Yann Martel Quotes
God is universal," spluttered the priest. The imam nodded strong approval. "There is only one God." "And with their one god Muslims are always causing troubles and provoking riots. The proof of how bad Islam is, is how uncivilized Muslims are,: pronounced the pandit. "Says the slave-driver of the cast system," huffed the imam. "Hindus enslave people and worship dressed-up dolls." "They are golden calf lovers. They kneel before the cows," the priest chimed in. "While Christians kneel before a white man! They are flunkies of a foreign god. They are nightmare of all nonwhite people.
Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Harcourt, 2001, p. 68.
Poland was one of the Nazi occupied nations which cooperated in the mass murder of Jews and facilitated the Holocaust. Even after the war, much of the Polish Catholic clergy maintained virulent anti-Semitic views and in 1946 Polish thugs with the encouragement of some priests engaged in a pogrom in Kielce of returning Polish Jewish refugees. Catholic Primate of Poland, Augustus Hlond, made numerous anti-Semitic statements further exacerbating the problem. Many cast blame on Pope Pius XII who was not very vocal during the Nazi era regarding the ill treatment and murder of Jews, Gypsies, and handicapped, giving a “green light” to the Polish Prelate and those lower anti-Semitic priests. Papal apologists note that Hitler could have turned on the Catholic Church; the Pope had to walk a fine line between condemning evil and risking the welfare of the Church. Nonetheless, many Catholic priests risked and some lost their lives speaking out against the Nazi evil and protecting Nazi targets.
This quotation was used by the Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 Campaign as: “We represent the majority of the people in Alabama who hate niggerism, Catholicism, Judaism, and all the isms of the whole world.” So said Robert Creel of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan. He also said, “I like Barry Goldwater. He needs our help.” The second statement was made at a different time.
Refers to a system of plural wives
Brant had an English style Missionary education and was an Anglican, belonging to the Church of England. During the American Revolution, he persuaded most of the Iroquois tribes to fight for the British against the revolutionary colonists. However, the Oneida tribe was not persuaded and joined the rebel side. A few New England Presbyterian missionaries had targeted the Oneida people, and when that tribe chose the “wrong” side, Brant believed that the reason was their different religious point of view. After the Revolution, Brant and his Iroquois followers were driven out of their American lands and escaped to Canada, while the Oneida were given complete title to their lands by George Washington.
Yann Martel is a Canadian author best known for the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi, an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spent more than a year on the bestseller lists of the New York Times and The Globe and Mail, among many other best-selling lists. It was adapted for a film directed by Ang Lee, garnering four Oscars including Best Director and winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
