Although the bare essentials to human survival are just food, water, and shelter, there is also other things that humans need. They need spiritual needs like believing in a faith. Or emotional needs like friendships and feelings. In the novel, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Yann gives Pi spiritual, physical, and emotional needs. Pi meets these needs by staying true to his faith. Spiritual is just one of the needs some humans need to survive. Including Pi. Spiritual needs are needs in having a higher power. Pi is part of many religions.
On his journey on the lifeboat, Pi encounters enumerable times when he has to rely on his faith to remain sane. “Despair was heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression. I thank God it has always passed. A school of fish appeared around the net or a knot cried out to be reknotted. Or I thought of my family, of how they were spared this terrible agony. The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving (Martel 209).
In this, Pi thanks God for giving him all that he thinks he needs. He is saying even though I may be going through a horrible situation right now, I still have God as a “shining point of light in my heart”. Pi is still not giving up on God with all that is happening to him. Furthermore, Pi starts to see all of his circumstances are working against him. He shouts to God; ‘With this fish I was retaliating against the sea, against the wind, against the sinking of ships, against all circumstances that were working against me.
“Thank you, Lord Vishnu, thank you! ” I shouted. Once you saved the world by taking the form of a fish. Now you have saved me by taking the form of a fish. Thank you, thank you! ” (Martel 185). With Pi’s faith and believing in God, he comes into realization that God has not given up on him and everything is not working against him like he thought. He does this by believing in his faith and not giving up on the spiritual side of himself. Physical needs include eating, brushing your teeth, having good hygiene, etc, etc. Pi has a lot more physical needs because he is stranded on a boat with a tiger let alone on an deserted island.
On this island Pi comes into a realization that he needs more needs than just basic physical needs like food, water, and shelter. He can’t give up on his faith and his goals which is to make it back to civilization. “By the time morning came, my grim decision was taken. I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this murderous island” (Martel 282-283). Pi believes that living a life where all of his physical needs are met is not good enough.
He needs to keep the spiritual side of himself and staying on the island will do nothing but kill it. Pi would be giving up on his God if he stays on the island so, he has to rely on faith to do what’s best for him. Next, Pi believes that all of his physical needs are met but maybe not other things. “Nothing, I thought, could ever push me to return to the lifeboat and to the suffering and deprivation I had endured on it-nothing! What reason could I have to leave the island? Were my physical needs not met here? Was there not more freshwater than I could drink in all my lifetime?
More algae than I could eat? And when I yearned for variety, more meerkats and fish than I could ever desire? If the island floated and moved, might it not move in the right direction? Might it not turn out to be a vegetable ship that brought me to land? In the meantime, did I not have these delightful meerkats to keep me company? And wasn’t Richard Parker still in need of improving his fourth jump? The thought of leaving the island had not crossed my mind once since I had arrived. It had been many weeks now-couldn’t say how many exactly-and they would stretch on.
I was certain about that” (Martel 279). Pi starts to question his presence at this island. He knows that he is on the island for all the wrong reasons. He came to this island hoping that it would be just like civilization but it’s not. He would have all the bare essentials that he needs to survive but he doesn’t have what he really wants which is his spiritual side and he would losing that if he was to stay. Lastly, Pi has a lot of emotional needs just like anybody else. Pi sees Richard Parker as a companion and not an enemy.
So, an emotional need of Pi is companionship and having a sense of purpose. It was Richard Parker who calmed me down. It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare even say wholeness” (Martel 162). With this said, although Richard Parker may be the one that scared him witless the whole entire time, it kept him alert and gave him a purpose to keep living and stay true to his goals and faith. Next, Pi also needs something to keep his mind busy and sane. So, he creates a schedule. “I kept myself busy. That was one key to my survival.
On a lifeboat, even on a raft, there’s always something that needs doing” (Martel 190). Every human needs something going on in their head because if not, they would be dead. Pi acknowledges that and creates a schedule for himself to keep him busy and sane. This goes along with the sense of purpose and not giving up on what he set himself to do. In conclusion, Pi has all of his emotional, physical, and spiritual needs met by staying true to God and his faith. Although Pi may have some trouble meeting these needs at points, he remembers the reason that he is staying alive and he believes that is because of God.
