Survival In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Words: 1403
Pages: 6

People go through many obstacles in life, but how they cope can determine their survival. Having a positive outlook when going through an a tough situation, gives you the strength to continue to keep going and move forward. In Life of Pi, by Yann Martel Pi asks the Japanese investigators, “which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with the animals or the story without animals?” The story with the animals is the better story because Pi is viewed as the good guy. In the story without the animals, Pi was stranded in the middle of the ocean, reaching for a chance of survival as a french man on a boat tosses him a lifebuoy. That man “was such a brute” (Martel 300). He greedily ate flies, rats and even humans. Also, on the lifeboat with them was a Chinese sailor, who did not know one word of english and Pi's mother. They all had plenty of food to survive, only if they used it wisely. The sailor was currently suffering from a broken leg due to him jumping from a ship. He was described as a beautiful looking man. Though his …show more content…
“Life of Pi suggests that conveying stories like that of Pi’s life is a way of conveying truth which is just as true as the plain facts” (Olson). Pi does use his imagination to hide from the truth, the thought of him killing his kind and going against his beliefs. Regardless in both stories he goes against his religion. “Pi desperately wants to believe in God. Pi asks us to believe in Richard Parker because the story of surviving in a lifeboat with a tiger is a better story than going mad and surviving alone”(Harris). Also, the story with the animals isn't normal to us. When readers think about eating other humans, they can't stomach the thought of it because it is disgusting to us. When we think about animals eating other animals, it's not as gross because it's in animals nature to eat one another in order to