Everyone wants to survive, whether it means fighting in a battle or searching for water in a desert. The novel, Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel tells a story about a boy named Pi and a Royal Bengal tiger, Richard Parker, who fight for survival on a lifeboat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Throughout the story, many characters show their desire to survive where their life is in their hands and the actions they take are crucial. When the ship, Tsimtsum, sinks, Pi is thrown off the ship into a lifeboat forty feet down and is aboard with 4 other animals: the zebra, the orangutan, the hyena, and the tiger. After the zebra breaks its leg from the fall, the hyena attacks the zebra. It battles to stay alive even with the severe injuries and wounds. Also, Orange Juice, the gentle orangutan, shows that it wants to survive when it fights violently against the hyena to protect herself from the hyena. Even the tiger, Richard Parker shows that it wants to survive when it is thrown into the water and swims to the lifeboat in order to live. In order to live, you need to eat. Pi was a dedicated vegetarian his whole life, but he needs to change that in order not to starve and die. At first when he catches fish, he hesitates to kill it and cries. However, as time goes on, Pi can now kill as many fish as he wants without feeling guilty. Then he starts to drink turtle blood, skin birds, and eat eyes and brains. Pi soon realizes that his immediate threat was Richard Parker and trains him.