Sense of Survival

"All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive." (p.41) During the first section of the novel The Life of Pi, the idea of survival on your own is displayed through animals escaping the only life they know, life in the zoo. Many think that zoo animals are blood-thirsty and crave human flesh, when the animals are the opposite of that. The animals don't always escape so they have the chance to run free and attack, but to escape from something. In the novel, Pi tells a story of a black leopard escaped the zoo, and wasn't found for ten weeks; how can a huge animal walk around a city, stay hidden, and not attack any human, for ten weeks? The answer is that everything has common sense and a sense of survival. When a young adult leaves their home and family to experience the journey of college, they may have some doubts of how they will make it through, but they always return with stories of success. Most students try to make their new home seem like their old room to have a sense of safety and familiarity; they don't want to leave the life they have always known, lived, and loved. Just like the black leopard, college students find a way to live a normal and safe life. Not everyone wants to leave their life, but little do they know, everyone has the sense of survival to make it on their own.