There will be some religious knowledge involved here, as well as very classic epic legends. India is a fusion of East and West (this does not refer to the country, but refers to the Indian nation in a broad sense). The Mahabharata and Ramayana are the epic legends of the nation, which is equivalent to the Old Testament The Jewish nation, the Koran to the Arab nation. There are rich historical traces in the epic, and the codes of national characteristics are recorded, but they are passed down through the deformation of the story. But at the same time, India is a typical diverse country. Although the ancient civilization of the country has disappeared, its civilization continues to deepen, and it is inherited at all costs. At the same time, it is the most typical satellite country in the history of capitalist empire expansion-Indochina. Colonial expansion brought disasters to India, but to a certain extent it was indeed pushed into a higher level of social formation. Moreover, the pangs of national disasters gave birth to a new world of thought: Homi Baba and Spivak, among the representatives of colonialism, have deep traces of India in their personal records.
This is the background, I have to say. Why the author put the story in India, we must understand that this is a place too suitable for ultimate thinking and story generation.
Freud put forward the theories of id, ego and superego when conducting personality analysis. Although this theory cannot explain all problems, it does belong to the ultimate propositional category of metacognition. In my opinion, to clarify why the party told such a story, the use of this analysis method is really just right.
1. Why did you believe in God after listening to my story? The
story began. Why did the writer come to interview Pai, because Mom Ji told him: After listening to the story of Pai, you will believe in God. Pai first talked about his growth and also talked about his beliefs. The writer asks, why do you need to tell this first? Yes, if you directly tell you the story, you can't understand the story behind the story without telling you this.
Hinduism, Christianity, Islam. Religion is supposed to be exclusive, but young people do believe in every faith sincerely. Multi-belief is non-belief. The non-belief here actually refers to the negation of the form of belief. The three beliefs of how the teenager unifies in his heart are just because he has a greater belief that surpasses the "God" in the Christian meaning. So, who is God? Or what? This is at the end, let's talk about it.
2. What is the theme of the film? How many symbolic images?
In the long time of the film, there are only me and the tiger, and there is also the "God" who has never appeared but is always talked about. This is the main clue of the story, which is actually the appearance of the theme of the story. The three of them are the three personality factors of Pie. The id is actually the part that is suppressed, suppressed and disciplined by the "superego" (sociality, so-called civilization).
The tiger is the id, the id is the instinct, and the greatest instinct of mankind is survival. This is the core essence of animality preserved. In terms of hair growth, it is the three major desires of human beings-sleep, appetite and sexual desire. The tiger is sending himself, and this self is the "self" of the three selves, and this selves directly pointed to the appetite in this shipwreck accident, in order to survive the appetite. The self is the self in the story. The superego is actually social and civilized.
When young people were curious about tigers, they represented the social father (in the part of the father, the so-called new school has always been emphasized, and he has also repeatedly looked forward to using rational discipline. We know that the key word in modern society is rationality.) Use straightforwardness The cruel way told Pie: Don't indulge tigers, because tigers are cruel and savage in nature, so they can be bloody to eat. In fact, this is a very natural rule of survival in nature. But why human beings are called civilization lies in the use of rules and reason to suppress this kind of animalism-in order to survive, by all means. Civilization is anti-natural in a sense. Pai’s mother is gentle, and is actually a symbol of religion in the film. Religion is actually the product of people trying to comfort their suffering and persuading themselves and others to accept suffering. But its form of existence is also affectionate. Just like a mother, she is vegetarian and unwilling to kill and eat meat. When her father wants to face the cruelty of tigers, she hopes to avoid it. She puts her head in her arms, but it is a pity , Pie failed to look away from her mother's (religious) refuge. But fortunately, he met his first love, Ananti. Ananti is the embodiment of beauty and love. Their acquaintance was in the dance class, and the dance was dedicated to the gods. We know that the origin of dance is actually the product of people's attempts to communicate with gods. People believe that movements and music can channel spirits. Remember the shape of the lotus flower in the forest? You must know the meaning of lotus flower in Hinduism. The creation god Brahma was born from the lotus that grew out of Vishnu's belly button. Although the civilized and disciplined faction suppresses the id, beauty still brings warmth to his life. Pie also took Ananti to see the tiger. He pointed to the tiger's posture, and Ananti told him that "NO" was not what you thought, but was listening. Anandi, the incarnation of beauty and love, is using her perspective to guide Pie to look at herself again. He once indulged in this harmony. But if Pai's life was just like this, then it would be plain and ordinary. The wonderful stories often come at a price.
