The Failure Of Success In Pi's Life Of Pi

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Normally, when we talked about human survival ability in tough conditions, the first suggestion that people mostly thought about would be never lost hopes. However, in “Life of Pi”, only hopping for happening of miracle was certainly not enough. For Pi, success also depended on his trust for animals, skillful technique of swimming, and loyalty to gods as well. To begin with, Pi’s success could not happen without believing in animals. Since he was grew up in a zoo, animals were a significant part in his childhood. He believed that all animals are spiritual in the beginning. However, one event changed Pi’s opinion a little bit. When Pi was only a child, his father stopped him from trying to feed Richard Parker and showed Pi tiger’s inhuman natural instinct by letting him see the entire process about the tiger killing a goat. At that moment, Pi said,“ I heard two things at that moment: Father saying “Never forget this lesson” as he looked on grimly; and the bleating of the goat.” (Matel 44). This experience certainly made Pi feel shocked and afraid. He started to question himself whether the animals were as pure as he thought. This change of attitude towards animals strongly affects the later relationship …show more content…

When Pi was a kid, his uncle, Mamaji taught him how to swim. With highly interest, Pi gradually became an skillful swimmer. However, no one knew that swimming finally saved his life. When Pi and Richard Parker experienced the huge storm in the sea, Pi said,“ This time the bow vanished underwater.I was shocked and chilled and scared witless. I barely managed to hold on. The boat was swamped.”(Matel 285). This quote vividly described the dangerous situation. At that moment, the boat was entirely underwater, if Pi didn’t know how to swim, he even didn’t have the possibility to survive in such a swimming-rely condition. As a result, Pi’s success in survival was based on his masterly swimming

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