action resulted in war. Soon after, Britain and France both declared war on Germany. In the novel, Ralph is exiled by Jack and chased across the island, with Jack in his followers pursuing his death. Without the absence of power, Ralph and the children on the island may have been able to avoid the fate of savagery and Germany may not have declared defeat.

A second connection can be made between Japan's involvement in World War II and the novel, Memoirs Of A Geisha. Japan, although having a strong military, lacked raw material which pressured Japan to expand beyond it's island borders. Sayuri, the protagonist in Memoirs Of A Geisha, is taken at the age of nine and forced into training to become a geisha of Gion. Sayuri, who suffered under the pressure of being forced into this lifestyle, devised a plan to escape back to her home town of Yoroido. Japan's attempt at expansion was abruptly ended when the United States attacked. As Sayuri attempts to expand her power by escaping, she is caught and taken back to her caretakers, who then strip her of all the power she had. This is a turning point in the novel because if Sayuri had managed to escape, she would have remained in control and her war against herself and the surrounding characters wouldn't have begun. If Japan had managed to expand and gain more control over the Pacific, they may have faired better during the war. Without power, neither Sayuri nor Japan could progress through the war enough to eventually win. Sayuri failed at escape and was forced into a life controlled by others and Japan surrenders to the United States, ending their reign of power over the Pacific.

The loss of power creates war. Throughout all of society, people fight for their right to power, and fight to regain the power lost. With Ralph and Sayuri displaying the war of humanity, we see the savagery that can be seen behind power struggles. With Germany's loss of self government, we see how power can influence a large population. Japan suffered a close fate when they fell to the United States. These same struggles for power can be seen in people. Ralph's loss of democracy and hope led to savagery, and Sayuri's loss of control led to defeat. Loss of power has been shown to lead to war in both novels and in our history. With the need to regain control and the assent for power, life can become an item of war.

circumstance vs. personal attack essay

Sabrina Warren

April 29, 2012

Circumstance vs. Personal Attack

In Yann Martel's, Life of Pi, and, Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins, Katniss Everdeen and Pi Patel experience traumatic events that affect them psychologically. However, Katniss is able to harbour hatred from her ordeal and is unable to recover since it was intentionally done to harm her, whereas Pi ended up on a lifeboat because it was circumstantial. Both characters lose an equal amount in their life, but their emotional trauma and the everlasting effects of their horror, differs substantially based on circumstance versus personal attack.

On July 2^nd, 1977 the Tsimtsum sank, leaving Pi orphaned on a lifeboat with a brute cook/blind Frenchman that resembles a hyena; the Taiwanese sailor as a zebra; Pi’s mother as an orang-utan; and Pi’s survival instinct manifesting as Richard Parker, an adult Bengal tiger. Mr. Okamoto believes the ship to have sunk from a major hull breach, causing the ship to sink quickly and leave behind debris. It was under circumstance that the Tsimtsum sank and therefore, leaves to chance the 227 days Pi spent in the open solitude of the lifeboat and soul-destroying loneliness of the Pacific. When Pi’s situation changes from safely on his way to Canada to a deadly lifeboat and treacherous ocean, he is forced to reinvent his perspective on life, ideology, and beliefs in order to adapt as a result of circumstance. Storytelling comes down to the idea of truth, which is simply too traumatic for Pi and he therefore creates the animal story as a way to mask the atrocities witnessed while at sea and soften the reality of the darkness that lie await in humans. “The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no? And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no? Doesn’t that make life a story?” (Life of Pi: part 3, page 335). The use of the animal and the human story presents the idea that while the events of the story remains the same, it is the consequence behind it that determines Pi’s perception of it and allows him to manipulate this reality, to make his journey different. It is circumstance that enables Pi to manipulate his perspective about his ordeal and recover from his trauma because he is only a victim of chance. Therefore, he isn’t able to hate the animals or humans he spent time with, because circumstance had contrary effects to them compared to Pi. Moreover, it was an occurrence that they came to be on the lifeboat together and took part in, or experienced the barbaric deeds of others. At the end of his ordeal, he can only bear to remember so much, meaning he is able to list the sensations, but refuses to delve into the effects of it on his psyche. The distress of the lifeboat breaks Pi down to his core, but the complete chance of his event enables him to resurface into an evolved version of his self and drowns out his ability to feel hatred for his time on the lifeboat and the people and animals he shared it with. Through circumstance, Pi is able to omit the barbaric, violent side of him that allowed him to survive in favour of transferring his horrifying acts to his alter ego, Richard Parker. Pi is then able to cope with the emotional pain experienced through the harsh reality of surviving at sea and the gruesome, hidden traits of humans.

