Life of Pi & Big Fish

Few days ago our class watched a movie call, Big Fish. This movie is talking about a man name Edward and how he loves to tell stories to other people. Many people love his stories, but his son, William, rejects it a lot. William feels like everything his dad says is a lie, and he is just making up stuff and covering the true side of him with fake stories. He shows disfavour to his dad and his stories, and their relationship become really bad. Until one day, he recieves the news of his father's illness, and starting from this day, he begin to see the real stories of his dad which at last help him to understand his dad "truely".

Many things inside the movie line up with  Life of Pi, the character are similar and the events in the movie reminds me of different things that happened in Life of Pi.
So the connect between the character in both stories look like this to me:

Edward = Pi

William = Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba

Big Fish = Richard Parker

Major events that happened:
Spectra = the Island
pond near Spectra = Tree in the island

Some other things that are similar:

-both have color symbolism

-teaches similar lesson: importance of story telling
-leap of faith

Now let's begin with the characters.

Edward inside Big Fish, loves to tell stories, he even tell stories of himself on his son's wedding! Just like Pi, he tells stories, his own stories. Edward's son, William was frustrated about his dad's stories, because he keep on telling it over and over again, and some of the things inside the story seems to be unrealistic and impossible to happen; William doubt his dad's word and he feel like he can't see the true side of his dad. Now Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba are a lot like him, they doubt Pi's word. They think many things inside his stories are unbelievable, although they tried to believe in some part of the story, they still find it difficult. William and the two Japanese men both ask Edward/Pi to tell the "truth", but to them, what they telling is the "truth".
Now, the big fish and Richard Parker, they both play a really important role in the story. Although it seems like Edward/Pi and big fish/Richard Parker are seperate individauls, and that they are both friends and enemy to the each other, but the truth is, to Edward/Pi, big fish/Richard Parker represent a part of them, or IT IS them. We will understand more as we go on.

Next let's see how the events lined up. In the beginning of both stories, we can see how the author introduces the main character to us; their specialty, interest, and characteristic marks. Now in the Big Fish, Edward got into a really weird and unknow town-Spectra, it totally reminds me of the island inside Life of Pi! Both Spectra and the island are unknown and unexpected place for Edward/Pi. They are just there and it looks like a source of happiness and hope for both characters, but there are so many things that cannot be explained inside either places. Spectra is beautiful, the grass are really green and the temperatures are perfect, people don't wear their shoe and they just enjoy life! The island is just floating in the middle of Pacific ocean and it's covered with merkats and algae, there are fish to eat and fresh water to drink, so to Pi, it's his source of life. But as both character spend more time there, they realize that they are blinded by the surface of each place, the happy and hopeful part, so they leave because they know there will be danger if they stay. For Pi, his life will be in danger and for Edward, his time will be delay (you can see from the poet there, he's doing nothing and his time is delayed).

There's another thing that are similar inside both stories. In Big Fish, Edward tells his story about seeing a pond with a naked woman inside and a snake slowly approaching her. It's like the story of Eve when she was inside the garden of Eden, and the serpant, or Satan, slowly approaches her. And in Life of Pi, we see how Pi describes the island, the tree in the middle and also the fruits on the tree. When Pi was looking from below, the fruits on the tree look delicious and beautiful, so he climbed up the tree just to take a closer look of it. When he picked up the fruit, he realizes that it was a little bit different than what it seems like down there. So he examines it and sees that the fruit is actually a bunch of branches surrounding a tooth.

These two stories are like the first and the second parts of the story of Eve. The serpant approached Eve and decieved her with his word, Eve took the fruit and tasted it, and she realized the evilness of the fruit. It is not until Pi really sees it with his own eye the truth about the fruit that he sense the danger of the island. And it is probably the same with Edward, these are the reasons that make them want to leave the place they thought it was nice and comfortable.

