Animals' freedom in the modern day

Animals' freedom in the modern day

by Edward Lau

The Life of Pi

by Yann Martel

When thinking about wild animals, people tend to believe that they will never abide to humans and that they act out of their own free will. Religions such as Hinduism believe that they should never be tamed and that the fact that they roam so freely makes them sacred. But learning about the patterns and the conditions that will determine an animal’s nature can help people learn how to tame that animal. This is what the book Life of Pi shows throughout its 100 chapters and it follows the difficult journey of Piscine Molitor Patel before and during, the accident that would change his perspective of wild animals.

Starting from Part 1 of the novel, we get to know Piscine and how he got the nickname “Pi” from the mean kids at the school: they bullied him by calling him piss but his love for math gave him his nickname Pi. We learn about his social class and how his life is now, studying zoology and religion. He talks about his childhood influences while living in India and the experiences at his dad’s job - the zoo -  that made him so indulged in the study of animals. Even though life in India was good for Pi, he wanted a better life for himself and found a boat to Canada. In the end of part 1, he foreshadows the bigger plot by telling the reader that he is afraid of ships and of Richard Parker. Part 2 goes deeper into the situation of the novel when the ship that Pi has taken to go overseas sinks and Pi is forced to survive while lost at sea. He builds a life raft and attaches it to a lifeboat. There is where Richard Parker, the tiger, climbs onto the lifeboat to save himself from the sharks and drowning. With the two of them so close to each other, Pi uses his past knowledge of animals and the behaviors of wild animals to tame Richard in order for the two of them to survive. Pi digs into his survivor instincts by trying out anything that can get him and Richard some food. Freshwater wasn’t a problem for him at the beginning because he managed to get stills that would convert salt water so that is was able to be consumed. This process took a long time so he relies on the rainwater from storms. Food was all around him but the thought of Richard ripping his intestines always kept him alert of him. Food was a difficult start for him. First, he used leather from his shoe as bait but has no results. Fearing that he would never catch any fish, a exceedingly large amount of flying fish go over and into his raft.  He uses the flying fish as bait and catches a dorado. Here, he shows his dominance over Richard by throwing a chunk of fish over for him to eat. Pi for his whole life has been a pacifist and a vegetarian, but for the means of survival, he has to tend to a more wild nature. Living on the ship tends to be difficult but he feels the need to strive through it and tame Richard Parker. He cleans, feeds, and keeps Richard alive for most of the trip. Pi finally shows his superiority when he and Richard get into a fight and he wins. They drift onto a island but realize that it’s algae is killing the fish and eventually the two of them if they stay there so they decide to leave on the boat. They eventually arrive at the shores of a Mexican Jungle. Here the two of them part ways and the story ends with Pi surviving the whole ordeal. I personally enjoyed the book due to the points it makes on freedom and rights that animals have and how different religions view animals existences.

If an animal was confined in a man made zoo, is the animal really ever going to be happy? Pi speaks about this in a way that really brought up the idea that animals

do not have a happy existence when predators - such as humans - “capture and throw them into a tiny jail and begin to dash on their happiness.” (Martel 19) This made me understand how the whole setting of Pi’s childhood was really showing him the reality of the animals living there. The animals aren’t living full lives, they spend their days walking around in a confined space having to be stared at by random people. They can never “oversee their offspring properly or watch the setting of the sun from the trees with sighs and pleasure” (Martel 19). This just adds onto the context of how the animals aren’t happy: the zoo will just take the animals offspring and put them in another or the even the same confined space and then the whole cycle will continue where none of the animals are able to fully live their lives. This is where Pi learns the most about freedom in his study of Zoology. I was happy to see that the author put this into the novel as I have been a strong believer that an animal should never be held up against its will in order for others to be pleased by seeing it. People tend to associate themselves with one religion if they believe what the religion talks about is correct. Pi - due to his multiple exposures to different religions in India - identifies as a Muslim and a Christian. Pi is a strong believer in Hinduism at the time when he was talking to Mr. Satin, his teacher in the past; “I believe that religion will save us” (Martel 34). Pi said this in order for him to talk and to have a idea on Mr. Satin’s view on religion - due to him being an atheist. Mr. Satin’s response to Pi intrigued him enough to develop viewpoints on different religions; “Religion is darkness. Darkness is the last thing that religion is, religion is light” (Martel 34). Even though what Mr. Satin said was the total opposite of what Pi perceived as religion, it made him more intrigued in it.  This in return, made me think more about Christianity in general. The basic teaching of it tells it’s followers that being a good person is a must in order for you to have a good afterlife. But certain things throughout a life like Mr. Satin’s polio that he had for most of him childhood makes me think that that was the darkness in religion that he was talking about. The darkness in religion isn’t the whole concept itself, but it’s the times that you think that a god should help you but doesn’t. I liked that Religion was one of the main themes in the novel due to it expanding my knowledge on how different people interpret it.

Although lengthy and repetitive, the basic ideas and concepts that Pi explains to the reader really make it worth it. It provides the reader with multiple viewpoints on religion and animal rights and how society will harm it. Overall, I would recommend Life of Pi to anyone that is interested in religion, zoology, or just wanting to expand their understanding of both.