Piscine Molitor Patel, known as Pi, is stranded in the Pacific Ocean in harsh conditions at only 16. While he could have a battle of attrition with himself and patiently await his death, he decides otherwise. Pi now has one thought in mind: survival. By using his knowledge of animals from his family’s zoo in his hometown of Pondicherry and other things he learned in his youth, he begins his daily battle for life itself. Through his persistence and perseverance he stays alive, but his past in India helps him in greater ways than he originally thought. He survived due to his old and newfound definitions of freedom, his awareness of social status in the animal kingdom, and his knowledge of the real most dangerous animal. In Pondicherry, Pi learned that animals have a distinct longing for freedom, even when given the best life imaginable. He says while many think it is …show more content…
Man can be dangerous, as he learned before, but he now sees this on a much larger scale as compared to at home at the zoo. While he was a vegetarian back in India, but he must resort to more primal methods of survival in the Pacific. This, however, does not just stop at killing fish or turtles, for Pi turns to brutality and cannibalism. He tastes the Frenchman’s flesh, and going by the second rendition of his story, he could’ve done even more (Martel 256, 311). While animals like Richard Parker, the intimidating 400+ pound tiger, are most often seen as the most dangerous, Pi himself is the most unpredictable one on the lifeboat. With advanced intelligence he quickly gains the upperhand on the animals, and he could easily be compared to Richard Parker himself, (if “Richard Parker” isn’t in fact a method of coping with his own inhumanity). Pi, without hesitation, resorts to being someone he never thought he could be in order to remain alive, even knowing he might not be able turn back to his former