Surviving in the desert is difficult but what about out in the middle of the ocean. Imagine a person all alone no one to talk to for half a year and the effects it would have on their judgement. Yann Martel is an inspirational author who understands the importance of surviving despite the odds not being in favour of the person. In his compelling novel Life of Pi, Martel demonstrates how grueling it can be to overcome the difficulties of survival, and how the difficulty of survival can make a person accomplish feats he may not have thought possible. Martel shows Pi conquering physical, mental and spiritual struggles in order to survive.
To being with, in his captivating novel Martel demonstrates how exhausting …show more content…
Pi had a list of chores to complete on the lifeboat as well as his raft each day. During the middle of Pi stay on the lifeboat, Pi considered another reason he was able to survive, was because he “kept [himself] busy. That was on key to [his] survival” (Martel 239). Pi kept a routine to keep his mind off the fact that he was alone. In the beginning Pi was worried about looking out for a ship in the distance causing time to pass slowly, but focusing on his routine caused the day to pass by quicker. It was mentioned in the survival manual Pi found with the supplies to pass your time by playing games or anything other than looking for a rescue ship. It is not good mentally to obsess over getting rescued, it is better to focus on staying alive. By using his time to better his experience on the lifeboat Pi was forced to think of innovative ways to obtain food and shelter. He was able to create a raft to remove himself from Richard Parker. Additionally, Pi was on the lifeboat for 227 days with only a Bengal tiger for company, and in order to survive, he ignored the passing of days. Towards the middle of his ordeal, Pi is recounting how he “survived because [he] made a point of forgetting… [he] did not count the days or the weeks or the months” (Martel 242). Being stranded on a lifeboat with no one to converse with will take a toll on anyone 's mental health. It has been proven that spending extended periods of time in solitude can cause mental illnesses; therefore, by not focusing on the passing of days Pi is able to spend 227 days in isolation. Pi is able to concentrate more on what needs to be done on the lifeboat instead of stressing about how long he had been stranded. Keeping track of the passing days would only cause Pi to lose hope of being rescued. As a result, Pi is able to