Pi has conversations with the reader about the behavior of animals in captivity, which brings up a discussion of freedom in the natural world. Pi asserts that an animal in the zoo is as "free" as an animal in the wild, because it treats its artificial habitat the same way that it treats its natural one. In either situation it creates a territory that it calls home, and it's fine unless the new conditions are too foreign for it to process. It doesn't have a desire to explore or wander if it has a stable home. In arguing this, Pi cites numerous cases of animals escaping from the zoo and not really going anywhere, or staying when allowed to escape. In fact, he says, animals are more free in zoos, because they can do what they want without fear of predators.
Pi also discusses how animals are narrowly "programmed" for survival, so that they cannot handle situations drastically different from their usual surroundings. The hyena, for example, upon realizing it's on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean, goes haywire and starts running around madly in circles. This is why zookeepers have to create a familiar habitat for animals--so they can comprehend what's going on around them.
Do these laws of nature apply to humans too? Are we really happy if we're confined in a comfortable environment? Pi presents one example, where he argues that evicting people from their houses and telling them to leave town does not make them happy. However, people certainly have a desire to explore things and make choices--and they're much more adaptable than other animals, as evidenced by Pi's survival on the life raft.
No comments:
Post a Comment