Through a form of punishment for the Districts of Panem, Katniss has to participate in the annual Hunger Games, where she competes for her own survival at the cost of the lives of 22 others. Having survived the Hunger Games, she is then sent back in as a tribute in the Quarter Quell; however, she escapes the arena along with some of the other tributes to District 13 where she learns a rebellion is underway in the Districts. Katniss' influence over the Districts causes her to become the target on both fronts of the war between Coin, Snow, and anyone who sees her as a deadly threat or think they can easily manipulate her. “A fire mutt knows only a single sensation: agony. No sight, no sound, no feeling except the unrelenting burning of flesh.” (Mockingjay: part 3, page 348). The intentional human aggression that takes place in Katniss' life forces her into a state where she has no sight, knows no sound, and no feeling except the agony of fire that burns bits of her flesh from her body, which inhibits her recovery. Throughout Mockingjay, Snow is so focused on tormenting Katniss for the part she plays in the rebellion, in an attempt to deny the truth of her claims against the Capitol by personally attacking Katniss with the people she loves. Roses are a small but potent symbol of the cruelty and power that President Snow claims over her. They are used to not only send a message to her, but the sight and smell of them, are specifically designed to unhinge, and ultimately cause her to associate terror and illness with them. In truth, the rebellion is realistically a three-front war of personal attacks where Snow is openly drowning Katniss to maintain power, while Coin is secretly pulling her under more and more. Moreover, while Snow and Katniss are watching each other, Coin is secretly manipulating both of them to expend their resources to tear down each other and then step in and take control, replicating the Hunger Games. During the rebellion, Katniss is used as a pawn to be played in President Snow and President Coin’s personal games, in which their battle for power causes her to suffer emotionally from their personal attacks. In the end, the deaths Katniss witnesses builds upon her horrors, personally bestowed upon her by Snow and Coin, causing her to experience emotional numbing and regularly re-experience the horrors she witnessed through flashbacks and nightmares.

“It’s important in life to conclude things properly. Only then can you let go. Otherwise, you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse.” (Life of Pi: part 3, page 316). Pi is able to let go of the horrors he witnessed and begin a life that incorporates his ordeal, like religion and his orange cat, knowing that the circumstances that left him on that lifeboat with those people/animals, is over. Katniss, however, is unable to release her terror and hatred for the intentional harm because those personal attacks place her in the crucible where the fire becomes so intense she begins to question her survival. Personal attack leaves Katniss unable to recover from her trauma because she knows that the darkness in humans will never dissipate and that any pleasure she feels or loved ones she has, can easily be taken away. Through the use of manipulation, deception, and intimidation, both Snow and Coin attempt to press on Katniss, drain her, and seek to wear her out in order to gain complete control. Pi faces difficult circumstances and is able to emerge unscathed by using storytelling and manipulating reality to make it easier to deal with the ruthlessness of man. The story with the animals provides heart and soul, as well as an emotional appeal to hope and faith, which provides Pi with a greater peace of mind. Circumstance allows the psychological recovery of Pi because it illustrates the simple process of nature taking its course. It is the overt human aggression that assaults the mental and physical health of human beings rather than through the circumstance of a disaster.

The cruelty of reality and the barbaric killing in, Life of Pi, and, Mockingjay, both cause psychological, emotional suffering to Pi and Katniss alike. Although, the extent of those effects differentiates due to the softer, more attractive endeavour of circumstance compared to a play by play of the worst of humanity when the ordeal is of human design. The grim darkness of the battle for power displays the cruelness of man more so when it causes the emotional destruction of a single person through the use of manipulation and personal attacks.