There are a couple of color symbolism in the movie. Inside the Big Fish, we see how the people in the town all dress in white and pastel cloth, this symbolize pure, young, good, and clean. In the Life of Pi, we see the color grey which represent the sky and Pi's feeling when he was leaving the island. Grey symbolize trouble, old, sadness, boring, and solid. There's also green which symbolize life and youth inside the life of Pi, but throughout the story, the color orange appears the most.

The life jacket, the whistle that use to tame Richard Parker, Richard Parker, the cat Yann Martel saw when visiting Pi's house, and Orange Juice. Orange symbolizes hope and survival. Pi's whole story is a survival, the life jacket, whistle, and Orange Juice are a emotional support and hope that keep Pi alive. And Richard Parker, is his threat and hope. So we see how color symbolism play a great role inside both stories.

Near the end we see how William in Big Fish, tries to find out the truth about his dad's stories-the stories that he doubt, and he found out that a lot of things are actually true, like he found a letter which proves that his dad actually served at the military before and he also found the girl that he thought his dad has affair with. That lady told William what happened, and William starts to realize the "truth" that he was seeking acutally lines up with his dad's stories. Now in the story of Pi, Mr.Okamoto and Mr. Chiba don't believe in a lot of stuff, especially that a banana floats and the island is full of merkats, but they test and see it for themselves, that a banana actually do floats and they also saw the bones that remain on Pi's boat are similar to what he decribed.

Dry and yeastless

At the end, William and Mr.Okamoto/Mr.Chiba finally decide to take the original version of the story, they chose to believe in the things they first doubt because they understand something about it-the importance of story telling. People loves stories, and that's how it is. In both of the stories, we see story within a story within a story. Pi and Edward are not liars, because each version of the story contain a different kind of truth. One story may be factually true, but it loses in approaching the emotional truth that the other version offers. We can see how Pi and Edward loves stories and disdain dry, yeastless factuality. That's why they told the other version of the story, when the story structure lines up the same but the the theme and the emotion was uplifted, and people loves the stories they told, because this inspire them and extend their imagination to another level of faith. Although many things they said may seem to be unbelievable and it will take you a leap of faith to believe in it, but it's the version that most people enjoyed, the version that motivates their heart and spirit.

Finally, we see how the ends go. William tells his dad's last story to him, with everybody hid dad had mentioned in his stories before, visiting him. Everybody was smiling and they run to the river together. And at last, after his dad returns the ring to his wife, he sinks into the river and turns into the Big Fish. Now in the story of Pi, we see how Pi approaches the coast of Mexico and how Richard Parker jumped out of the boat and left without saying good-bye. Although the stories are kind of different in this case, but actually it represent the same truth. Edward is the Big Fish, and Pi is Richard Parker. They both tells an increadible tale about a humanlike animal, which we found out later that represent themselves. Edward told stories about the fish, his imagination of another side of himself, his enemies but also his friend.

When we see at the end Edward returns the ring to his wife it will remind us in the beginning when he said that the fish can be attracted by nothing except the ring, or the marriage between his wife and himself. But returning the ring doesn't mean he wants to forgot or leave behind this marriage, it is just a way of telling his wife that he'll always be there and she doesn't has to forget him. Then he turns into the fish, what he always were, the stories that were told by him, was told so many times that he become the story, and he will live on in that way, in another sense, he become immortal. And the "real story" make the boundaries between the truth and imagination seems to be less important (when we see the whole story in this persepctive).

Now Pi, on the other hand, has Richard Parker leaving him. They had been spending a total of 227 days on the boat and now he is leaving him without even looking back! And he is just gone, gone forever. But the truth is, Pi is Richard Parker. And the whole story is actually a recast from Pi to help him disavow the truth other people were looking for, it doesn't mean that he is not accepting what had happened as something real, it's just because the truth of the story is too hard for a young boy like him to bare. So he uses the technique of story telling and split the violent, ferocious side of his personality into Richard Parker, his enemy and friend, so he didn't have to face the true and cruel side of the story, after all, he already knew it himself, but sense this is going to be a story that will become a history, why not make it an interesting one? A story that is more amusing but yet it'll not lose its true side. And it is this that motivate Edward and Pi to tell stories that can warm our hearts. So at the end when we see Richard Parker walking away, we know that it's to Pi, a type of release to his violent personality, because he know that he is saved and this side of him will (hopefully) not come out again. Richard Parker is not gone and the story is not gone, it will be preserved in Pi's heart forever and it will continue to be a part of him.

