Theme of Survival
The theme of survival is employed in several works of literature, and its importance cannot be overlooked. Organisms always find ways to overcome challenges brought about by the waves and turbulences of life through survival. Survival presents the ability to adapt and change to fit in the circumstances that cannot be changed. Characters in different works are seen to go to unlimited lengths in a bid to survive the challenges that come in their ways. Survival involves recognizing the strength that one has and utilizing it for the sake of remaining alive and functional. The theme of survival is evident in both “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel and “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. Yann Martel uses Pi to address the importance of fighting for surviving by showing the determination of Pi to hold on even after the boat had broken down. Pi is inspired by the animals that are present in the lifeboat since they are all determined to survive, and thus, Pi does not give up. On the other hand, Cormac McCarthy presents a protagonist who is determined to survive in a hellish society with the determination of carrying the fire, which is used symbolically to represent the determination to hold on to hope. The theme of survival dominates the stories “Life of Pi” and “The Road” and has been built by the use of characters that hold on to hope in circumstances that would have called for surrender.
“Life of Pi” is set around the theme of survival with the protagonist, Piscine Molitor Patel, commonly referred to as Pi being determined to survive. Life of Pi is based on the story of a Hindu boy, Pi, who starts a journey to Canada with his relatives and their zoo animals (Martel, 2009). However, their boat capsizes in the middle of the journey leaving Pi in a lifeboat with the animals. The mentality of survival is instilled on Pi by his father several years before the journey to Canada. Pi’s father owned a zoo and had to deal with Pi’s relationship with the animals. Pi’s father used to caution Pi against playing with the animals because animals were naturally dangerous and would not hesitate to fight whenever they felt threatened: “Every animal is ferocious and dangerous” Martel (41). Therefore, Pi grew knowing that one strategy of survival for the animals was to put up a fight whenever a threat appeared. The determination of Pi’s father to keep Pi safe showed that organisms are not only interested in surviving alone but are also interested in helping other organisms to survive as well.
“The Road” presents the story of an unnamed man who is constantly struggling in a region that is said to be living in a post-apocalyptic era. A disaster has occurred in the area, and the remaining human beings have turned into cannibals, and the man has a son to protect and survive through their journey towards the south, which is presented as the land of hope (McCarthy, 2009). The man keeps going with the hope of finding a better place where his son would find peace and be as far as possible from the cannibals. The woman in the story presents a section of organisms that do not have the determination to survive and prefer giving up. In most occasions, the woman had kept convincing the man that death was more peaceful than leaving in the post-apocalyptic era. However, the man knew that he had the responsibility to take care of the boy and that survival was the only option despite the hardships that were on the road. The road to the south has been used symbolically to represent the journey towards success after surviving the challenges met on the way. Generally, the fight for survival by the man is inspired by the determination to save the boy’s life, and the man uses ‘fire’ as the motivation to keep the boy going.
Pi’s father is interested in saving the life of Pi from accidents that may happen near the animals but ends up training Pi on the different methods of survival. One day, Pi’s father decides to show Pi the seriousness of the warnings he had been giving him. Pi’s father had not been convinced that Pi was taking heed of the advice given by his father of not being comfortable around animals. Pi’s father takes Pi and his brother to the big cat’s section where the lesson is to be taught by a tiger. The bid Bengal tiger has been kept hungry for two days and Pi’s father knows that the tiger will do anything at its reach to survive. Pi’s father throws a live goat inside the tiger’s house and lets pi and his brother see what the tiger was capable of doing. The speed and cruelty with which the tiger devoured the goat was a lesson to Pi and his brother Lavi that animals can be dangerous and deadly at sometimes and that caution must be taken whenever handling animals. The lessons taught to Pi by his father were useful in training Pi on the methods of survival and the different precautions that need to be taken to survive any situation.
As seen in “The Road,” survival is always a difficult choice to make, and a survivor has to create justification to survive. The lack of a justifiable reason to survive may lead an individual to give up before achieving the goals of success. The man in the story first appears to have lost the reason to survive. However, the man creates goals that include using the road that ended south. The choice of the road ending south was based on the belief that some ‘good guys’ existed in the south and that moving south was reasonable.
Additionally, the man adds the love for the boy to the justifications as to why giving up was not a reason. The area was full of men who had turned into cannibals, and the boy needed his father to survive: “He [The Man] knew only that the child was his warrant” McCarthy. Therefore, the man had enough reasons to keep fighting towards the end (Kunsa, 2016). The journey to the south by the man continues until he is certain that the boy was finally safe, and he would continue with the journey towards the south. Also, the man had to be strong to fight the desire to die the dreams of a peaceful place brought that upon death. The dreams represented the complications that come along in the journey to survive. The man was constantly tempted to quit due to the promise of peace that the dreams used to present. At some point, the man did not want to open his eyes because he was afraid of the reality of the situation.