Fourth Bank Of Questions

Bank Of Questions

Memoirs Of A Geisha

Arthur Golden

Chapters 25 - 35

By Sierra Dean

• Would the chairman react to Nobu's proposal to be Sayuri's danna?
• Does Mameha wish to have a real relationship with a man?
• Why does Mameha defend Sayuri against Nobu's proposal?
• Did anyone ever find out about Yasuda-san and Sayuri being together?
• Why doesn't Hatsumomo seek revenge when Mameha spread the rumor about her being mentally unstable?
• How did Mameha know the general would come in so useful during the war?
• Why was Nobu still willing to help Sayuri survive the war if Sayuri had disappointed him so much?
• Why did Sayuri turn to thoughts of Satsu during the war?
• Why does Nobu entertain the minister if he hates him so much?
• Why does everyone accept Pumpkin's rude behavior after the war?
• Why did Sayuri attempt such a risky move rather then pleading mother to say no to Nobu's proposal?
• How did the chairman not realize Sayuri was the child crying by the stream if he had asked Mameha to find the child and Mameha had come back with Sayuri not long after?
• Did other geisha look up to Sayuri's fortunes with the Chairman like they did with the geisha who ended up with the man she loved?
• Why did so many geisha and japanese businessmen move to New York after the war?

Mockingjay 4th quarter quotes

"The ones I loved fly as birds in the open sky above me. Soaring, weaving, calling to me to join them. I want so badly to follow them, but the seawater saturates my wings, making it impossible to lift them. The ones I hated have taken to the water, horrible scaled things that tear my salty flesh with needle teeth. Biting again and again. Dragging me beneath the surface." (3.25.4)

"Snow shakes his head in mock disappointment. "Oh, my dear Miss Everdeen. I thought we had agreed not to lie to eachother."' (3.25.45)

"What I can do is give up. I resolve to lie on the bed without eating, drinking, or taking my medications. I could do it, too. Just die." (3.27.12)

Choice assignment: analysis

When Pi throws the Lifebuoy to Richard Parker so that he is able to climb aboard the lifeboat immediately after the Tsimtsum sinks, it illustrates the theme: the will to live.  “He would not make it. He would drown. He was hardly moving forward and his movements were weak. His nose and mouth kept dipping underwater. Only his eyes were steadily upon me.” (2.37.9).  At first Pi notices the lack of strength that Richard Parker possessed while in the ocean, and Pi attempts to keep him swimming by blowing the whistle on his life jacket, but Richard Parker soon gives up.  “His head was barely above water. He was looking up, taking in the sky one last time. There was a lifebuoy in the boat with a rope tied to it. I took hold of it and waved it in the air.” (2.37.13). However, the sight of the lifebuoy gave Richard Parker hope and started beating the water with vigorous strokes.  It is this fierce, unrelenting power and survival instinct that inhibits all living creatures and with which life will fight off death that drives Richard Parker aboard the lifeboat and to stay alive for 227 days on the lifeboat.  Martel uses the colour orange to symbolize survival, for example: Richard Parker, the whistle, the lifejacket, the lifebuoy, and the tarpaulin.  This vitality is drawn in contrast to the loss of life, human and animal, on the lifeboat.  The colour orange is also the colour of the second Hindu chakra (the energy center in the body) which relates to emotional identity, the water, and the ability to accept change.  Another theme at work in this moment is religion, and since his religious values are providing him with the motivation to save himself and another of God’s creatures, i.e. a tiger, explains why Pi would bring a deadly creature aboard. 

“She came floating on an island of bananas in a halo of light, as lovely as the Virgin Mary. The rising sun was behind her. Her flaming hair looked stunning.” (2.24.1).   For Pi, Orange Juice’s appearance is moving because she is the most human-like out of all the animals and she emphasizes the loss of human life.  “Bearing an expression profoundly sad and mournful, she began to look about, slowly turning her head from side to side. Instantly the likeness of apes lost its amusing character. She had given birth at the zoo to two young ones, strapping males five and eight years old that were her—and our—pride. It was unmistakably these she had on her mind as she searched over the water, unintentionally mimicking what I had been doing for the last thirty-six hours.” (2.46.3). Pi notices her distinct humanity through her seasickness, to her staring out at the water in search of her two sons as both hopeful that they’ll return and hopeless as she doesn’t expect them to.   Pi is able to find solace and sadness in her presence by their parallel loss of family and her humanity while he is left grief-stricken and alone without his family.



