Every person in the world is unique. They have different appearances, feelings, and ways they act. The same principle applies to animals, as well. Sometimes, terrifying situations will change the person or animal from the inside out, from the kindest living soul alive to a horrifying monster that would stop at nothing to save their own life. In Life of Pi, Pi Patel must quickly learn how to survive with these beasts without getting himself killed. It’s an awful place to be in that I hope would never happen to me. If I was one of the animals aboard the lifeboat, I would have not in a million years become a total savage like the rest of them. The Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a thought-provoking novel that shows how terrible living conditions can change animals and humans alike.
In the beginning of Life of Pi, Richard Parker was a defiant tiger who didn’t have to have a fear in the world. Richard was easily taken care of, and didn’t have to defend himself against dangerous animals or weather. He was the animal everyone feared, not the other way around. Yet when he was thrust into the rowboat, everything snapped for him. Suddenly, he was the fearer, not the defiant animal being feared. This observation led to him attempting anything to save his own life. If I was thrown onto the lifeboat with Pi and the other animals, I would sincerely hope that I would not become like Richard Parker. Although, I have never been in a situation like Richard Parker’s. Maybe if I was, my feelings would change, since my life would be on the line. Horrendous areas of living could simply change the very foundation of who a person is on the inside.
Even though it seems like Richard Parker is the most vicious animal living on the lifeboat, don’t forget about the zebra that was contained with Pi and the animal as well. Out of all of the animals living alongside the lifeboat with Pi, the zebra was the most humane, yet only because this animal boarded the rowboat seriously injured. This zebra wasn’t able to defend himself against Richard Parker, the orangutan, and the hyena. Supposing that this animal was thrust onto the lifecraft uninjured, I feel that this animal more than likely have became a second Richard Parker, willing to do anything to survive. Living in this condition would have changed him just as much as it changed the rest of the inhibiters of the boat. After reading Life of PI, I think the zebra’s characteristics are the ones that I think I would have followed, if some of my life was lived on the lifeboat. Out of all of the characters in this novel, the zebra places the most unanswered questions in my mind.
Though the zebra and the tiger create enough unanswered questions and interesting back-stories for two novels, there is another beast placed on the lifeboat as well. This animal was by far the most terrifying, the animal that you had to protect yourself from. Fear was the primary reasoning for his actions, not unlike Richard Parker. These two beasts gathered together and preyed on the innocent life of the zebra. The hyena was always defiant and ready to kill, and being thrust into this way of life heighted his senses and turned him into more of a killing machine than he already was. Out of all of the characters in Life of Pi, this is the one that I can’t place myself in. I would never allow myself to become such a savage like the hyena. If I was in the rowboat, unlike this creature, keeping my sanity would have been a necessary component of life.
After all of the turmoil that the animals of the lifeboat created, it doesn’t seem possible that there could be another living soul on the lifeboat. There was, and that person was named Pi Patel. Pi was always a god loving boy, one that would never step a toe out of line. Once Pi was placed in the lifeboat, everything changed. His life was thrown upside down. Living on a lifeboat for two hundred and twenty seven days altered his physical and mental well being, a lasting affect that would never return to its normal state. Pi used be a vegetarian, never touching animals other to help them find their homes. When on the lifeboat, he killed turtles and devoured every inch of them. Pi became disgusted with himself. Yet a part of himself that wasn’t altered? His belief and devotion of the gods of all three of his religions. Nothing that happened to him would change that. If I was with him on the lifeboat, I would hope that my characteristics could be like Pi’s, always trusting in a power coming to set him free. I hope I wouldn’t succumb to despair and desperation, like the rest of his company did.
With all of the unique characters in Life of Pi, you can’t deny that someone wouldn’t be able to put themselves in a character’s place. Out of the inhibiters of the lifeboat, my actions more than likely would have been the actions of Pi. Pi was changed as a person during his extended stay on the boat, yet he never killed something that wasn’t crucial for his survival. That outlook of life while living in the rowboat would be the outlook I hope I would have. Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a beautiful book that makes the reader ponder who they really are inside.