Often time we as human understand a lot about ourself, we have a conscience. And sometimes we will have this thought inside our mind that go against- and to- something, because we can have two thoughts towards each event, the positive and negative part. So this two part of ourselves will be split into two individual, and it will be a tale to us. Edward and Pi just made it into something more interesting, a humanlike animal, their enemy and friend forever, because this is true for all of us. Our own character can be seen as anything according to our own thoughts, just like the fish that Edward saw in the pond. So it is up to us what we want to be and what type of story we want to make our life into so that it will not just be a dry, yeastless facuatlity.

Leap of Faith

Leap of Faith: to believe or accept something unprovable, mostly associated with religious belief

     As we are reading in chapter 92, we see something really creepy-an carnivorous island.

     At first when Pi landed on the island, he was excited and surprised, just like a little kid who found his lost teddy bear. But as he spend more time on the island, he sees the island in another perspective. Often time when we are too close to something we wouldn't be able to see it thorougly, that's why we need to step out a little further to see it. Pi, as he found out how dangerous the island is, he ran away immediately, but the truth about the island is too unbelievable that the two Japanish men who heard it doubt about it. The "truth" they doubt was the truth that scared Pi away, but if I was them, I wouldn't believe in it too. I mean, an island that function by itself with algae that act like food trap and a fresh lake in the middle that connects to the salty ocean? Trees that eat meat and devour every piece of the animal beside its teeth? No living life on it except for...meerkats? Why meerkats? Why not cats or dogs who were more common? This is crazy, I mean I don't completely doubt that there might be an island like that somewhere on the Pacific Ocean floating around and it's not found by the satellite yet! Because this universe is so big and there's only a little thing we understand as human being when there are still so many thing unprovable, just like religion.

     For Pi, this is not a thing to be surprised by, he believe in it completely, is a fact to him because he experiened it. But for people like us who only see it through their stories, is hard to believe in it. Just like religion. There might be historical record on the events that were mentioned in the religious record and was proven true, it doesn't mean you will believe in it. For example when we talk about God's love for men and His mercy to forgive us, it is just stories that we heard. It happened and it may be true, but it's still very unbelievable for someone who just heard about it to believe in it. You need to experience it.

Why not take a brave leap of faith?

     It'll take a leap of faith, a small decision in believing in something may take a great jump for your faith. To say yes or no to a religion will take a great leap, and it's up to you whether to believe it or not. But why not be brave in taking a jump to experience something different and bigger, it might change your life and it might help you to see things in another perspective.

Boat & Island & God



Boat = w/God



Symbolism Alert!!



Boat = with God



Island = without God



Island = w/o God



?????????



     As we are reading through chapter 92 and 93, we realize a fact that after all that had happened, Pi went back to God again. In the very beginning of chapter 92, we see how Pi's boat was getting close to an island, and Pi was really excited about this discovery. He yelled out "My God! My God!" and then fell overboard. He thanks God a lot for bringing him to this island, although it wasn't at what he expected in the beginning. Later on the story went on talking about Pi and Richard Parker's interaction with the island. We learn a lot of creepy and amazing stuff as we read on and we see how each night Pi will go back to the life boat and pray. Then Pi starts to sleep on trees on the island and basically spending all of his time on the island after a few days. But it is the more you spend time with the more you understand about it, Pi realize the danger and the deceptive comfort of this island as he explore more each day. He was so afraid to the point that he sail his lifeboat away with Richard Parker without a hesitation. Then on chapter 93, we see Pi's emotion and his final decision in "turning to God".

