Life of Pi - Why Does Pi Survive?

As Pi reaches the second level of the hierarchy of needs, he finds himself on the level of safety he needs to figure out how to stay safe while on the life boat. While Pi was on the boat he was so scared of Richard Parker that he had jumped off the boat to go in the water, but then realizes that there are predators just as scary as Richard parker or maybe even worse that he has to avoid to staying safe. “I noticed the presence of sharks around the life boat…The sharks were makos-swift, point-snouted predators with long murderous teeth that protruded noticeable from their mouths” (Martel 179). Once Pi tries to overcome his fears and tames Richard like a zookeeper would do and once he does, he ends up having a companion that helps Pi get through the struggle to survive. Pi finds an island where he is safe and is able to regain his strength but as he finds a tooth in the algae, Pi

The cables on the lifeboat snapped and Pi was gone into the immensity, deep blue ocean (Martel Pg. 104-107). As Pi was in the lifeboat, he saw something swimming towards him. He noticed it was Richard Parker. Pi was very brave and was whistling the 450 pound Bengal tiger to the lifeboat (Martel Pg. 97).

Faith will be a big part of Pi’syour survival. No matter what you believe in, you are going to be hoping and praying that you are watched over and protected. With faith even in the worst situations you will have something to turn to. Believing in your faith can keep you sane, which in any situation is a good thing. Martel writes from the now much older Pi’s perspective when he says, “I HAVE A STORY THAT WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN GOD” (AUTHORS NOTE, VIII). This is important to my argument in which faith is going to be such a detrimental part of surviving because it shows that along his journey, Pi realized that God was guiding him on his way to

Surviving at sea is a matter of brains and brawns. A quick wit and smart thinking can get you a long way, but if there is no will to continue, to live, all hope is lost. When Pi lost everything he loved in a matter of minutes, adrift at sea, he is left with a hodgepodge of animals. Yet, what calls on him relentlessly is not the need for survival, but the necessity for faith. Faith that he will be rescued soon, faith in his abilities, and, most importantly, faith in Richard Parker. He musters up the determination to endure and convinces himself of what he has to fight for.

In this journal, I will be questioning whether Pi will survive in the ocean. First, Pi has animals to keep him company aboard the raft. Even though the animals like to fight with each other it still makes Pi feel less lonely, and therefore more willing to try and survive. This shows how Pi will survive because he is determined to. Secondly, Pi begins to learn how to gather food and water to survive. “With time and experience I became a better hunter” (Martel 173). Pi begins to eat quality amounts of fish and turtles, and feeds Richard Parker the tiger some of the fish. This shows how Pi will learn to survive and adapt to the climate around him. Lastly, Pi is realizing what he has to do to survive. Pi was a vegetarian before he became stranded, so having to eat fish is different to him.

Pi survives emotionally, physically, and spiritually but there is still one more means of survival which is considered even more difficult to deal with than the rest- Mental survival. It is surprisingly easy to fail your mental health, especially in Pi’s current situation. Whether he is happy, healthy, and one with god or not, it would be easy to lose his grip on his own sanity; hence why it is considered so difficult. In both stories he experiences life-changing trauma like death, loss, and multiple life-threatening situations, but to hinder the setbacks of this trauma, he keeps himself busy, puts a hold on his feelings, and pushes himself to survive. For example, he refuses to let himself have too much pity for the zebra and he even forces

Born to Gita and Santosh, Piscine Molitor Patel lives an inquisitive, joyful life in Pondicherry, India. Pi’s father owns a

Richard Parker is the tiger on board the lifeboat he makes his first public appearance by devouring the hyena. Having a tiger on board doesn't really make your chances of surviving very high especially if that tiger is hungry. When Pi first realizes that Richard Parker is on board he builds a make-shift raft so that he is not in the presence of Richard Parker. But as the days go on Pi realizes that first his raft is extremely uncomfortable, second, he needs to go get food from the lifeboat and third, he needs to take care of Richard Parker. Because of Pi’s knowledge of zoology. Pi knows how to take care of Richard Parker. So for the next few days Pi gets Richard Parker food and water and soon Richard Parker becomes his friend but Pi still stays on alert and Pi always goes back to his raft to sleep. Soon Pi realizes that he needs to exert his dominance over Richard Parker so he sets out to show Richard Parker who is number 1. Pi realized that “it was rights I needed, the sort of rights that come with might. It was time to impose myself and carve out my territory” (Martel 202). Richard Parker kept Pi busy for all of Pi’s 200 day ordeal. Richard Parker was the other main reason that Pi survived. Richard Parker kept Pi busy and occupied. If it wasn't for Richard Parker Pi probably wouldn't have survived for so

