Life of Pi Literary Research Essay

In the novel, Life of Pi, Yann Martel uses Pi’s uses of survival that are throughout the novel to show how he overcame his dangerous journey. The use of physical survival was shown by getting food and water to live. Spiritual survival by believing in god and giving up his beliefs and religions to live. And also biological survival and how his uncle was an excellent swimmer which made Pi one too.

First, there is the necessity of physical survival: he must keep his body alive. This requires food and water, both in short supply, as well as protection from the elements. Pi knows he must defend himself from the immediate threat, Richard Parker, but he is also aware that there is a whole host of dangers waiting to do him in. Ocean storms, huge waves, sharks, sunstroke, dehydration, drowning—any and all of these things pose a risk to his life. Pi’s inventiveness and resourcefulness (he covers himself with wet clothes to protect his skin from the sun and builds a raft from oars and lifejackets to keep him at a safe distance from both the tiger and sharks) enable him to remain physically safe. As Martel makes clear in his novel, living creatures will often do extraordinary, unexpected, and sometimes heroic things to survive. However, they will also do shameful and barbaric things if pressed. "I will confess that I caught one of his arms with the gaff and used his flesh as bait. I will further confess that driven by the extremity of my need and the madness to which it pushed me, I ate some of his flesh."(pg. 284) This shows that Pi has eaten some of the flesh belonging to the hyena that was killed by Richard Parker. “without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.” (pg 182) By this point, we know that Richard Parker is a Royal Bengal tiger, an adult male, who weighs 450 pounds and takes up about one-third of