Week 2 Post B

I found it interesting how Yann Martel chose to show Pi's confidence and intelligence through an event where Pi was constantly picked on. It seemed at first that Pi was destined to be a shy book reader who never stood up for himself but after he was confronted with a group of kids who made fun of him at his school, he took the challenge to fight back. Pi's real name is Piscine Molitor Patel but students and even teachers called him "pissing" which enraged him. Pi kept his cool however and created a new nick-name for himself one day by demonstrating his knowledge of the Greek letter Pi. Because of his young age, this came as a shock to his classmates who began to call him "Pi" out of respect. This instance made me think about how a social hierarchy is almost always established when there is a large gathering of people. Whether it's school, work or a party it is human nature to befriend some and put down others. I'm not advocating that this is right, in fact, most people are aware the hurtful things that they do but for some reason do not feel it necessary to stop.