Yann Martel Metaphore

In the novel, Life of Pi, the normal everyday life of a Hindu/Muslim/Christian boy is turned upside down when he finds himself stranded on a sparce lifeboat with only a Zebra, a hyena, an orangutan, and a Bengal Tiger.  The author later descibes his inspiration for the book in these words-
"The idea of a religious boy in a lifeboat with a wild animal struck me as a perfect metaphor for the human condition. Humans aspire to really high things, right, like religion, justice, democracy. At the same time, we're rooted in our human, animal condition. And so, all of those brought together in a lifeboat struck me as being... as a perfect metaphor."
Yann Martel, the author, also states that he coincidentaly released his book on the actual day of 9/11/01, when the superficialities of the human race and their beliefs were the most exposed.

I believe that Martel was truly, underneath all the tiger and ocean drama, was trying to teach the reader how the exaggerations of certain beliefs causes people belonging to that belief to act in ways that in no way coordinate with their reliegion.  Martel clearly exposes the superficial flaws of humanity by comparing how, no matter this being seemingly impossible, a young boy survives 227 days on a lifeboat stranded in the middle of the ocean, with only a tiger for company.  And although the instincts of the tiger and the knowledge of the boy are not made to mix, they abandon all opinions of one another in order to achieve a common goal, survival.

Soccer Injuries

There are two minutes left in the state championship game and your team is down by one point.  If you can manage to score your team will be given a shoot out.  Without this last goal, you will go home losers.  Running up and down the field, you look for a pass.  You teammate sees you and gives you the perfect ball.  You snatch it up and speed down the field towards the goal.  The opposite team goes flying by as you cut them all with a swift turn of your ankle.  You're in the home stretch.  It's just you, one last defender, the goalie, and the goal.  The defender is big, her head towers above you, but you aren't scared.  You take it to her.  When you get with in inches of her you throw a move and pass her.  You let out a nervous breath.  Just you and the goalie in the 18 yard box now.   Kicking the ball away is almost the worst thing you can do.  Lining up the shot, you back swing and then, inches from winning the game you are plowed over by the defender.  A pain unlike anything you have ever felt before shoots up your leg and you turn your head slightly to notice the awkward angle it is sitting at. You know it's broken.  The ref blows the whistle and your coach and mother run onto the field.  They lift you up and carry you off the field. 

Soccer is an intensely physical sport that requires physique and strength.  Recently injuries have gotten much worse in soccer children, as the competitiveness increases.  Have you ever asked your parents if they played contact sports when they were kids?  They will tell you that it was hardly like it is today.  Nowadays we have five year olds out there, pummeling each other, parents on the sidelines screaming them on like they should be proud of their overaggressive kids.  My brother's friend actually got his collarbone broken in a soccer game, and he's only seven years old! I also know someone else who got their femur broken in a soccer game because another player kicked him.  My mom got her ankle broken by playing soccer and has never been the same since. So- all you football players- beat that!

There are an estimated total of 148,913 soccer injuries in the US in a single year alone.  In between the ages of 13-18 there have been over a million injuries in the time frame of one decade.  Concussions, an ongoing issue are much more likely to occur in player to player play rather than player to ball play.  In fact player to player injuries are responsible for over 40% of all injuries. 

In football the players are covered head to toe in pads and they don't need a very high level of physique in order to play. Quite a few football players weigh over 400 pounds and tell me- have you ever seen a 400 pound soccer player?  Not to mention all the rules they have in football that state exactly how you are supposed to take a player down.  No facemasks, no fighting, no swearing at other players, no roughing the passer, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah- I don't care! Not to mention all the new rules they are making because of health problems.  Pretty soon they will have to play two hand touch because they are too afraid of getting hurt.

Soccer players are surely more likely to sustain injuries, the players are more violent and injures have recently skyrocketed in young child's play.  Football players are covered head to toe in pads and the most common serious injury is a concussion.  I am a soccer player myself (if you couldn't tell) and I have never seen a red card pulled, even though there have been plenty of times when it should have been.  Soccer is definitely more violent than football and to and any football player that disagrees with me, I have the statistics to prove it.