Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

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There comes a time in point of life when you’re stuck in a hiccup and you have to do whatever it takes to overcome the obstacles. In the Life of Pi, Pi undergoes many obstacles and he has to test the five levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to be able to survive. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs consists of five levels such as: Physiological, Safety, Love, Esteem, and Self Actualization. Does Pi have what it takes to overcome these obstacles by using the five levels of hierarchy? Life of Pi by Yann Martel, tells a story about a survivor on a life boat with a dead Zebra, Hyena, Orangutan and a tiger he names Richard Parker for 226 days on a boat stranded in the middle of nowhere. Pi grew up being a Hindu but as he gets older, he starts to learn about Christianity and Islam. When all the religion teachers meet up with his parents they want to know what religion he chooses. Pi could not choose one but to choose all religions. His love for his beliefs partially helps him survive being stranded even though he has to break some rules to survive. As Richard Parker and Pi were cruising along the ocean, they encounter a blind man floating in the ocean. When he tries to help him aboard the boat, Richard Parker eats him and basically saves Pi because the blind man had different intentions when boarding the boat. While they are still floating, they come across an island with algae that helps regain Pi’s strength and Richard Parkers by eating the meerkats on the island. When Pi notices the tooth in the algae, Pi decides to leave the island and continue the journey to safety. Finally they arrive in Mexico where he finds two men that Pi starts to tell them the story of the journey to survival but none of the men believe what Pi say’s and change t... ... middle of paper ... ...d to Pi. Pi is still a Hindu, Muslim and Christian. Being on that lifeboat gave him a purpose and meaning to life. All in all, In Life of Pi there has to be sacrifices to achieve the top of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. To grow as a person you have experience the things you thought you would never do. Everybody has a certain duty and would do anything to stay true to that duty. During Pi’s journey, he experiences fish for the first time, killing for the first time and finds a friend that no one would come close to named Richard Parker but at the end of the day he would still call himself a Hindu, Muslim and a Christian. Pi adjusted to his surroundings to stay alive but he would still stay true to his religion no matter how many times he had to break his oath to that religion. Works Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.

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