Life Of Pi Essay Survival

Life of Pi- Survival against the Odds

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation but more importantly the will to survive. Life of Pi is an intense, emotional story of survival and triumph against the odds. Piscine Molitor Patel is a near consistent peril throughout the story. After losing his whole family in a shipwreck he has to survive on a life boat, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. His odds of survival are low due to many challenges he is faced with. There is a lack of food and fresh water, there is the psychological struggle he faces while being on the life boat, and most importantly being stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a 450 pound beast for 227 days.

As
it is clear in Life of Pi surviving for long periods of time at sea is extremely difficult, even without a 450 pound beast living next to you. Pi makes it clear that the lack of abundant fresh water was his greatest stress at all times. The survival items Pi finds in the life boat, most importantly the solar stills, help Pi deal with his thirst but he still fights the struggles in feeding not only himself but the tiger, Richard Parker. “I was continuously hungry. I thought about food obsessively. The less I had to eat, the larger became the portions dreamed of’’ (Martel.P.207) Pi had many thoughts of hunger , he became so weak , so powerless, and so extremely exhausted because of how desperately his body demanded any sort of food or fresh water. At some points the will to survive was all Pi had left to hang on to. His courage and bravery kept him alive when his body lacked the energy to go on. In order to continue living, the vegetarian Hindu boy had to fish for the first time in his life. As fishing didn’t go exactly as he had planned he scolds himself for losing his only bait and it’s at this point where a miracle occurs. Pi discovers the flying fish. The flying fish were the initial reasoning for him being able to catch fish and survive. Pi fought all odds of not surviving and did everything in his power to not starve to death or become dehydrated to the max.

The psychological struggles Pi had with himself progressed during the novel. As Life of Pi unfolded one can simply feel him losing grasp of his insanity. Pi begins to lose temper with himself. He becomes greatly concerned and upset over the fact of hungry Richard Parker. “Richard Parker is afraid of the sea right now. It was nearly his grave. But crazed with thirst and hunger he will surmount his fear and he will do whatever is necessary to oppose his need. He will turn his meat into bridge. He will swim as far as he has to, to catch the drifting raft and the food upon it. As far water have you forgotten that tigers are known to drink saline water? Do you think you can outlast his kidneys? I tell you, if you wage a war of attrition you will lose it! You will die! IS THAT CLEAR’’ (Martel.p.160). Pi became more and more en-wrapped in the psychological facts of being stuck at sea for 227 days it took a massive toll on his state of mind. Seeing lightning isn’t very common on the Pacific Ocean but on one account Pi experiences it. He becomes gripped with happiness at seeing lightning strike where the boat is. This is a major clue in showing the bizarreness of his loss of control over his psyche. Pi try’s a ‘’Dream Cloth’’ which is really just a wet cloth to help him asphyxiating himself as a method of escape from reality. When Pi is on the island he finds no human help except for teeth from someone there previously to his arrival. Finding the human teeth really shakes up Pi and the mental state in which he is in. It is easy to observe that near the end of his journey across the pacific to the coast of Mexico he is barely alive, both mentally and physically. Pi struggles fighting to keep his right mind well just fighting to survive was struggle enough.

Not only does Pi have to deal with the struggles that originates with being stranded he has to do all of that while in the company of a 450 Bengal Tiger.
Richard Parker devotes all of the 227 days on the boat with Pi. The odds of survival with a man eating beast next to yourself are low, and then you add in the facts that they are stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean for over 7 months. When Pi discovers that his only chance of survival relies on taming Richard Parker he has a great amount of determination. Before this realization Pi begins to give up in belief that there wasn't even the slightest chance of survival with a massive tiger on the boat. ‘’Only death consistently excites your emotions, whether contemplating it when life is safe and stale, or fleeing it when life is threatened and precious’’ (Martel.p.274) As the idea of fighting for life comes into Pi’s mind he starts thinking about the awareness of taming Richard Parker as these thoughts cross his mind he begins to pick himself up off his feet. Not only does the significant training and taming of the tiger increase his chances for survival, it gives him a reason to never give up, as Richard Parker becomes his only reason for living. Pi pushed to survive against humanity and the odds of not because he accepted that Richard Parker needed to live. Although there was doubt that surviving such a long time with a massive animal that had more than the ability to kill all, Pi beats those odds and although he struggles Pi deals with the significance of his
survival.

In review, the lack of food and fresh water, the psychological struggles and the factors of being stranded on a life boat with a 450 pound tiger for 227 long, hard days should have been enough to end both Pi and Richard Parker he strived to work against the odds. Piscine Molitor Patel used determination and bravery to live in a situation where he should have never lasted.

© 2014 MicrosoftTermsPrivacyDevelopersEnglish (United States)
© 2014 MicrosoftTermsPrivacyDevelopersEnglish (United States)