Psychological Reactions
Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a story about courage and survival. A young boy, Pi Patel, and his family decide to move their zoo from India to Canada. On their way to Canada Pi is woken by a loud boom. When he gets up to see what it is he realizes that part of the ship is higher than the other. As he tries to go get his parents he sees that the stairs from which he came are covered with water. Soon he finds some workers on the ship and they throw him overboard onto a lifeboat. Soon after he lands a zebra falls beside him. As he watches the ship sink he spots Richard Parker, a 400-pound Bengal tiger treading water. Without thinking he calls to Richard Parker and gets him into the boat. Soon he finds out this is a problem. Pi is now stuck on a lifeboat with a huge Bengal tiger, a zebra, a hyena and an orangutan. Throughout the novel Pi experiences many reactions to what has happened to him such as fear, anger, frustration, loneliness, and boredom.
At first, fear is the only thing Pi feels. The only company he has, after the course of a few weeks, is Richard Parker, whom he is stuck in a tiny lifeboat with. He has lost his whole family and does not know when he will be saved. Fear overpowers Pi for the longest time. He is afraid that Richard Parker might try to kill him. He is afraid of never finding his family again and most of all he is afraid he is going to die. The fact that he is in the middle of the ocean with nothing but a tiger, a lifeboat and a few needed supplies terrifies him. Pi watches the horizon for several weeks hoping he will see a ship but it never comes. By the time he realizes he should do something to try to survive he is near death. Somehow he overcomes his fear and moves on.
The Essay on Fear In "Native Son" By Richard Wright
In Richard Wright’s “Native Son”, emotions are a very important element, especially that of fear. Blacks are afraid of whites, whites are afraid of blacks, women are afraid of men, and everyone is afraid of communists. In the novel, however, no fear is as important as the fears that Bigger Thomas feels. If it weren’t for fear, nothing would happen in the novel. Fear is a ...
After awhile Pi’s fear turns into anger and frustration. He becomes angry that he saved Richard Parker. He begins to hate himself for helping him to the boat. Pi also gets extremely frustrated that he is having no success catching fish. Multiple times he throws out his line only to have the bait eaten with nothing on the end. One day a swarm of flying fish comes and the lifeboat is practically full of them. He uses the fish as bait and soon can catch almost anything he wants. After Pi figures out how to keep himself alive and how to stay safe from Richard Parker his anger dissipates.
Once Pi has taught himself everything he needs to survive he becomes bored and lonely. He has all the fish and water he and Richard Parker need stay alive, which leaves nothing else to be done. He has no way of amusing himself, his body is badly burned from the sun and callused from the ocean, and the only thing he has to do is sit and feel the pain surging through him. If it weren’t for Richard Parker Pi would not have survived. He would have gone crazy because of the loneliness he felt from being by himself in the middle of an ocean. Pi often spoke to Richard Parker as if he were another human being. This was because he had no one else, only the soft sway of the waves and the light breeze on his face.
Pi Patel was extremely courageous throughout the story. Although he was scared at times he pushed through it. He also worked through his anger at Richard Parker and at his inability to catch fish. And he made it through the extreme loneliness he felt. Psychological reactions happen often when a person is put in a situation such as Pi’s. Sometimes the person can make it through and overcome what happens and other times they cannot. Pi’s courage and bravery is what helped him overcome these reactions and saved his life.
