How Did Pi Survive

Survival is the main purpose of any organism; doing whatever it takes to remain existent on Earth regardless of the circumstances. Throughout Life of Pi, Pi’s desire to survive forces him to slip away from his civilized traits, releasing his inner savagery. Pi’s character transforms during his journey demonstrating his desire to survive through his physical need to survive, how he protects himself and how he keeps himself sane. Pi exemplifies the extremes that living things will go to in order to survive, fundamentally changing their natures. For example, his physical need to survive. In every survival story and survival manual, the priority always includes plenty of food. In Pi’s case he uses his conscious survival guide to go to the extremes when he eats uncivilized food and hunts for meat. Pi’s civilized traits start to slip away when he eats food he would have never eaten on civilized land. Such activity shows the deadly hand he has been dealt; that “I know [his] survival is hard to believe.” (Martel 282) At first, Pi is very simple, eating only what he has in the survival box such as his biscuits. Pi then becomes savage, due to his instinct to

Richard Parker keeps Pi sane and reminds him that he is not alone, which, while resembling a god, gives Pi comfort, comparable to Pi’s beliefs in God. His presence keeps Pi on his toes, even though he is a figment of Pi’s imagination. In Pi’s circumstances he is disconnected from the real world for 227 days therefore, he uses Richard Parker as a connection he has for that time being: [Richard Parker] [keeps him] from thinking too much about [his] family and [his] tragic circumstances. [Richard Parker pushes him] to go on living. [Pi hates] him for it, yet at the same time [Pi is] grateful. [...] [Without] Richard Parker, [Pi] wouldn’t be alive [...] to tell [his] story. (Martel