Life of Pi Section 3: A Word About Fear

“ ...if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.”

I believe like Pi, that fear is truly one of the greatest, if not the very greatest source of adversity because as we're forced to confront the unknown, the uncertain, the unsafe, we're compelled to acknowledge our limitations as human beings. As Pi ventured from the lifeboat onto the make-shift raft to escape Richard Parker he demonstrated an enormous amount of courage in being able to finally take action to ensure his safety, however, even through that action, the threat of shark attacks and Richard Parker's return still loomed above his head.

But I believe as much as fear is a source of adversity, it's also a source of power. In recognizing one's limitations one can also observe the limitations of others. In Pi's case, Richard Parker was indeed a formidable enemy, however, just as Pi was, Richard was also limited by his circumstances. He faced fear just as Pi faced it. And though this fearfulness didn't necessarily make them equal, it gave Pi a bit of leverage.

Getting back to the quote, I believe Pi realized that his avoidance of Richard Parker would inevitably come to an end, and he'd have to confront him eventually. As the quote says, avoiding fear only makes you vulnerable to future attacks, so in the end we must face our fears (we must overcome our adversities) in order to protect ourselves against vulnerability.