Faith and religion was one of the main things that kept Pi alive and from going mentally insane for the 227 days he was stuck at sea. Martel describes how Pi prayed to God continuously for the entirety of the journey, even though he had no explicit proof that God was real. However in a situation such as Pi’s, there was no other choice. Praying and practicing religious rituals became a daily routine for Pi as well as feeding Richard Parker after all the other zoo animals perished. “They brought me comfort, that is certain.

The Life of Pi has an ongoing theme of faith. From the beginning Pi is interested in religion. He practices three different religions due to his faith in God. The fact that he isn't beholden to one religion speaks on numerous levels about his pious beliefs and how fluid faith is. WHen asked to decide he claims that “ I just want to love God” (Martel 69) Even in tough times on the sea he refused to give up faith. Instead, he continued to survive and believed that his family is safe and that he will find them soon on land. Not only is Pi himself faithful but in order to read

Although Pi was rescued from the island in the end, he had something even more significant happen to him. He was a changed person. In the very beginning, Piscine Molitor Patel was just your average 16 year old. While on his 227 day journey, he developed into a better version of himself solely through faith. Martel hints at this in the author’s note when the elderly man says, “I have a story for you that will make you believe

Avoiding dangerous animals in this type of setting would have been simple for Pi because the zoo was filled with enclosures for safety and Pi’s life was not being threatened at the time. As the setting changed to the Pacific Ocean, steering clear of threatening animals became impossible. Richard Parker’s presence was attached to a sense of urgency and chaos that demanded Pi to break his father’s rules. At first, Pi was aware of his father’s admonitions, which prompted him to create the raft and avoid Richard Parker. As days passed, Pi’s character developed, causing Pi to throw away his father’s warnings. The act of Pi forgetting his father’s lessons develops the theme of losing innocence and one’s childhood. Pi realized that he “had to tame [Richard Parker]. It was at that moment that [Pi] realized this necessity” (Martel 181). Pi’s fears subsided when he realized that survival could occur if he decided to live along side Richard Parker. To keep his life, Pi “had to make [Richard Parker] understand that [Pi] was the top tiger” (Martel 186). As the book proceeded, Pi’s relationship with Richard Parker grew; however, the end of the story proves that Santosh’s advice was correct. Although Richard Parker did not provide Pi with any physical harm, he did provide emotional harm. A reader experiences a flashback to Santosh’s lesson when Richard Parker left Pi without looking back. Santosh taught Pi that “an animal is an animal” (Martel 34), which is a lesson that Pi should have remembered before making an emotional connection with Richard Parker. This event develops the theme of fighting for freedom because it proves that Richard Parker valued his freedom more than his connection with

Pi survives his ordeal through the power of his own story telling. He uses it as a way of dealing with the horrific situation he has found himself in. By creating animal characters to replace the humans in the lifeboat he creates a coping mechanism powerful enough to

It is known that one of the most difficult things to do, is survive on sea in terms of a survival situation. (Grade Saver). Surviving on sea is one difficult thing to do on your own although imagine doing it with a Bengal tiger? Not imaginable, but it did happen with Piscine Molitor Patel of Pondicherry India. Pi survives on sea for seven months (227) days from India to the coast of Mexico mentally and physically because he had hope, Richard Parker, and religion. Without these three things- he may not have survived because he speaks about the importance of these things to him and the role that they play in his life and the influence they have on him on this treacherous, lengthy journey.

Could you imagine being stuck on a lifeboat with a life Bengal Tiger? This was the case for Piscine Patel, a 16 year old boy from South India in The Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel. This book made a significant cultural and religious impact to the communities of India, which makes it different from other books written by Yann Martel and other writers.