Hierarchy In Life Of Pi

In the Life of Pi, social class and hierarchy can be analyzed using MLT lens when Pi, Richard Parker [the tiger] and the other three animals were stranded on a small lifeboat. By examining the book through a MLT lens, readers can then identify the impact of power struggle among these characters and therefore gain a deeper understanding of the book. Martel’s description of this hierarchy unlocks two important motifs: territorial dominance and animal psychology to social class. The first sign of power struggle begins when the vicious hyena attacked the helpless and wounded zebra, viewing him as powerless and at a lower class in animal hierarchy. With this success, the hyena continues to prey on other less powerful animals to eliminate its opponents,
except the tiger which is deemed as a higher class than itself. This portrays a series of struggles between classes - the oppressed and the oppressing.
Collectively, these animals’ behavior exhibit the necessity to safeguard and drive out intruders who threaten their own territory. These animals respond aggressively due to the limitation of space and the scarcity of food. With Pi and the tiger remaining, the territorial dominance and hierarchy battle continues. However, Pi loses the battle when he tells us: “How low I had sunk the day I noticed, with a pinching heart, that I ate like an animal, that this noisy, frantic, unchewing wolfing-down of mine was exactly the way Richard Parker [the tiger] ate” (Martel 225). When Pi’s humane characteristic gives way to emotions and hunger by devouring his food like an animal, Richard Parker quickly associates Pi as an animal whose social class is now equivalent to itself. Thus, breaking the Great Chain of Being. In order to take control, proclaiming its leadership and announcing its territory claim, the tiger seize his opportunity to instill fear in Pi. During this oppression period, Pi’s freedom is totally restricted and controlled by Richard Parker. This scenario is evidence that Parker is possessing a higher power over Pi, exercising its free right to do whatever it
wants. Finally, when it becomes intolerance of a human being submitted and vulnerable to an animal, Pi retaliates by saying, “I needed safe access to the locker and the top of the tarpaulin, no matter the time of day or the weather, no matter his mood. 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). The social interaction and entanglement experience between Parker and Pi on the boat explains the importance of not just territorial dominance but also for survival; the one with power will have the ability to command resources in this particular constraint domain and to determine consumption of limited resources. Limitation forces the characters to achieve the unthinkable and the motivation to make judgment in order to survive. With the knowledge of animal hierarchy, readers are able to connect to each of the character's determination to be at the top in order to survive.