Extreme environments are places where “normal” life finds it hard or impossible to survive. To survive in an extreme environment you need intelligence and the will to survive. In “The Story of Keesh” by Jack London Keesh kills polar bears to survive because he gets little food from the tribe. He does this by using his brains instead of brute force. In the “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel, Pi uses his brains to access food and water. In these two stories Pi and Keesh both use survival skills to survive in their extreme environments. In “The Story of Keesh” by Jack London Keesh uses whale bone covered in meat to injure the polar bears that he hunts and then he would finish the polar bear with his spear. For example in paragraph 65 the author states “ The bear swallows the round ball, the blubber melts , the bear gets sick, and when the bear is very sick, why, you kill him with a spear.” This shows how Keesh uses “head craft” rather than his strength to kill the polar bear.
This relates to extreme environments because Keesh uses his own intelligence and survival skills to gain meat and survive in his extreme environment. In the “Life of Pi” Pi uses his brain to find water and food without getting attacked by Richard Parker. Pi also uses his brains to open the of water he found when there wasn’t a can opener so instead he used the tarpaulin hooks that where on the boat. For example on paragraph 38 the author states “I had a can—surely I had a can opener? I looked in the locker. There was a great quantity of thing. I rummaged about. I was losing patience.” Then he thought of the idea of using the tarpaulin hooks. If he had not thought of doing this he would have died of thirst because he would not have thought of a way to open the can.
The Term Paper on Adaptation of Organisms to Extreme Environment
In order to cope with extreme environmental conditions microbes, plants as well as animals have developed the ability to adapt and metabolize under harsh environmental conditions. The process by which plant and animal changes in order to fit in to its environment are called adaptation. It may occur in any area, from internal structure to locomotion (“Science & Nature: Animals,” 2007). Every ...
After Pi had become “drunk on water” he decided that he was hungry so he got a carton of food to eat. Not only did Pi survive because of his quick thinking but he also survived because the tiger “Richard Parker” gave him the will to survive. For example on paragraph 49 the author states “He pushes me to go on living… It’s plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story. In conclusion, intelligence and the will to survive is important for you to survive in an extreme environment.
In “The Story of Keesh” Keesh shows intelligence and resourcefulness by using head craft to kill the polar bear instead of brute force. In “The Life of Pi” Pi shows intelligence by opening the can of water with the tarpaulin hooks and he also shows the will to survive by saying that Richard Parker wiled him to live, that he forced Pi to live on and not give up. So in an extreme environment intelligence and the will to survive is important for your survival in an extreme environment.
