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Meaning Of Survival In The Story Of Keesh

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Every day, people are surviving in extreme and extraordinary ways. There is an old folk tale called “The Story of Keesh,” that is an important statement on survival. It is about a young boy in a struggling community in Antarctica. Where getting through each day is a struggle, it is a surprise that young Keesh goes on from one the smallest igloos in the tribe to the man who had the will to lead them all. There is another tale, that is as remarkable as the other. It is called “Life of Pi.” In this tale, a boy finds himself in a bizarre situation. After the ship he was on sank, he is stuck on a lifeboat, but with a bengal tiger. In this tale with a twist, the boy, Pi, really does come to terms to what surviving really means. In “The Story of …show more content…

In the first story, “The Story of Keesh,” the meaning of survival at first was simple. To hunt, to eat, and to live. But Keesh soon discovers what it really means to survive. But as he does, people start to doubt him, which just made him even more determined. He finds new ways and is more prepared. It even states, “... noted that he carried his bow, with a goodly supply of bone-barbed arrows, and across his shoulder was his father’s big hunting spear” (London 64.) Keesh is prepared for hunting and is determined and also has the “will” to hunt successfully and survive. Along with that, he is aiming high. He says once, “ ‘Why dost thou hunt bear?’ Klosh-Kwan once ventured to ask him.And Keesh made fitting answer. ‘It is well known there is more meat on the …show more content…

Pi has to stay alive on a lifeboat. Ironically, on this lifeboat he is stuck with a ferocious, hazardous, Bengal tiger. At first Pi’s idea was the same as Keesh's village. To hunt, to eat, to live. Pi’s mind had come up with many different solutions on how to “survive.” Including a time where he had to drink water, which he resourcefully succeeded in. It states, “I looked over to the gunnel. The tarpaulin hooks. Short, blunt, solid. I kneeled on the bench and leaned over. Holding the can with both my hands, I sharply brought it up against a hook. A good dint. I did it again…I sat back on the gunnel. I held the can up to my face. I opened my mouth. I tilted the can” (Martel 87.) Soon after, Pi loses himself mentally. He starts to lose hope. But another bright moment where surviving is clearer is when he started to ration and take order of his food, a good idea. ““I considered opening another carton, but I thought better of it. No harm in exercising a little restraint… So I had water rations to last me 124 days,” (Martel 90-91.) Along with that, Pi was resourceful when trying to figure out if there was water. As it states, “The divining rod in my mind dipped sharply and a spring gushed water when I remembered I was on a genuine, regulation lifeboat and that such a lifeboat was surely outfitted with supplies,” (Martel 81.) But beside all this small victories, Pi really does have a hard time, from physical health,

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