Student Question
What are some examples of the motif of morality in Life of Pi?
Quick answer:
In Life of Pi, the motif of morality is explored through Pi's struggle between his religious beliefs and survival instincts. Initially a vegetarian due to moral and religious reasons, Pi is forced to compromise his values to survive, killing and eating animals, and even humans. His journey reflects the tension between cultural relativism and divine command theory. Pi's actions illustrate the complex interplay between human morality and animal instinct under extreme circumstances.
Life of Pican be read as the conflict between human morality and animal instinct under desperate circumstances. At its core, it is a story of survival and what toll that survival might have on human morality.
Much is made of Pi's vegetarianism. For religious, cultural, and moral reasons, Pi does not eat meat, yet when faced with starvation, the need to survive triumphs over any qualms he might have about eating meat.
You may be astonished that in such a short period of time I could go from weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish to gleefully bludgeoning to death a dorado. I could explain it by arguing that profiting from a pitiful flying fish's navigational mistake made me shy and sorrowful, while the excitement of actively capturing a great dorado made me sanguinary and self-assured. But in point of fact the explanation lies elsewhere. It is...
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simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even killing.
This is a good quotation showing the evolution of Pi's morality. When he was first shipwrecked, the idea of killing even a fish drove him to tears, but very quickly, he learns he must kill to survive. Later, we have accounts of him relishing drinking turtle's blood and even eating human flesh.
The physical needs of the human body, from feeding to defecation, are portrayed in an animalistic fashion. However, there is one instance where Pi is talking about water and the pure, unadulterated joy of slaking his thirst:
I tell you, to be drunk on alcohol is disgraceful, but to be drunk on water is noble and ecstatic.
Fulfilling the animal requirement of hydration in this instance is elevated to something glorious, almost religious in its experience. Pi notes that being drunk on alcohol is immoral but to be drunk on water, in the process of tending the body's needs, is a good, moral, and even noble thing.
The brutality of survival under such circumstances is summed up in chapter 90 with this quote:
This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one. He ripped the flesh off the man's frame and cracked his bones. The smell of blood filled my nose. Something in me died then that has never come back to life.
Pi survives but at the expense of human life. This quote must be viewed alongside Pi's second story, where it is Pi himself, not Richard Parker, who commits murder. Murder is held in most cultures as the ultimate transgression. There is a part of Pi that will never recover from this, even though it happened due to a direct threat on his life and under unimaginable circumstances. Here, Richard Parker can be seen as the ultimate triumph of animal survivor instinct over human morality.
What are important quotes related to themes in part one of Life of Pi?
In part one of Life of Pi there are two themes. The first theme is Pi's belief in God. This belief is not a straight line, with hard facts and childish stories to prove those facts, but rather a winding road. Pi sees religion as light in the world and a path to follow.
"Religion will save us," I said. Since when I could remember, religions had always been close to my heart.
"Religion?" Mr. Kumar grinned broadly. "I don't believe in religion. Religion is darkness."
Darkness? I was puzzled. I thought, Darkness is the last thing that religion is. Religion is light. Was he testing me? Was he saying, "Religion is darkness," the way he sometimes said in class things like "Mammals lay eggs," to see if someone would correct him? ("Only platypuses, sir.") (1.7.9-11)
However he doesn't see one religion as the source of light but finds peace in several. For those in his life that question religion, who find it restrictive he says
I don't mean to defend zoos. Close them all down if you want (and let us hope that what wildlife remains can survive in what is left of the natural world). I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both. (1.4.14).
What Pi means is, you may find zoos and religion restrictive, but do the animals worry about being hunted when safely in a zoo? And do people fret about life and meaning when safely within a religion? There is peace in God.
The second theme in part one is innocence. He has yet to experience the true harshness the world has. His belief in God is not yet tested. Part two of this book will shift his thinking and take his innocence.
What moral theories apply to Life of Pi?
Morality is a system by which people determine right and wrong behavior. A moral theory explains why a certain behavior is right or wrong, and moral theories are absolutely applicable to the book Life of Pi. As a character, Pi even shows us which moral theories he does not adhere to. For example, Pi does not believe in moral subjectivism—that is, he doesn't believe that he is the ultimate authority on what is right and what is wrong—and that is indicated through how he tries to incorporate so many religious beliefs and behaviors into his life. This then describes Pi as a cultural relativist: right and wrong, for him, are determined by a specific set of cultural rules. The culture around him happens to be quite religious, so it is possible to discuss "Divine Command Theory," as it relates to morality and moral theory, as applicable to this story. This moral theory hinges on behavior being right or wrong according to the commands of a divine entity.
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