Primacy of Survival in Life of Pi

The urgent crave to stand firm at any costs is kn retain as the primacy of excerption. Survival is substantive for both tool, and there is no shortage of lengths they entrust go to in order to stand firm. Yann Martels flavor of Pi portrays the theme of primacy of selection establish on Pis determination and courage throughout his journeying. piscine Molitor P consumel, known to all as Pi, is a Hindu boy who embarks on a journey to Canada along with his family and their zoo sensuals. Midway through his journey, the gravy boat sinks in the middle of the Pacific oceanic, and Pi is left desert on a lifeboat.However, Pi is non alone on the raft in his presence atomic number 18 a zebra, orangutan, hyena, and a fearsome(a) Bengal tiger. Once he is awargon of what happened, Pi understands that giving up on his life is not an option. This lust for survival is expressed by examining how all animals are of course dangerous, how serviceman ordain do cruel things in order t o survive, and how all of our morals are lost when we feel thr tucker outened. Early on in Pis life, he is taught by his experience that all animals are course dangerous.Pis father, who is the owner of a zoo in India doesnt want Pi to be too comfort up to(p) around the animals at the zoo, since they could harm him if they feel thr wipe outened. In order to protect his son, he tells him Life will defend itself no case how small it is. Every animal is ferocious and dangerous. (Martel, 41). This is crucial for Pi to understand, since he may think that some animals are harmless, meanwhile due to their natural souls, they toilet be wild if they feel threatened.However, after Pis father explains this to him he serene isnt convinced that Pi is fully aware of the consequences if he becomes too comfortable with the animals. Therefore he decides he needs to prove on the thatton how dangerous some of the animals can be. One day, he takes Pi and his companion to the big cats section of the zoo, to find a massive 550 pound young-bearing(prenominal) Bengal tiger the king of the jungle. He tells them how Mahisha, the tiger, hasnt eaten in 2 exclusively days. Then, he says I want you to concoct this lesson for the rest of your lives (Martel, 47). He because threw in a live goat into the tigers cage.With a sudden flash of orange and black fur, Mahisha demolished the goat with a single blow. Blood splattered everywhere, and Pi and his brother Ravi were utterly churn up by the sound of the dying goat. Pi himself is also an example of his fathers words that Life will defend itself no matter how small it is. ( Martel, 41). Pi, a very skinny Hindu boy is face up alone with a hyena, orangutan, zebra and tiger on a lifeboat with no weapons. For the legal age of his journey, he knows that death could be present at any given(p) moment, but he still manages to protect and preserve himself.In certain situations, the primacy of survival of animals and humans alike can hav e an immensely powerful feeling, counsel us to do anything in order to survive. This urge to survive can sometimes drive us to do cruel and unimaginable things. Pi experiences the cruelness of our hunger for survival when the boat Pi and his family are on begins to sink, and crew members throw Pi onto the lifeboat. Pi was thankful for them at first, since he thought being on the lifeboat would ensure his safety however he wasnt alone on the lifeboat.An adult hyena that was being shipped had managed to feed its cage and make refuge on the very same lifeboat as Pi He soon realizes that the crew members didnt throw him on the lifeboat to save his life, but rather as bait. Shocked, Pi says They were using me as a fodder. They were hoping the hyena would attack me and that somehow I would get loose of it and make the boat safe for them. (Martel, 121). This volumes the extent to which humans will go to in order to survive, since there is ultimately nothing more drastic than human sa crifice. Later on in Pis journey, he surprisingly runs into another lone survivor on another lifeboat.At this apex in Pis journey, his body is severely dehydrated, and is beginning to deteriorate, which results in his loss of vision. The man on the other raft is blind as well, but once Pi begins to talk with him he is able to send his accent as French. The man, much like Pi, hasnt had food in days and is starving. Craving his own survival, the man attempts to attack and kill Pi for food. Pi is sure this is the end of his life, I could feel him moving gain the tarpaulin onto the middle bench and, fatally, bringing a foot raft to the floor of the boat. No, no, my brother Dont Were not- (Martel, 283).Right before the man begins to attack Pi, Richard Parker the mighty but weakened Bengal tiger on Pis lifeboat attacks the man and kills him. If it hadnt been for Richard Parker, the man would have without a mistrust killed Pi and ate