Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

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What enables humanity to have the will to live even when life is at its most bleakest, darkest moments, and when survival seems more like a chore rather than a gift? In Life of Pi, Yann Martel describes a story where a young Indian boy is stuck at sea, with only a Bengal tiger as a companion, and has to survive long enough to reach land. However, it’s not only Pi’s quick wits, but also the conditions which he has been placed in that allow him to survive. Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, proposed that in order for humans to survive, a hierarchy of needs must be met. In the order that Maslow thinks are the most important, all humans need to be able to fulfill their physiological, safety, love, esteem, and self-actualization needs. Martel…show more content…
Richard Parker distracts Pi from the monotony at sea, and gives Pi a long term project which he can work on and focus his attention on in order to remain sane throughout his voyage. Pi admits to his audience that, “It’s the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story (Martel 164)”. He describes Richard Parker as, “He pushed me to go on living (Martel 164)”, and this shows the reader how important companionship was to Pi, even if it was with a Bengal tiger. Although food, water, and being safe from Richard Parker were important to Pi’s health than having someone to talk to on the boat, Richard Parker gave Pi a sense of purpose which allowed him to go on living. Richard Parker gave companionship to Pi in many ways: he gave Pi a long term project, which was training and taking care of him, and he gave Pi someone who could share his experiences with him. By having someone else on board with him, Pi shows us that we are more likely to try and survive than we would be if we were alone and only able to focus on

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