Theme Of Survival In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

The state of well-being is an arbitrary condition. Though society has and continues to wrap a thin security blanket around citizens’ shoulders, it disguises the fact that welfare can easily be swept away in the span of a second by numerous culprits. Therefore, the inner compass to seek survival is not optional, but rather essential to every self-reliant man’s survival. Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi, stresses this notion through the account of Pi Patel and his brutally desperate survival tactics to survive while lost at sea. Fighting for solace alongside his tiger companion, the main character Pi embraces the innate instinct to be selfish and manipulative. Through the desire to dominate others, the drive to alter himself, and a mindset fixed to reassure, Martel’s tale illustrates the concept that man’s survival requires the inevitable manipulation of situations.
Life of Pi distinctly displays survival as an output of manipulation through the main character’s controlling of other beings. Pi’s unfaithful coexistence with Richard Parker (the Bengal tiger) proves that Pi views a world in which his own survival is mutually exclusively with …show more content…
To be successful, the compass must attune to the best interests of survival, even in instances of moral compromise. In Life of Pi, Yann Martel artfully alludes that the manipulation of situations is required for survival. Throughout the novel, the survival compass guides a boy to the direction of manipulation. Pi Patel, a shadow of his former self while lost at sea, rises to survival’s challenges by asserting dominance over others, altering himself, and securing a mindset for emotional well-being. In the quest to seek survival, Pi Patel uses to the compass to lead his matriculation into survival. Within the process, the compass also points him to his true self, revealing much about his survival techniques, perspectives, and