him in order to secure his own survival. sidespli tting someone of the same species as you is sickening and cruel, but doing so to eat them is absolutely insane something an animal would do. The truth is Were animals. Were born like every other mammal and we live our whole lives around disguised animal thoughts. (Morace, 1).Humans are essentially animals, but once separated from our race, faced with the opening move of death, we will do anything in order to survive. Not only will humans do unimaginable things in order to survive, their morals are all lost to a craving selfishness for survival. Pi experiences this first pass around when the hyena on the lifeboat attacks the zebra and wounds it. He is initially horrified at this, but then he expresses how his sense of empathy was quickly overtaken in the fear of his own life When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival. (Martel, 133).This is natural for humans, something that comes instinctualy to us. Later on, Pi f eels remorse for the zebra, different how he felt in the moment. His instincts however could have saved his life, since he proceeded to hide once the hyena attacked instead of watching and mourning the zebra. Pi sluice knew that what happened was normal, and that it may have kept him alive. Before he tack together sail on the ship through the pacific, he learnt about this betise for survival, All animated things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving its part and parcel of the ability to adapt.Without it, no species would survive. (Martel, 45). One may betoken however that humans are different, that we should not turn into animals when we feel threatened. This is in fact false, since society is what holds us back Deprived of the zoo-like structures (society) that sustain them in their daily lives, humans return quite naturally to lives guided by basic instincts and animalistic impulses. (Dominic, 143). Once Pi leaves society all together, he essentially becomes an animal like figure guided by instinct that only does things that are necessary for his survival. Because of Pis instincts, he is able to survive.Even though it may seem that Pi just witnesses these acts of human cruelty and loss of morals, he in fact suffers from the loss of morals and is exceedingly cruel himself. From as early on as he could remember in his life, Pi was a very strict vegetarian. Once he realized he was stranded on the life raft, he knew he would have to give up on his old habits, and that he would have to eat meat in order to survive. Pi quickly learns that he cant be picky with the food he gets, and with his gestate rumbling of hunger, he proceeds to devour raw fish eyes, turn over blood and Pi even says that I tried once to eat Richard Parkers feces. (Martel, 237).He quickly learns that tiger feces isnt suitable for humans to eat, and doesnt attempt to eat it again. Even though it is entirely di sgusting that he would do that, he didnt have numerous more options. after these events it is said that Pi also begins to recognize, much to his disappointment, that his own behaviours are fair more animal-like (Dominic, 143). Once Pi does realize that he is simply living off his instincts, he is surprisingly content with himself.However, on the verge of death, Pi does something that is questionable even in order to survive. One may ask if there is anything worse that Pi could have done on his journey. The coiffe is cannibalism. After the man that Pi meets at sea is killed by Richard Parker, Pi actually eats some of the mans raw flesh. Pi confesses that, Driven by the extremity of my need and the madness to which it pushed me, I ate some of his flesh. (Martel, 284). Having not eaten in nearly 12 days, he even claims that they slipped into my mouth nearly unnoticed. (Martel, 284).This cruel, sickening and unacceptable act simply shows how we will do absolutely anything and ever ything in our power to survive. As a whole, the primacy of survival is thoroughly expressed within ample instances of Pis journey. What else could show the will to survive better than a teenage boy stranded alone on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Nothing, except if there perhaps was a giant Bengal tiger aboard. strong in that case Pis journey is the ultimate invention of survival, since he faced hunger, thirst and death with the king of the jungle in his presence the entire time.Along his way, Pi learned how dangerous all animals naturally are, how humans can do such cruel things, and how our morals are lost when we are threatened. Some may speculate that what Pi did to survive is just plain wrong and unacceptable. Nevertheless Pi survived a record 227 days on the dreadful Pacific Ocean before his journey finally came to a close. From Pondicherry, India, all the way to Tomatlan, Mexico, Pi had to do many undesirable things that all point to an animals primacy of su rvival.