Pai had to leave his love and beauty Ananti because of life, and the family sailed into the Pacific Ocean by boat. Humans’ feelings for the ocean are complex, thanking it for giving, but also fearing its unpredictability and danger. Therefore, in Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" and Herman's "Moby Dick", the sea has a rich meaning, often symbolizing nature. It is a good prop for discussing metaphysical issues. The storm caused the huge ship (sociality, modernity, civility) to sink, the pie was thrown into the sea (isolated from civilized society), and "God" watched all this. Pie faced a huge challenge to the worldview. The jackal (the cook) ate the zebra (sailor), and the orangutan (mother) argued with the jackal, but was bitten to death by the jackal. And the tiger (sent himself) killed the jackal. Life and death come so suddenly, there is no faction ready, life is too easy to pass away, including killing, the biggest taboo in religious belief is so simple. Why is there a small dispute about vegetarianism in the film? The director is laying the groundwork for it. My mother insists on being a vegetarian (adhering to faith and restraining herself with superego), but the cook feels that eating meat while sailing in the sea is enough to survive (beef and pork are vegetarian, because cows and pigs are all vegetarians) Although it is not logical, it is indeed his own logic of survival-taking the id as the biggest consideration. The three views of cook and mother are two extremes. And when these two extremes are tested, they become a huge conflict-whether to eat or not? It's just that this time the meat is no longer pork beef, but human flesh-sailor. The tender mother was defeated and killed. But the cook didn't want to kill the sailor and mother, he just wanted to survive. In fact, the so-called right or wrong are all judged from the perspective of social civilization. Therefore, in the end, Pai said, in fact, the nature of the cook is not bad. Only in terms of existential threat, he chose to override the self. However, the cook is not a pure self, he is also a social man, and sociality also leaves traces on him. His death was voluntary to a certain extent, because the superego (conscience) exerted pressure on the self, and guilt tormented him. Otherwise, how could a thin boy like Yipai easily kill an aggressive cook?
Pai's worldview was shocked and defeated. The self that was originally established has been subverted, whether it is belief or notion of right and wrong. His worldview became confused and confused. In the movie, his getting along with the tiger is a process of re-adapting the self and self, and according to his later words: During this period, "God" has also been on the sidelines and has never been absent. In the movie, Pai has appeared in trance and dreams several times. We know that trance and dreams are actually subconscious manifestations and unconscious rises. In the dream (subconscious), everything appeared but it was in chaos, and octopuses and monsters were messed up and swallowed in the dream. All these in fact imply that the faction at this time is partly confused and confused, and the three views after being subverted have not been re-established. In an environment that isolates human civilization and society (the sea-the sea is actually a symbol of nature. In nature, there is no right or wrong, killing is not a crime but just a natural phenomenon). "The balance was broken. Tigers, tigers did not exist in the beginning. After the jackal killed the orangutan, in the "come on" of the angry faction, the tiger rushed out to kill the jackal. Is this "come on" not only a declaration of war against the jackal, but also a summoning of the self (tiger). Pai began to question the superego and summoned the id. For a period of time, he tried to live peacefully with the id and maintain balance (trying to communicate with the tiger, training the tiger), and never gave up the superego-recite Pi Hutchison diary. He is actually rebuilding himself unconsciously. We know that a name is synonymous with a person in society. In a certain sense, the name is self. Therefore, Pie is still carrying Pi when he is drifting on the sea. He is reminding his sociality and does not want to lose himself. And writing, as the most typical element of society and civilization, has supported the faction through difficult days for a long period of time. At this time, his superego still dominates. However, wind and waves drove the diary into the sea. He has lost a part of society.