The desire for survival leaves organisms in a dilemma. The story of Pi shows the extent to which organisms will go in a bid to secure their survival. Pi and his relatives embark on a journey to Canada together with their zoo animals. Accidentally, the boat capsizes, and Pi is left to survive in a lifeboat that has a hyena (Tian, 2018). The lessons that Pi’s father had taught him back home proved helpful because Pi did not take chances to remain in the same lifeboat with the hungry hyena. However, Pi was later surprised to learn later that the encounter with the hyena had been planned by other crew members who had set Pi as bait for the hyena so that the crew members would be saved in their lifeboat: “They [crew] were using me as a bait… somehow to get rid of the hyena” Martel (121). Such extents by human beings to sacrifice one of their own to buy their survival had not been known to Pi. However, Pi learned the lesson and fortunately succeeded to get into another lifeboat that had a blind man in it. The survival-for –the-fittest battle continued in the second lifeboat as the blind man attempted to kill Pi and eat him for his survival. The experience was horrifying because Pi had not believed that human beings would go to such extend to fight for survival. Pi pleads with the blind man not to kill him, but the man appears to have made up his mind and starts moving towards Pi. However, Pi is lucky to have a friend tiger that comes to the rescue of Pi and kills the blind man. Generally, organisms will go to any extent to secure their survival even if the survival involves sacrificing other organisms.
The determination to survive helps individuals to give up decisions that would have remained haunting. In “The Road,” the man had initially thought of killing the boy and turning into a cannibal like the other men in the area: “When he woke in the woods… he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him” McCarthy. However, the man was overwhelmed by the love for the boy and decided to fight for the boy’s survival instead (Church, 2017). The story shows the extent to which individuals may sacrifice their desire for survival to help others. Also, the man knew that the boy had the potential to live longer if he survived and managed to get to the south, and thus he was worth saving. The man’s action proved that even in the middle of the survival crisis, common sense prevails. The man goes through difficult situations that included killing other men who would have killed the boy. The man finally dies but has succeeded in letting the boy to survive and passes the fire to the boy. The fire motivates the boy to keep moving and fight as much as his father would have fought.
The theme of survival has been developed in both “The Road” and “Life of Pi.” Both stories present the extents to which individuals go while trying to survive. For example, both stories present cases of human beings turning into cannibals in a bid to survive by eating fellow human beings. The development of the theme of survival is aimed at showing how human beings show their animal nature when circumstances appear compelling. In the “Life of Pi,” the blind man has lost his humanity and is ready to do whatever it takes to survive. Pi’s entry into the lifeboat presents a chance for the blind man to kill him for food. However, Pi is lucky that a tiger intervenes in time to save Pi’s life. Also, the crew members have decided to sacrifice Pi’s life to secure their life in the lifeboat. In the story of “The Road,” the people have turned into cannibals after the incident. The man is also disturbed by thoughts of killing his son, although his humanity appears to be strong. Therefore, the development of the theme of survival appears similar in both texts.
The stories in “Life of Pi” and “The Road” have significant differences as well in the presentation of the theme of survival. In “Life of Pie,” survival is presented as a situation that does not give an individual a choice. Men are portrayed as another breed of animals that needs saving from cannibalism. For example, the blind man cannot trace his humanity and is determined to kill Pi for food. The tiger is viewed as a savior despite being an animal. On the other hand, the theme of survival in “The Road” is presented as a choice that can be controlled. The man in the story does give in to the desire of killing his son. The man chooses to help his son to survive instead of killing him.
In sum, the theme of survival is evident in both “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel and “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy. Both stories present the extents to which individuals go while trying to survive. For example, both stories present cases of human beings turning into cannibals in a bid to survive by eating fellow human beings. However, the stories in “Life of Pi” and “The Road” have significant differences as well in the presentation of the theme of survival.
References
Church, R. (2017). McCarthy’s The Road. Reflexiones críticas sobre ficción especula tiva, 21.
Kunsa, A. (2016). “Maps of the World in Its Becoming”: Post-Apocalyptic Naming in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Journal of Modern Literature, 33(1), 57-74.
Martel, Y. (2009). Life of pi. Canongate Books.
McCarthy, C. (2009). The road. Pan Macmillan.
Tian, J. (2018). Postcolonial Metaphor of Name Change in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, 31(1), 61-63.