Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs In Life Of Pi

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

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a structural progression of psychological and physical needs. Maslow hypothesized that there were two distinct types of needs: deficiency needs and growth needs2. The deficiency needs,

First, there is an essential need for "physical survival" as he must keep his body alive(Sparknotes). The most basic needs being food and water. He knows how to protect himself from imminent danger such as Richard Parker. As well as other threats that come when being stranded at sea such as dehydration,sharks, and drowning. Pi's creativity to build an adjoining raft to keep a safe distance from aggressive dangers such as sharks and the tiger enable him to sustain physical safety. Secondly, Pi's necessity for "spiritual survival"(Sparksnotes). Pi must keep his hopes up and not yield to hopelessness. He says that Richard Parker kept him sane in the presence of a companion. Pi's mental toughness for taming the tiger prevented him from thinking about his deserted future. from a shipwreck. Lastly Pi has Biological survival as he is the sole member of the Patel family. He would have a desire to live a long and healthy life, raise a family and pass his genes on to the next generation. He is able to survive for 227 days at sea. As he inherited powerful swimming ability from his Uncle Mamaji. At the end of the novel, the readers learn that Pi is a father,"So his story does have a happy ending"(Martel). Ultimately,Pi's willingness to survive shows his character as an

Psychologist Abraham H. Maslow is the developer of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The theory covers human behavior in terms of basic requirements for survival and growth (Cengage, 2002). The theory was developed in the early 1960’s. During this time psychology was taken over by two different views. One side was the human behavior and the other one was the behaviorist. Maslow explained that psychoanalysts had not accomplished the task to consider the behavior of healthy humans. He also mentioned that many subjective experiences that related with human behaviors were being ignored by behaviorist. In the beginning Maslow examined motivations and experience of many healthy individuals. He recognized that there are many requirements in this theory that are important for human survival and to help motivate individuals. He conceptualized different human needs as a pyramid with five levels in

Life of Pi is an extravagant film about an young clever Indian boy, Piscine “Pi” Patel, who experiences an incredible, breathtaking yet agonizing adventure. After Pi’s family decides to sell their zoo in India and move to Canada, Pi faces a catastrophe when an appalling storm strikes the ship, leaving Pi as the only human to survive. The young boy is not alone; a fearsome tiger and companion, Richard Parker, is also found on the lifeboat. Overtime, the two main characters of the film attempt to learn to trust each other in order to survive. Throughout the film, Pi Patel’s motivation and memory is exemplified throughout his prolonged, distressing adventure at sea.

Abraham Maslow’s theory, Theory of Hierarchy Needs, is a motivational theory in psychology that has a tier model of the five things a human needs. Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. The five stages, from bottom to top, include Physiological needs( food, water, warmth, and rest), the second stage: Safety Needs ( security and safety), third stage: Belongingness and love needs ( intimate relationships and friends), the fourth stage: Esteem Needs (prestige and feeling of accomplishment), and finally the last stage: Self-actualization ( achieving one’s full potential, including creative potential). The five stage model can be divided into

Desperation forced him to try and move towards the safety box that was near Richard Parker who has the ability to easily attack him. Once Pi is near the safety box he illustrates the feeling of satisfaction by saying, “oh, the delight of the manufactured good, the man-made device, the created thing! That moment of material revelation brought an intensity of pleasure -- a heady mix of hope, surprise, disbelief, thrill gratitude, all crushed into one … I was positively giddy with happiness." (Martel 141). He finds water in the box as he hoped for and this has brought him a confidence boost. Even though Pi completed the first of many stages in the hierarchy, he is still stranded in the ocean. He acknowledges the fact that animals or very territorial and in turn marks his own territory within the boat. Pi insists that, “I had to fix in his mind that the top of the tarpaulin and the bow of the boat, bordered by the neutral territory of the middle bench, was my territory and utterly forbidden to him” (Martel 168). He urinated on the parts of the boat that he claims as his part of the boat and does it in a way that Richard Parker who is an animal would understand.

By looking at Life of Pi by Yann Martel, one can see that an individual has a limit to how much physical and emotional strain they can endure before they are forced to resort to doubting their beliefs and values, and when they are forced into isolation, may become mentally unstable and create their own version of reality. Martel portrays this idea best through the main character, Piscine Patel, otherwise known as Pi. Pi unwillingly embarks on a strenuous voyage in the Pacific Ocean in a lifeboat after most of his family dies in a shipwreck during their move to Canada to escape the political situation on India in the 1970s. The emotional pain at the loss of his family is indescribably horrifying, and the physical deterioration that Pi experiences far exceeds his limit, as the whole journey is a question of his love, hope, and faith. According to “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” a theory by Abraham Maslow, first, the physiological needs must be met, then the needs of safety, belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. When one spends their time alone, trying to meet those integral needs of life, there will always be physical and spiritual barriers.

In the Life of Pi, Piscine Molitor Patel is a teenage boy who goes through this dynamic journey to survival. But he doesn't do it alone. He is also stuck with a wild Bengal tiger, Richard Parker. He goes through this dynamic journey to survival. Pi explores issues of facing the reality of survival, being resourceful and even after all he’s been through he reflects on the struggles of what he faced in the wild.

It is often presented in a pyramid of five tiers. Each tier models a human need, with the most basic need listed on the base of the pyramid. According to Maslow, one must achieve the lower tier before he or she will attempt to satisfy the next “need”. Maslow’s five needs are (in order from most basic to highest level):

In the novel, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs was organized in a way so that Pi would have to work hard enable to accomplish the sensation of self-actualization. The shipwreck altered Pi’s mentality as he was helplessly forced to watch the animals of the zoo drown around him. Pi also came to realization that not all mankind is caring and moral when the crewmembers threw him overboard for their own good. Pi is repeatedly shifted from the self-actualization phase on the pyramid back down to the physical, and safety level. When Pi is transferred from phase to phase it forces him to look at his life in different perspectives. When Pi is stranded on the lifeboat the necessities for survival he requires are: food, shelter and water, which are the physical

Friedrich Nietzsche once said what doesn’t kill, only makes you stronger. In the novel “Life of Pi” Piscine Patel is put through some extraordinary trials and tribulations that put him in a sort of alienation and would have broken a weak individual. Patel displayed pristine courage, perseverance, determination and an overall willingness to live that helped him overcome extreme exile and live to tell his story.

Every problem we face we are given a choice, face it, or run away from it. Often times we choose to face it. With facing it comes integrity, responsibility, and more importantly will and determination. In the Life Of Pi by Yann Martel, Pi is in a shipwreck and stranded at sea for 227 days. Although he is faced with many challenges and the odds are greatly against him, his strong will and determination allow him to live.

Surviving a tragic situation is a true test of mental and physical strength. It is mainly the use of inner strength to conquer various obstacles through a journey that allow many people to survive. The novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel allows readers to imagine a young boy trying to survive a shipwreck using everything that he learns and experiences. Piscine Patel survives many things such as the lifeboat, dehydration, drowning, starvation and the island. The personality traits of Piscine Patel are what enable him to survive and the three most important character traits he possesses are hope, intelligence and perseverance.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs a motivation theory suggested that people are motivated to achieve certain needs, and when one need is fulfilled a person seeks to fulfill the next one. Yann Martel is an author that uses the theory of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs throughout his book Life of Pi. In the Life of Pi, Pi goes through the stages from physiological to self-actualization, and has to let go of certain needs to focus on others. At the begging of the novel, Pi is fee to pursue self-actualization; you see him doing this as he pursue his religious interests.