LIFE OF PI: The Psychology behind the Mystery of Co-existence of Divine vs Nature
Based on Yann Martel’s Book
The movie breaks down barriers of religion, morality, mysticism, culture, etiquette, etc. As humans and as a human being myself, who likes to engage with other people, dislikes isolation (with exceptions included, like when I need a break); I felt that dark cloud of loneliness and fear form over me just as the protagonist, Pi, feels, while sailing on the high tides on a mere lifeboat with only the Great Bengal Tiger as his living neighbour, on the wide Indian Ocean. It is said the movie is based on Yann Martel’s story, which is inspired by real life events. Hence, to imagine and even know, that an actual person somewhere out there still fought for his own survival on a lifeboat surrounded by the vast unknown ocean of life, with all its terror and serenity, and to acknowledge your own fears- here, his threat was the man-eating Tiger that could eat him anytime but didn’t because it was being fed by Pi with other substitute resources such as fish when Pi had to sacrifice his vegetarian belief to feed its hunger. Pi feels remorse over conflicting interest of survival (id) versus morality (superego).
Like I said, the movie raises the importance of social constructs like religion, morality by deconstructing them. For instance, Pi is shocked to see that the man-eating Bengal tiger with whom he as a human had developed an emotional bond, doesn’t express gratitude, inherently a human sentiment towards Pi. This conflicts with his moral interests (and mine too), and hereby I realized that half of simple things or situations in life rather become complex due to how we (Pi) perceive them, which may not be even same for another living organism, much less another human being of probably a different culture or upbringing in real life (the Tiger in the movie). The movie shows me one of life-hacks to win the game of life- that sure, it is okay to rely on religion, culture, and morality to seek comfort from the harsh reality of life. It is okay to be vulnerable but to also have a realistic picture and let your judgement be decided by nature. After all, humans invented morality and religion. But the natural order has always prevailed much before man discovered fire or invented the wheel.
Another important aspect of this film affected me personally, is hope. And hope is the one strong binding force between the natural world and man-made world. Morality or the ability to differentiate between right and wrong may feel human, believing in God- a personification of hope among humans, is just one of the many methods to survive life.
But Nature, which feels like life itself to me, where not everyone is raised the same way, or believes in the same things still coexist and our own perceptions can both make or break life. This way, my psyche felt at peace, for the longing sense of belonging. At one point in time, I doubted myself for my wavering faith in God like a spectrum. However, after seeing this movie, I realized that my own choices in what I believe or not believe, can either make life more bearable to deal with and at the same time magnify the unpleasantness of a bad situation in life. I realized that there’s no rigid path to believe in something.
I can be a theist if I am going through an unpleasant situation in life and I can be an atheist if I feel my principles of morality might differ from somebody else’s and I cannot let that cloud my judgement especially if certain situations need a rational and practical mind to deal with. Sometimes, it may cross our moral interests or the popular saying- ‘hate our guts’ but the rational reality wins over. Just like in the movie, Pi hates his guts for acting quick and unable to save his drowning family, in an attempt to save himself. We all have to save ourselves first, because Nature existed long before our definitions of right and wrong did, and it only recognizes survival of the fittest. That’s what the Tiger symbolizes.
This can be related with the film’s climax when Pi at first, feels betrayed that the Tiger did not look past at him but just leapt onto the shore and went ahead, while he was stranded ashore. This was because, after a lifetime’s journey, Pi had looked at the tiger, his worst fear- it being a man-eating predator to a symbol of companionship, because Pi relied on religion to cope with loneliness, uncertainty and anxiety of whether he will reach a shore sooner or not, or would the Bengal Tiger eat him up, after devouring the other animals that Pi had carried on his lifeboat hoping to fulfill his late father’s promise to set up the family zoo in Canada.
In addition, Pi had lost his parents and sibling and was in a state of shock, that his mind was desperate to cling on to the next best thing where he felt he could belong- religion. That fuelled him some hope, which we also need to fight oceans of life throwing tides of uncertainty at us. But, he (and me) also realized he had to keep a rational head and empathise with the Tiger, who knew no human emotions and simply followed instincts. By not analyzing order of nature, Pi did not eventually disappoint himself. A right balance between these two can be the best way to live peacefully without getting hurt. The movie also highlights when individualism and when communal harmony is best fit for oneself.
My life is also like the ocean. There are going to be good days (calm sea with starry skies) or bad days (violent storms and tidal crashes). Sometimes it’s not ‘reality check’ or ‘belief in God’ that drives us, sometimes it is our OWN inner strength- a balance of both, fuels our survival, just like Pi, who made it ashore on the Western coast of Canada all the way from Pondicherry on a lifeboat, using Nature’s gift- intelligence to avoid being eaten by the Tiger and respecting ecosystem, and his personal inner gift- his religious upbringing. It also kept telling me that one cannot be fearless, it is human nature to fear. It is only about making the best use of that fear or ‘conquering’ in popular language.
After all, there’s no right or wrong answer as to how to survive.
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