Survival of the fittest

Or social darwinism as it is more accurately called, "Survival of the fittest" is seen regularly in literature as a metaphor for life and a way of viewing the world. Many authors especially and people throughout the world refer to social darwinism in many aspects of life: the best football team will make it through the season undefeated; the best suited male will find the best suited female, and they will live happily ever after - defeating all other lesser opponents in the process; the stronger child will get the toy from the smaller child; and the list goes on. Social darwinism is a view the world has received of how nature, animals, and the world survives, literally and metaphorically.

In Yann Martel's novel, Life of Pi, this underlying theme of the book comes out strong in it's effect. Young Pi Patel, an extremely observant and widely religious young man, was the son of a zookeeper; he constantly observed the animals and their tendencies. Very abruptly, however, his parents packed up the family and the zoo to make for Canada to escape the ever increasing political unrest in their country. When their ship sank, and Pi found himself in a lifeboat with a nearly dead zebra, a ferocious hyena, a courageous orangutan, and a threatening bengal tiger named Richard Parker, "survival of the fittest" or social darwinism played out spectacularly. Martel intrigues his audience with his view of social darwinism in this setting - a young boy with a number of deadly animals on a lifeboat in the middle of the pacific ocean. It may surprise you at the end to find out how the boy fared.