In the film *Life of Pi* (2012), the main character, **Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel**, has a primary goal that is both literal and spiritual: **survival and the preservation of his humanity through faith.**
### **The Main Character's Goal**
* **Literal Goal (Physical Survival):** Following the sinking of the freighter *Tsimtsum*, Pi’s immediate goal is to stay alive while adrift in a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean. This includes finding food and water, navigating the elements, and avoiding being killed by the 450-pound Bengal tiger, Richard Parker.
* **Spiritual/Existential Goal (Finding Meaning):** As a boy who simultaneously practiced Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, Pi’s deeper goal is to "find God" and maintain his faith despite immense suffering. He seeks to make sense of the tragedy that took his family and to ensure that his ordeal does not turn him into a "beast" (a theme explored through the film's "two stories" ending).
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### **Specific Obstacles**
#### **1. Physical and Environmental Obstacles**
* **The Pacific Ocean:** Pi is stranded for **227 days**. He faces extreme weather, including a massive storm that destroys his initial raft and supplies, and the relentless heat of the tropical sun which leads to severe dehydration and "saltwater boils."
* **Starvation and Dehydration:** Pi begins the journey with a limited supply of biscuits and canned water. Once these run out, he must learn to catch fish and sea turtles and harvest rainwater. This is a specific obstacle because Pi was raised as a strict vegetarian, making the act of killing and eating raw flesh a significant hurdle.
* **Richard Parker (The Tiger):** Initially, the tiger is Pi's greatest threat. To survive, Pi must build a separate raft to keep distance and eventually "tame" the animal by establishing himself as the alpha through training (using a whistle and fish as rewards).
* **The Carnivorous Island:** Pi discovers a floating island of seaweed and meerkats that appears to be a paradise. However, he faces a hidden obstacle: the island is carnivorous. At night, the freshwater pools turn into **acidic traps** that dissolve everything in them, and the vegetation becomes toxic, forcing Pi back into the uncertainty of the open ocean.
#### **2. Psychological and Emotional Obstacles**
* **Grief and Loneliness:** Pi witnesses the death of his entire family. He describes despair as "a heavy blackness that let no light in or out." The psychological toll of being the sole human survivor is so great that he admits Richard Parker actually helped him survive by giving him a "purpose"—the need to care for and stay alert around the tiger kept him from slipping into a fatal lethargy.
* **The Loss of Innocence:** To survive, Pi is forced to abandon his pacifist and vegetarian principles. The transition from a gentle boy to someone capable of killing a fish or a turtle is a painful psychological barrier.
* **The Threat of Insanity:** During the final stages of his journey, Pi suffers from temporary blindness and hallucinations due to malnutrition. He must fight the "foe even more formidable than a tiger"—the loss of his mind and the will to live.
#### **3. The "Second Story" Obstacles (Human Brutality)**
In the alternative story Pi tells at the end of the film, the "obstacles" are even more harrowing:
* **The Cook:** In this version, the hyena is a cannibalistic cook who kills the sailor (the zebra) and Pi’s mother (the orangutan).
* **His Own Darker Nature:** Pi reveals that "Richard Parker" may actually be a metaphor for his own animalistic survival instinct. In this version, Pi kills the cook in a fit of rage and grief. The obstacle here is the **moral corruption** required to survive a world stripped of civilization and mercy.