Society is notorious for placing everyone and everything in roles that, if or when the assigned role is changed, all hell breaks loose. Through Freud's theory, he explains the behaviors associated with the id, ego and superego. Given that Pi was someone who had been relatively well off before embarking on his trip to Canada, then thrust into a new storyline that involves him becoming a starving survivor of a shipwreck stuck in a boat with a tiger threatening to eat. him, we see that Freud's theory is on display. Observing the events that unfold throughout Yann Martel's Life of Pi, we see that he creates an impressive relationship between Freud's theory of the id, ego and superego and Pi's mental facade while using a paradox within specific animals, as well as its effort to survive. According to Sigmund Freud, the id is made up of two different types of biological instincts which are classified as Eros and Thanatos. Eros is the life instinct that helps people survive by directing the activities that sustain life. Some examples of these activities would be breathing, eating, and sex. These life instincts are known to give people an energy called libido. Thanatos is the opposite of Eros; it is the death instinct. The death drive is considered to be the destructive forces that exist within every person. It is a form of energy that manifests as aggression and violence towards others. Sigmund Freud believed that Thanatos was not as strong as Eros because people were able to survive instead of destroying themselves (McLeod). These two elements are displayed throughout Yann Martel's Life of Pi and help create the story. Eros is shown when the hyena eats the zebra's broken left...... middle of paper ...... eating the zebra alive in chapter 45. Another example of Thanatos is shown when the hyena makes a hole in the zebra and that Pi feels a feeling of hatred towards the hyena for hurting the zebra and even considers attacking it. A division of identity and ego is also shown between Pi and Richard Parker by showing Richard Parker as an imaginary tiger created by Pi in order to keep him alive and focused on staying alive. Pi eventually abandons his superego and begins eating meat, although he was strictly vegetarian before getting lost at sea. Throughout Yann Martel's Life of Pi, the story relates to Freud's theories in several ways which are made manifestly obvious; these relationships are what make this story come together to keep the reader engaged and interested.Works CitedMartel, Yann. Life of Pi: a novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.