     Chapter 93 contains a quote that I really like, "The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar." We can see how reluctant Pi is feeling now about surviving; he is weary and loss, it seems he is loosing all his hope. From the end of the previous chapter there is this sentence that say, "The sea was heavy, the sky grey," then at the start of chapter 93 we hear Pi describing his situation "as pointless as the weather." So Pi is like saying his situation is like the color "grey".

     Color has a significant meaning in literature (-by Mr.Webb), and when a color appears in the story, it is like an imply from the author to the reader. And the color grey means boring, decay/decline, and drains physical body. Pi, after describing the weather, connects it to his situation, it is like telling the reader that he's tired and his body is slowly decaying and draining away. But life would not leave him, although he is not expecting any hope to come alone, he still have to live on. And it is at this low point of his life, he turns to God again. His mind is desporate to leave his physical weariness that he turns to a spiritual support. The reality that he has to face in keeping alive is so heavy that he decide to reach for another source of salvation, on faith and on God.

     It is interesting how Pi comes up with this conclusion on the boat, he didn't put his whole focus on this source of life until he went through all these horrific tragedy, but I think it is common to human. It is not until we experienced and found out that "there is really nothing we can do to change", for we to turn to a supernatural power. It is interesting how after Pi turns to God, he landed on a beach in Mexico. Probably the author is trying to emphasis the fact that spiritual support can be surprisingly effective in self-preservation. And it is verly likely that this is the reason that human would want to soar higher in their low point.

     Religion can really play a great role in rescuing human from their misery. And in Pi's story, the boat is like a stable shelter where he experience the importance and true meaning of God and religion.

Do Bananas Float??

In Chapter 99, when Pi tells his story to Mr.Okamoto and Mr. Chiba, they don't believe it AT ALL! And the first "mistake" they pointed out in Pi's story is the fact that bananas don't float:

     Mr. Okamoto: "Mr.Patel, we don't believe your story."

     "Sorry--these cookies are good but they tend to crumble. I'm amazed. Why not?"

     "It doesn't hold up."

     "What do you mean?"

     "Bananas don't float."

     "I'm sorry?"

     "You said the orang-utan came floating on an island of bananas."
     "That's right."
     "Bananas don't float."
     "Yes, they do."
     "They're too heavy."

     "No, they're not. Here, try for yourself. I have two bananas right here."

Do Bananas float? I'm gonna test it myself:




I prepared bananas and

I fill the tub with water.



So this is the result of Bananas + tub fill with water

     "And?"

     Mr. Chiba: "Are they floating?"

     [Distantly] "They're floating."

     "So, are they floating?"

     [Distantly] "They're floating."

     "What did I tell you?"

Hahaha!

So they are floating, bananas do float!! How about an orang-utan floating on a bunch of bananas?

x a lot

Well, I think it will work, but it'll just take

a lot of bananas.

Result:  Orange Juice floating on Bananas

Knowing your Death & being a Hedonist

Pleasure seeker

Hedonist = someone who agrues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good, or simply, someone who strives to maximize net pleasure

We were talking about this thought during class together today, whether you want to know the date of your death or not, and why. Apparantly, most students cast out a vote in choosing to know the date of their death, and reason is very simple, because if they know the day of their death they will manage things differently. If they know they only have a year of life left they will try to do everything they desire and experience as many things as they want, basically they will try to fulfill their pleasure to the maximum, like a hedonist. But this question came to my mind as soon as they said out their opinions, "Will there really be a difference in your life if you really know when you will die?"

 I mean, you said that you will stop going to school and travel around the world to see more things and enjoy life as you should be enjoying....but...does that mean you are not enjoying your life now? Because I believe in every single one of our life each day we are doing things that we like, often time we may regret after it but the pleasure it brought is what we were seeking at first any way, although it is often times temporary.

I keep on hearing students repeating the fact that they will enjoy life more and spend more time with their family....because they know their time is short. So on the contrary, if we know that we still have 65 years to live...and is...still long, we will not do these things? Does that mean we will not spend more time with our family, friends, and loves one and to learn more and see more ourself and if possible, fulfilling our dreams just because we have more time? Is that what they mean? I really don't understand. Because if you know the important of these things and that you put them in your heart as the number one things that should be done, wouldn't you start doing it now? Wouldn't you still do these things if you know you have another 65 years to live?



