Life of Pie Short Essay Questions
Life of Pi
Short Essay Questions
By Marcus Mooney
1.
In the book, The Life of Pi the five sections in the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs; Physiological; Safety; Love/ Belonging; Esteem; and Self-actualization are demonstrated.
Once Pi is on the lifeboat, his main focus is food and water, as he needs both of these to survive. He is in the physiological stage. He has to ignore his morals because according to the hierarchy, a person cannot focus on a higher level before the one before it is achieved, and at this point, Pi will die if he does not eat and drink. He is forced to go against his religious belief and eat meat in order to survive. His belief becomes secondary at this point because he has to satisfy his physiological needs first.
After his physiological needs are satisfied he could then focus on safety from Richard parker. He creates a physical barrier between himself and Richard Parker. He knows that this will not be enough to ensure his safety. The only way would be to tame Richard Parker into thinking that Pi is the dominant male. His attention to safety is exhibited by his construction of a shield and the use of a whistle instead of a whip. Pi even goes as far as training the tiger to jump through hoops.
At this point Pi is now striving for love and affection in Maslow’s Hierarchy because he has fulfilled his physical and safety needs. Pi becomes attached to Richard because he spends such a large amount of time with him in an isolated environment. Without Richard, Pi would have slowly lost the will to live as the tiger keeps him alert. The attachment to Richard is evident when Pi weeps after Richard leaves him without a goodbye the second the boat touches land.
Throughout the story there are many examples of Pi achieving success. Pi achieves this when he completes the raft; catches the turtles; and tames Richard Parker. When he finally makes it back to land safely he reaches the esteem stage in Maslow’s hierarchy, as it is the
Short Essay Questions
By Marcus Mooney
1.
In the book, The Life of Pi the five sections in the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs; Physiological; Safety; Love/ Belonging; Esteem; and Self-actualization are demonstrated.
Once Pi is on the lifeboat, his main focus is food and water, as he needs both of these to survive. He is in the physiological stage. He has to ignore his morals because according to the hierarchy, a person cannot focus on a higher level before the one before it is achieved, and at this point, Pi will die if he does not eat and drink. He is forced to go against his religious belief and eat meat in order to survive. His belief becomes secondary at this point because he has to satisfy his physiological needs first.
After his physiological needs are satisfied he could then focus on safety from Richard parker. He creates a physical barrier between himself and Richard Parker. He knows that this will not be enough to ensure his safety. The only way would be to tame Richard Parker into thinking that Pi is the dominant male. His attention to safety is exhibited by his construction of a shield and the use of a whistle instead of a whip. Pi even goes as far as training the tiger to jump through hoops.
At this point Pi is now striving for love and affection in Maslow’s Hierarchy because he has fulfilled his physical and safety needs. Pi becomes attached to Richard because he spends such a large amount of time with him in an isolated environment. Without Richard, Pi would have slowly lost the will to live as the tiger keeps him alert. The attachment to Richard is evident when Pi weeps after Richard leaves him without a goodbye the second the boat touches land.
Throughout the story there are many examples of Pi achieving success. Pi achieves this when he completes the raft; catches the turtles; and tames Richard Parker. When he finally makes it back to land safely he reaches the esteem stage in Maslow’s hierarchy, as it is the