The storm came again, and Pai was very happy at first, he thought it was a miracle, and he wanted to praise God. If you don’t understand that there was such a description in the New Testament, then you will not be able to see why. Jesus and his disciples were in a boat on the sea, and there was a storm. John was shocked, but Jesus rebuked John, "You little believer". Jesus rebuked the wind and waves on the bow, and the sea calmed down. However, the tiger that symbolizes the self hides in the canvas with fear. He wants the tigers to admire it together, but finds that the tiger is frightened. Suddenly he is furious. Can it also be said that he cannot persuade himself to restrain his dissatisfaction and doubt, and finally Unable to suppress the eruption, he asked loudly, "Why did you scare it?" "I lost everything, what do you want?" "God" ignored him, but his heart was already tilted.
In fact, the direction of "God" here is already relatively clear. That is fate. After watching the movie, some people feel that they cannot understand that God is different from the omnipotent and all-good God in religious audio. Why not only did they not come to save the pie, but also caused the pie's experience to be extremely miserable. A religious knowledge is involved here. The Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament mainly talks about God, while the New Testament mainly talks about the Son—Jesus Christ. Our general understanding of God in Christianity is actually part of the New Testament. God loves the world, so he bestows his only son on mankind, and bears a cross to wash mankind’s sins. But the God in the Old Testament does not matter to him. Because of his anger, he could let Noah enter the Ark with a torrent of rain and ruin the chaotic world. However, at Noah’s Fragrant Sacrifice, he suddenly felt that he seemed too sloppy, so he and Noah promised with the rainbow as an occasion. No longer destroy the world. (In the movie, Pai once said that he came to my ark) God in the Old Testament was not entirely good and love, but rather irrational, without good and evil, right and wrong. Isn’t this like “natural”, like Extremely "destiny"? I personally think that the God in the film does not refer to the God in the New Testament, but rather the God in the Old Testament. And in this way, another problem is solved at the same time. How did Pie survive, that is the island that suddenly appeared
Pai and Tiger had absolutely realized that they were going to be unable to live anymore, but at this moment, he said "Thank you for giving me life. I am ready." After passing out, he suddenly opened his eyes and came to the food-rich place. On the island. His words before the coma might suggest more content. This is because other people's gods discovered after discussing with people, it is the biggest hot spot and the scariest place in the film, so I won't show it here. However, adding a religious knowledge, in Christianity, the way that the Son Jesus saves mankind is actually to wash the sins of mankind with his own flesh and blood. Therefore, in religious ceremonies, only baptized believers can enjoy the sacrament. Among them, drinking wine actually refers to drinking the blood of Jesus, and eating holy bread is actually eating the flesh of Jesus. In the beginning of the film, it said that he was sent to drink the holy water secretly and questioned why Jesus sacrificed himself in saving people. In fact, it was to pave the way for the biggest explosion.
In Christian doctrine, what is the original sin of man? It was the snake (desire) who ate the fruit of the tree of good and evil and drove out of the Garden of Eden. This is the most painful place. It has been discerned that good and evil are the original sins that people are hard to get rid of by birth. Good and evil are right and wrong. Why is it sin to know right and wrong? This involves ultimate thinking. The problem is too big to be easy. Just think about it, everyone think for yourself.
3. At the end of the story, the writer questioned this "unbelievable" story, and Pai slowly told another story about cannibalism and murder. In addition, I told the writer that the Japanese who came to investigate did not believe in the story of animal fighting and killing and asked the school to tell the truth, but when the young school told the second story, they were silent and thought the first story was the matter in the insurance book. The truth. Pie asked the writer "Which story do you like?" The writer smiled complicatedly and said, "The first one, because it is more exciting." In fact, we all know that the second story is the truth, but it is only part of the truth. The most terrifying part of the faction still chose silence. But why did both the writer and the Japanese choose the first story? Because this is the result of their choice. They are not to believe, but to avoid burying the second story. Remember that joke, a lie wears the clothes of the truth. Everyone would rather believe the lie wearing the clothes than accept the naked truth. Because it is unbearable.
Hey, I can’t say that the biggest burst point feels very restrained, but someone like me who dominates divergent thinking also talks a lot about it, it’s really scary. But this film really has too much to explain, it is indeed a good text, and there is a lot of room for growth.
View more about Life of Pi reviews