Wasting time???

Well you might answer, of course I will still do these things, but I will just manage it and make sure that everything is done efficiently! Oh....so you mean...you know that you are not spending your time efficintly....you mean that you know you are not using your time wisely and that you are....indeed...wasting it? Um...so if you are wasting your time, what big of a difference will it make if you have a longer life? So does that mean you will just...waste more of your time? Um....I guess we all know that we are not always choosing the wisest way to spend our time, because we are wasting it on stuff that are not necesary, stuff that we want...stuff that bring us pleasure...WAIT! Does that mean we are being a hedonist? Um...so we are being a hedonist even though we don't know the numbers of days we have left in this life....so what's the point? To know the end of your life, the end of your journey...why do you want to know? Why bother? I mean, we all know that someday we will die but we just don't know when!

The truth is, if we know when will we die then we will start to wonder and be troubled by all the things you want to do and how to organize it all efficiently. Then how are you going to seek pleasure when you have all these troubles? How can you find true joy when you are just doing these things because you know you don't have much time left? How can you be a hedonist if you know you only have one year of life left? How can you still seek for pleasure if you know you are just doing these things reluctantly? How can you really be happy if you know you are dying...tomorrow??

Do you want some
tips to live longer?

When you know that you only have a year of life left, I believe you will do something differently, not necessary about things that you just said like pleasure seeking or being a hedonist. because I believe that it's a natural tendency for human to have a desire to live on, (we see it from the story of Pi and I mentioned it in my blogpost "Men, Women, Wild"), especially when they are still young. And I am quite confident to say, at least 1/3 of the people who are facing this right now will choose to find a way to live on, while the other 1/3 of the people will start to blame on life and the other 1/3 of the people will start to seek pleasure (reluuctantly) like what other students say. But it depends on what kind of person you are, and to be honesty with you, I don't know what type will I be, but why should I look for trouble? Why should I worry for what I still want to do and what I haven't done? Because I believe, I should be doing these things daily. I should be living each day as the last day of my life, not trying to bring vexation or burden in every decision, but just simply being myself, to do the things that I like and to do the things I know is right. And by doing this, I believe I gain hedonism.

So I won't want to know when will I die, I am not interested at all! ^_^

OJ = JC

Orange Juice

Jesus Christ

OJ= Orange Juice, a oraguntan that was once a star in the Pondicherry zoo

JC= Jesus Christ, the Son of God that came to earth to deliver His children from sin

In one of the chapter, there are these formulas that the author gave to the audience as a symbolism:

OJ=cross

JC=cross

so.....    OJ = JC ????

Well first off, in order to understand the meaning behind this symbolism, you need to have a background knowledge of who Jesus Christ, the cross, and Orange Juice are connected. So here's the story of Jesus Christ:

Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

Because this world that we live in was so evil that everyone deserve death, it is our wages, but God love the world so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus was send to this world as a humble baby, born in a stable and a normal family. He went through what we went through as a human being and He experienced different temptations that we as human being often face. And He pass all these tests and live a perfect and sinless life; He is the only one that can save us from our sin. And He did, He bore the burden of our sin unto His shoulder and He suffer what we should be suffering.

He was crucified, nailed unto the cross. But before this, he went through all these beating and mockery that scorn His body and His heart. The cross that He was nailed unto, was on His shoulder, laying down heavily as He was carrying it up to the mountain where He should be crucified, but we should understand that the sin He was about to carry is way more heavier than the cross. Jesus, the Saviour of our sin, was killed by us. On the cross, He was seen and riducle by the people He wants to save. Jesus, who was perfect and has never experienced sin, had to take what belongs to us, all these filthy and unrighteousness sin, unto Himself. Why? It is simple.

Out of love, for you and me.

It is this simple.