“She pulled back her lips, showing off enormous canines, and began to roar. It was a deep, powerful, huffing roar, amazing for an animal normally as silent as a giraffe. The hyena was as startled as I was by the outburst. It cringed and retreated.” (2.46.6). In chapter 46, where Orange Juice was shown off as a maternal symbol, in chapter 47, when she fights the hyena, she represents a motherly defender to Pi.  “She thumped the beast on the head. It was something shocking. It made my heart melt with love and admiration and fear.” (2.47.8). The brutality of the orang-utan teaches Pi that the qualities an animal or human will exhibit when unprovoked, differs from when the ones that they will display if attacked or threatened.  Pi has never before seen her make exhibit such aggression since he had assumed her nature to be sweet and benevolent.  However, he suddenly realizes that the personality of an animal, as well as humans, is separate and distinct from instinct.  “She made to bite, but the hyena moved faster. Alas, Orange Juice’s defence lacked precision and coherence. Her fear was something useless that only hampered her. The hyena let go of her wrist and expertly got to her throat. Dumb with pain and horror, I watched as Orange Juice thumped the hyena ineffectually and pulled at its hair while her throat was being squeezed by its jaws. To the end she reminded me of us: her eyes expressed fear in such a humanlike way, as did her strained whimpers.” (2.47.13, 14).  In the end, despite her show of ferocity and brutality, her fear and lack of fighting experience defeat her.

“The hunter, whose name was Richard Parker, picked it up with his bare hands and, remembering how it had rushed to drink in the river, baptized it Thirsty. But the shipping clerk at the Howrah train station was evidently a man both befuddled and diligent. All the papers we received with the cub clearly stated that its name was Richard Parker, that the hunter’s first name was Thirsty and that his family name was None Given.”  Giving the tiger the human name Richard Parker challenges the distinctions that exist between humans and animals, which Pi has been exploring all along.  There are several examples of shipwrecked Richard Parkers.  For example: in 1837, Poe wrote his only novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, about a shipwreck where Pym and other survivors from the shipwreck cannibalize a third survivor named Richard Parker.  A yacht, the Mignonette, in 1846, sank and a cabin boy named Richard Parker was killed and eaten by the other survivors.  On the Titanic, another Richard Parker died when it sunk in 1912 and his body was never recovered.  Therefore, the name itself was carefully chosen by Martel and it hints at cannibalism and the possibility of him disappearing.

“Several times I started bringing the hatchet down, but I couldn’t complete the action. Such sentimentalism may seem ridiculous considering what I had witnessed in the last days, but those were the deeds of others, of predatory animals. I suppose I was partly responsible for the rat’s death, but I’d only thrown it; it was Richard Parker who had killed it. A lifetime of peaceful vegetarianism stood between me and the willful beheading of a fish.” (2.61.22).  During a fluke of nature, a school of flying fish jump over, into and around the boat while trying to escape dorados, resulting in Pi’s first catch.  The placements of the fish that jump into the lifeboat are Martel’s way of pointing out that man cannot be completely separated or independent of nature.  Martel also lowers Pi’s humanity, bringing him closer to an animal’s existence as he uses a method of self-preservation: imitation, by adapting to his wild companion’s behaviour.  “Tears flowing down my cheeks, I egged myself on until I heard a cracking sound and I no longer felt any life fighting in my hands. I pulled back the folds of the blanket. The flying fish was dead. It was split open and bloody on one side of its head, at the level of the gills. I wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul. It was the first sentient being I had ever killed. I was now a killer. I was now as guilty as Cain.” (2.61.25, 26).  According to the book of Genesis in the Bible, Cain is the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, who was jealous that God accepted his Brother Abel’s sacrifice but not his, so Cain murdered Abel.  Pi likens himself to Cain after he kills the flying fish since he couldn’t allow another mistake after the flying fish he threw to Richard Parker flew away before he could eat it.  When Pi descends into feralness, the distinctness of human civility and animal behaviour begin to blur, however, his humanity resists when he hesitates to kill the fish.  “You may be astonished that in such a short period of time I could go from weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death a Dorado. I could explain it by arguing that profiting from a flying fish’s navigational mistake made me shy and sorrowful, while the excitement of actively capturing a great Dorado made me sanguinary and self-assured. But in point of fact the explanation lies elsewhere. It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing.” (2.61.33). It is at this moment when Pi truly mimics the brutality and ruthlessness of the hyena, making his humanity insignificant during his efforts to survive.

