Ecological Study of Life of Pi

【Abstract】This thesis will consist of anthropocentrism， Ecological holism. Through emphasizing the relationship between human beings and other things on earth， the writer wants to standardize human’s behavior to the nature and call on all of us to build up our ecological awareness in order to return to the harmonious environment.

【Key words】ecology； Life of Pi； anthropocentrism； Ecological holism

1. Brief Introduction

1.1 Introduction of Life of Pi

Life of Pi shows us a totally new adventure story about ecology： The owner of an Indian private zoo moved to Canada with his family traveling by a Japanese freighter. Unfortunately， they suffered from storm at sea. The son of the owner， Pi Patel， a 16-year-old boy， kept each other alive with a Bengal tiger， Richard Park， for 227 days on the Pacific. It must be said that it was a miracle. In this story， we can see many different themes， adventure， existence， belief and so on. And the core is that human（Pi） and the beast （Richard） living together. From the perspective of ecological criticism， this novel is narrated around natural ecology， we can also say it’s about the relationship between human beings and nature.

1.2 Introduction of ecocriticism

Ecocriticism is the study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary point of view， where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature. Some ecocritics brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation， though not all ecocritics agree on the purpose， methodology， or scope of ecocriticism.

2.The Analysis of Life of Pi in the perspective of ecocriticism

2.1 Anthropocentrism

In the storm， Pi threw a life buoy to Richard to save it when he saw it. We had known that Pi is a boy who grew up in a zoo in the first part of the novel. Thus we know he loves animals and he is familiar with the habit of them. Therefore， this action of Pi came naturally during the process of setting up the close and equal relationship with animals.However， when the distance between Richard and his lifeboat is closer and closer， he changed his mind. He used one of the oars to beat Richard’ s head. He thought of the lesson his father gave him. In order to let Pi be aware of the violence of tigers， his father threw a goat to a tiger and the result you can infer then. Richard was successful to get up the boat， at the same time， Pi jumped to the sea. In order to preserve his own life， he made a raft for himself and linked it to the lifeboat. Before he came up with a perfect idea， Pi chose to drifted with Richard a certain time.

From the first part， we can know that Pi became the believer of Hinduism， Christianism and Islam. So when he and Richard looked each other， his mind was full of curiosity with respect. He can see sign of God from Richard’s eyes. As Kant said， “There are two things that fill my mind with ever increasing admiration and awe：the starry sky above me and the moral low within me.” Life must be the third thing that we should admire. With this kind of respect， Pi found out his own location in the university， and succeeded to escape from the mirotic of anthropocentrism， give up the idea of killing Richard. Pi not only saved this Bengal tiger， but also finished to make human beings and natural beings equal， like “a spiritual cleansing”.

2.2 Ecological holism

In this novel， the relationship between human beings and natural beings has been changing according to Pi’s attitude towards animals and nature. Finally， just Pi and Richard saved in the lifeboat. So they set up a relationship to compete and defense each other， in order to gain the limited area， food， water even life of the other.

However， if Pi kept alert and was taking precautions against Richard， he must be exhausted but cannot get survived. Pi realized that he should regard Richard as the equal species to himself and meet his demands. And he must measure every actions and strategies that may impact his being survived from the benefit of ecological unity. Due to Pi’s final idea that he was aware of the equal relationship between human and nature， he returned and get harmonious with nature finally.

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