" After the Tsimtsum sank, Pi was trapped in a lifeboat with a tiger, a hyena, a zebra, and an orangutan. With no sign of any other survivors, lasting the night seemed unlikely. Survival is defined as the state or fact of continuing to live, typically in spite of difficult circumstances. Nothing was more important to Pi than surviving: physically, emotionally, and biologically. "You can get used to anything. Isn't that what all the survivors say?" The main reason Pi was able to survive is because he was able to adapt. He had been a vegetarian his entire life, but he was able to kill and eat living things in order to stay alive himself. Pi used every bit of information and tool that was available to him. He used his knowledge about animals that he gained from living in a zoo to deal with his boatmates and the knowledge he gained from the survival manual to learn how to feed himself with his surroundings. Pi remembered that tigers could drink saltwater, and the survival manual taught him he could poke a fish in the eye to paralyze it and that he could drink turtle's blood for water. He used things from the lifeboat to build a raft to distance himself from Richard Parker, the 450-pound tiger he shared living quarters with, and to keep enough drinking water for the two of them. Pi had a daily agenda for each day. He points out that one key to his survival was that he kept himself busy.
"You might think I lost all hope at that point. And I did. As a result, I perked up and felt much better." After his first night, Pi imagined seeing his family. He imagined his brother, Ravi, would tease him and his parents would be happy to see him. At first, the fear of death kept him from doing anything that could prevent death. Then, he accepted that he would die and became fearless. Eventually, Pi accepted that he would not survive unless he had the will to survive. He prayed to the gods of his three religions, and although it is expected for one to be depressed, Pi became grateful for and happy from the small things, such as a solar still full of freshwater.