And yes, he die for us, as a sacrificing on the cross.

This is the story of Jesus.

Orange Juice's appearance, in chapter 42, was describe as "a halo of light, as lovely the Virgin Mary", by Pi who was probably mentally ill during that time. And as we go on with the story, we see how the hyena, the most disgusting and needless living creature, quickly deviour the animal on the boat. Starting from the omega-zebra, than to the next, Orange Juice. Next? Orange Juice? Well, it could be Pi too, but Orange Juice stood up and voluntar herself to be the next in line.

She struggle through a fight with the hyena at first, however, she's a fruiteater that knows nothing about killing and she's a female, which is smaller and weaker in size and strength. So at last, she was consume by the hyena with her head fall off. This horrible scene, in Pi's eyes, were described as follow:

Her arms were spread wide open and her short legs were folded together and slightly turned to one side. She looked like a simian Christ on the Cross. Exvept for her head. She was beheaded.

OJ= cross                        JC=Cross

so... JC=OJ

Yes, Orange Juice sacrifice herself and be the next offering for the hyena. The hyena, which is like our sin, killed Orange Juice. And Orange Juice, die in a position so similar to our Saviour, Jesus Christ, that Pi, a lover of religion, can't refrain himself from associating this to the horrible scene of Jesus Christ dying on the cross. 

Although in reality, Orange Juice may not realize that she is "sacrifing for Pi", because she's probably just jumping out as a respond to the hyena's yipping and fighting just to stay alive, but it's done. And in Pi's eye, this is what it is, Orange Juice sacrifice and provide an emotional support to Pi which later on uphold his hope in the face of more horrific tragedy. So to him, Orange Juice = Jesus Christ.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But there's a follow-up to the story, when Pi was about to give up hope on survivng, Richard Parker appeared between his feet, under the bench. And this added something else to this story, and very likely to the symbolism too. It's unclear yet, what is about to happened, but apparently, there will be something...

Pi: 14 year old boy that love religion

Richard Parker: Just found that he was on the lifeboat too

Hyena: The alpha until the tiger was found

Orange Juice: The "Jesus Christ" that sacrifice herself for Pi

Zebra: Poor creature that was eaten alive

Man, Woman, Wild video

In the video of Man, Woman, Wild, we see what life may be like on the ship for three days. If we connect to Pi's situation right now, we can kind of imagine how hard it will be for him. Plus he has to lived with wild, dangerous animals. He already has to face problem on keeping himself from starving and dehydrating, now these animals will just bring more challenge to him on keeping himself alive!

• Under the hot burning sun, Pi may get sunstroke like the man in the video, but no one will be there to help him beside himself!
• He may face problem such as starvation too. Although he is surrounded by water, but he can't drink it, because it's salt water. How sad is it?
• He need foods to survive but as he's finding food for himself, he also need to make sure he won't become the "food" of other animals. Isn't that ironic?
• He's just a weak forteen years old boy, how is he going to protect himself when the hyena or the tiger attack him?  
• The worse of all, Pi's not just physically weakening through starvation and dehydration, he's also weakening spiritually and mentally. Due to the shock and frightening of understanding the real, wild side of an animals and the concept of "The weak are the prey of the strong".
• He's exausted and tired and he wants rest, he's so weary to the point that he feels nothing at all, he's not afraid of anything anymore...his senses are numb...

But it seems to be like his natural tendency is motivating him to live on. Although all these things are happeneing so quickly in front of him, and it's so fast that he's not ready to carry it all yet. But still,  he realize that he don't want to die. Because for him, the most important thing in the world right now is to live on. This is something really interesting about human beings. Often time when we face challenges and problems we will want to give up, but after all the depression, 90% of people will stand up again and confront all the problems. Because they don't want to give up, they are not reconciled, and they know they don't like this feeling.

