Life of Pi - Zoos and Religion

In our discussions about the first five chapters of the novel we focused on a variety of questions, depending on which period you have class.  The one topic we all explored centered around questions of freedom and how they relate both to zoos and religion, as suggested by Pi on p. 19 when he says, "certain illusions about freedom plague them both."

Our conversation named several different aspects of freedom, and how it applies to religion:

• freedom vs. being contained
• provided for by others vs. self-sufficient
• routine vs. uncertainty
• choice vs. structure

Does religion restrict or free us?

Are the structures of religion designed to open or restrict our thinking?

What does religion provide for us that we cannot provide for ourselves?

For the weekend, please read chapters 6-14