Pi's crazy ending, my views

I kinda forgot to write one or two of these so i am going to be doing a bit of catching up today.

first i would like to talk about the ending of Pi and all of my views on what actually happened. One of the parts that struck me was that Max looks up at the sky at the very end. Seemingly unimportant, it should be actually very important. i don't know if i am remembering wrong, but the only other time Max looks up is when watching the stock ticker at night after chasing the camera guy. Max lives in a dark world with no friends and little contact with the outside world. after deciding his brain needs an air hole Max's world does a 180. he is outside in a bright world, happy with everything ( or he seems that way) and actually hanging out with someone ( even if it is just the little neighbor girl). this led me to a few different conclusions.

1) He actually drilled himself and somehow got better. this is very unlikely and probably not what happened.

2) The drilling was all just another dream and he just found a way to use his brain power to suppress or destroy the part of the brain causing all the problems. this leads to two different conclusions.
a) he succeeds and lives a happy and normal life
b) he fails and ends up just getting stuck in his head and the ending is just another one of his pain or drug induced dreams.
both of these still seem a bit unlikely to me

3) Max drills into his head and ends up killing himself. this is my favorite interpretation of the ending. it makes the most sense. the looking into the sunny sky for instance, which was always kept away, him being a "normal" person, and even the fact that he is happy. i think this is how it all went down. Max commits suicided by drilling open his head and then goes into the his version of a perfect afterlife. Sweet, simple and happy

But these are just my thoughts and probably no where near what actually went down. just thought people might want to know...

D's Ending

First of all, I'm sorry this blog is so late, but I figured I might as well post my blog anyway (for Learning Record purposes).

I really believe that D503 didn't want to be saved. He didn't want to leave his perfect little world in the One State and experience the harsh reality of life outside this bubble. Here are a couple of entries from We which support my theory.

• page 185 last paragraph: "I walked alone through the twilit street. The wind was whirling, driving, carrying me like a slip of paper. Fragments of cast-iron sky flew and flew-they had another day, two days to hurtle through infinity...The unifs of passersby brushed against me, but I walked alone. I saw it clearly: everyone was saved, but there was no salvation for me. I did not want salvation..."
• page 197 3rd/4th paragraph, which includes the story of the "Three Excused Ones." "It is a story of how three numbers were, by way of an experiment, excused from work for a month: do what you like, go where you wish. The wretches loitered near their usual places of work...they stood in the street hour after hour, repeating the motions which had already become necessary to their organisms at the given times of day...And finally, on the tenth day, unable to endure it any longer, they linked hands, walked into the water, and to the sounds of the March, went deeper and deeper, until the water put an end to their misery..."
  

In the first entry, D clearly states that he does not want to be saved. I think the idea of having a soul and being with I was tempting and sounded appealing to D, but I don't think he was strong enough to actually make it happen. I don't think he had enough courage, experience, or wisdom to live his own life and make his own decisions. None of the numbers seem like they have very much confidence in themselves; they depend on the One State and the Benefactor to tell them what to do and how to live their lives.

In the second entry, I think the story of the "Three Excused Ones" is a perfect example of what these people would do when given freedom. They will continue to do what they are familiar with, what they have been programmed to do. I suppose this story might have been fabricated by the Benefactor himself to frighten the numbers, but I wouldn't at all be surprised if the story is based on true events. If D really wanted to be free, he could have easily left through the tunnels, but he was too afraid of leading his own life.

When I encountered these entries during my reading, they seemed very ominous. I was very skeptical of the idea that D would actually go through with I's plan. I can understand why I330 kept testing his loyalty throughout the book. D's heart was in the right place, but he was brainwashed beyond salvation.

Tragic Ending

While reading the book, the whole time, I just knew the story was going to end badly. The actual ending was not near as bad as I was expecting. I thought for sure D-503 was going to die, most likely under the Benefactor's Machine from all of his excapades. The story built up and up and then kind of gently ended in an unexpected way. D-503 finally begins to understand his "soul" and feel emotions, fear, jelousy, rage and see the flaws of the One State. Just as he seems to see life and the world in a different way, a way that is more clear to him with "no infinity," the operation is forced on him. After the operation D appears to be very happy, very submissive, and seems to be the ideal citizen he thought he was towards the beginning of the book. This hardly seems to be the tragic ending I expected out of this book. On the other hand though, seeing the changes D has made, especially from his point of view, definately caused his zombie-like transformation from the operation to seem tragic. And it was hard not to feel bad for I-330 as she was tortured by the benefactor to find out more about the enimies of happiness while D-503, or at least his body, sat there and watched with no reaction to what was going on. I pictured it as seeing a dead person; the body is familiar, but it is no longer the person you know. Overall, the ending was unexpected, and definatley is considered tragic in my eyes.