Everyone will have this feeling in some point of thier life, even those who had given up and decided to end everything through dealth. Die is an easy thing to think of but a difficult thing to act on. Usually it is those that love themselves that are more likely to come up with this decision. Why? Because they love themself so much that they don't want to see themselves getting wounded by all these problems. They don't like this burden that is pushing down heavily on their shoulders, they want to let it down, they need rest. And it is not until the time that they are almost dying that they finally realize that they don't like dealth, and they don't want to die.

This is not going to be easy...

Although they are not dead yet but it is always until this time for these people to understand the beauty of life. Because having problems and challenges is a special privilege only for those who are alive. If you die, you will have nothing. But often time, it's too late for them to realize this fact. So I am really impressed with Pi, because it's not easy for a forteen years old boy to face these problems alone. There most be so many questions going on in his head this time, such as is my family still alive? Why did this happen to me? Or what should I do next? But despite these facts he came up with the solution "to live on". To be honesty with you, I might be the one who choose to die and end everything because I will be tired to think of what to do. We don't know what will happens next, but this is life, and we can learn something important from these lessons and the beauty of endeavor.

Free Quiz!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ALPHA

In the animal kingdom, there are the alpha-male, or the dominant male among other females. This position is really important because it shows the power of the male animal in its own society. The alpha-male gives orders and directions, and everybody else follow, in the human kingdom, there is also an "alpha-male." They are the ones who people usually listen to in the group, and this position will show that person's social rank and power to other. Usually the alpha-male are the ones that exude great leadership and confidence, but they may not necessary be "males", females can be the "alpha-male" inside the group too. Here are some examples of my years of observation and examination on the "alpha-male" inside my life's groups.

EXAMPLE ONE:

The most recent and daily group that was form in my life, is my school group, which are my friends and I. This group is made up of friends who I hang out most in the school and even in outside activities, and in this group, there are both girls and boys. And it seems like, in this group, the one that most people listen to is Esther, quite obvious. Because whenever we go out, she is always the one who ask where do you guys want to go, but also the one who answer that question (but in a question form). She's also the one whom we always asked and looked for an opinion in the conversation, and also the one we rely the most on. She exude confidence most of the time and she's not scare to be in her own skin. Not all alpha-males are the same in human kingdom, some alpha-males are proud but some are humble, she's more like the humble one. Although she exude confidence, but she does not express arrogance, I think this is one reason that make her the alpha-male in our group.

EXAMPLE 2:

The second group that I'm going to talk about is my family. I have a faimly of four members, my dad, my mom, my younger sister, and I. And the alpha-male, the one we always ask for opinion and listen to is actually my mom. Although it seems like most of the family is like that too now days, but it is just because mothers are always the one with the most opinions, and fathers are the one with less word to say. But in our family, is not just because of that. My mom is a really stubborn person and she always stands up for what she believes, I didn't mean that this is a bad character or what, it's just that she knows well and have great confidence in what she's saying. Like for example before when we are planning on family trips, she's always the one who research and plans. Then she will tell us places that she found and where she recommands, and if one of us has something to say about it or wants to go somewhere else, she will start telling us the good and bad things to each places, but she will say it in a nice way that we didn't even realize that we are getting deceived. And my dad of course, is the beta. Although my sister is really talkative and have many things to say and she seems like she's the beta, but once my dad compromise, she will too, compromise along, but she probably didn't realize it.

EXAMPLE 3
The third group is my grandparents. Although in most people's case, the alpha-male is definately the children, but in our house, it's actually my mother. My mother has three younger sister and one younger brother, and when problems come, it is my mom whom they mostly ask for help. My grandparents will often call her and talk to her about economic issues and some other problems, and then she start delivering a long sermon to them about her opinion and some ancedotes that happened to her friends as an illustration. She's always the one that my uncle and aunties talk to when they have questions. Probably is because she's the older among the other, or probably she's the one with most things to say, but I think she just have something that make her the "alpha-male" in both of the family. So who say the alpha-male is the most attrative, smart, and kind of the arrogant "guy" in the society? It is not necessary the same in Human kingdom as it is in the animal kingdom, there are obviously more to it and also women, could also be the "alpha" in the society.