The Second Dream

His hands are tied behind him with roughly woven rope cutting though the flesh of his wrists. He is blindfolded with black cloth. He is kneeling on the street, on the edge of a gutter filled with still water, his head drooping between his shoulders. His knees roll on the hard ground and bleed though his pants as he rocks in prayer. It is late afternoon and his long shadow sways back and fourth on the gravel. He is muttering something under his breath. I step closer. A thousand times over, he mutters. For you a thousand times over. Back and forth he rocks. He lifts his face. I see a faint scar above his upper lip. We are not alone. I see the barrel first. The the man standing behind him. He is tall, dressed in a herringbone vest and a black turban. He looks down at the blindfolded man before him with eyes that show nothing but a vast, cavernous emptiness. He takes a step back and raises the barrel. Places it on the back on the kneeling man's head, for a moment, fading sunlight catches the metal and twinkles. The  rifles roars with a deafening crack. I follow the barrel on its upward arc. I see the face behind the plume of smoke swirling from the muzzle. I am the man in the herringbone vest. 

Symbolism 

The eyes : empty, cruel, emptyness, Amir fears being/becoming this man  

The man being Amir : the internal struggle of Amir feeling resonsible and guilty for what he has done to Hassan 

Black : he color of nothing, lack of color, mourning color 

Praying : hope, redemption, belief

The Dream

"It was warm and sunny, and the lake was clear like a mirror. but no one was swimming because they said a monster had come to the lake. It was swimming at the bottom, waiting"... "So everyone is scared to get in the water, and suddenly you kick off your shoes, Amir agha, and take off your shirt. There's no monster, you say. "I'll show you all" And before anyone can stop you, you dive into the water, start swimming away. I follow you in and we're both swimming... Get out! Get out! but we just swim in the cold water. We make it way out to the middle of the lake and we stop swimming. We turn toward the shore and wave to the people. They look small like ants, but we can hear them clapping. They see now there is no monster, just water. They change the name of the lake after that, and call it the "Lake of Amir and Hassan", Sultans of Kabul and we get to charge people money for swimming in it"

Symbolism 

Clear Lake : there are no signs of trouble, the lake isolates Hassan and Amir so it is only them.

The monster : something unknown, hidden

The price to swim in the lake : everything has a price what is the price? 

There is no monster, he'd said, just water. Except he'd been wrong about that. There was a monster in the lake. It had grabbed Hassan by the ankles, dragged him to the murky bottom. I was that monster.

-- Amir

Bank of Afghani Words

First Quarter

Watan -- homeland

Tashakor -- thank you 

Moochi -- shoe repairman

Kursi -- a heater under a low table coved with a thick quilt 

Inshallah -- god willing

Boboresh -- cut him

Bakhshida -- forgiven

Laaf -- the afghan tendency to exaggerat

Kofra sandwiches -- meatballs and pickles wrapped in naan

Saratan -- cancer 

Kochi --The nomads who passed though Kabul on their way to the mountains of the north

Kunis -- fag/gay man

Second Quarter 

Mareez -- not felling well/sick

Kaka -- uncle

Khala -- Aunt

Saughat -- souvenir

Moftakhir -- proud

Tassali -- condolences

Parchami -- a communist

Zendagi migzara -- life goes on

Balay -- I do 

Bachem -- my child

Salaam -- hello

Yelda -- The first night of winter, and the longest night of the year

Nang and Namoos -- honor and pride

Mojarad -- a single young man

Iftikhar -- pride

Khoshteep -- handsome

Shirini-khori -- engagement party

Third Quarter 

Kofta -- meatballs and white rice

jaroo -- broomstick

ghamkhoir -- self pity

Hadia -- gift

zenda bad taliban -- long live the taliban

lotfan -- please

Fourth Quarter

Biwa -- widow

Shahbas -- bravo

Qaom -- family

Dostet darum -- I love you

Rawsti -- Why

Jai-Namaz -- prayer rug

Quwat -- strength

Bakhshesh -- forgiveness

Khasta -- tierd

Tanhaii -- solo

Sabagh -- lesson