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Yann Martel in Life of Pi, utilizes the symbolism of the Id and the Superego to demonstrate the theme that opposites can thrive in coexistence.

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Initially Pi, as the morally driven person he is, rejects Richard Parker and his Id.

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Initially Pi, as the morally driven person he is, rejects Richard Parker and his Id.

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"'I don't want you here, do you understand?'" (99).

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Pi getting his majors mixed up is the author's way of demonstrating how two seemingly opposite things, like the Id and the Superego, can thrive in coexistence.

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Pi getting his majors mixed up is the author's way of demonstrating how two seemingly opposite things, like the Id and the Superego, can thrive in coexistence.

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“Sometimes I get my majors mixed up” (6).

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Older Pi appreciates the growth of his Id as he knows he would have been unable to survive without it.

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Older Pi appreciates the growth of his Id as he knows he would have been unable to survive without it.

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“I had no idea a living being could sustain so much injury and go on living” (3).

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Older Pi recognizes Richard Parker as an essential aspect of his growth as a person.

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Older Pi recognizes Richard Parker as an essential aspect of his growth as a person.

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“Richard Parker has stayed with me” (6).

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Richard Parker mediates Pi's dramatic thinking, similar to how the Id's primitive character pulls the Superego's perfectionism back to reality.

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Richard Parker mediates Pi's dramatic thinking, similar to how the Id's primitive character pulls the Superego's perfectionism back to reality.

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“It was Richard Parker who calmed me down. It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare say even wholeness” (75).

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Pi realizes he needs Richard Parker, the same way the Superego needs the Id, further demonstrating the theme that opposites can thrive in coexistence.

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Pi realizes he needs Richard Parker, the same way the Superego needs the Id, further demonstrating the theme that opposites can thrive in coexistence.

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“It was not a question of him or me, but of him and me. We were, literally and figuratively, in the same boat. We would live—or we would die—together” (164).

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Pi's superego, even with surival in question, is still able to operate in unison with his growing Id.

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Pi's superego, even with surival in question, is still able to operate in unison with his growing Id.

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“At moments of wonder, it is easy to avoid small thinking, and instead to entertain  thoughts that span the universe, that capture both the thunder and the tinkle, thick and thin, near and far” (233).

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Pi feels guilty for killing the fish, representing one's Superego's frustration when one gives into their Id.

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Pi feels guilty for killing the fish, representing one's Superego's frustration when one gives into their Id.

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“weeping over the muffled killing of a flying fish” (233).

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Pi, even when deciding to listen to his Superego, holds onto Richard Parker (his Id); therefore, the Id and the Superego, despite being complete opposites, are able to thrive in coexistence.

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Pi, even when deciding to listen to his Superego, holds onto Richard Parker (his Id); therefore, the Id and the Superego, despite being complete opposites, are able to thrive in coexistence.

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"I could not abandon Richard Parker" (283).

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Pi values Richard Parker, despite the intense behavioral and emotional contrast between them.

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Pi values Richard Parker, despite the intense behavioral and emotional contrast between them.

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“Part of me did not want Richard Parker to die at all because if he died, I would be left alone with despair, a foe more formidable than a tiger ” (164).

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In the psychological struggle to listen to his Id or his Superego, Pi demonstrates the way opposites can coexist.

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In the psychological struggle to listen to his Id or his Superego, Pi demonstrates the way opposites can coexist.

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“I preferred to set off and perish in search of my own kind than to live a lonely half-life of physical comfort and spiritual death on this mysterious island” (283).

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In the beginning stages of Pi's sea voyage, he witnesses a level of barbary and savageness that he initially couldn't comprehend. Pi, an optimistic and naive personality (appositive), is shocked when the hyena kills the zebra. At this point, Pi's Id is revealed. Despite his spiritually experimental and morality driven past, Pi does not despair the zebra. Pi accurately recognizes, "when [his] own life is threatened, [his] sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival" (120). The behavioral switch that occurs in Pi symbolizes a psychological passing of the baton. When survival requirements are met, one's Superego is driving the unconscious part of the mind; (; transiton,) however, the moment surivival becomes uncertain the Id takes over, providing the essential and sometimes primitive qualities necessary for survival (participle). Pi, prior to the tragedy he met at see, was a young, opportunistic boy with a passion for morality and religion. At this time in his life, without any major threats to his life, Pi's superego was able to sprout, grow, and control the majority of Pi's unconscious mind. At sea, Pi changes. His Id given to him at birth, yet realtively dormant for the majority of his childhood, takes over. Throughout the book Pi struggles with doing the thing needed to survive versus taking the morally correct course of action. However in order to survive, Pi's Id grows and evolves, the same way his relationship with Richard Parker evolves. Pi's newfound physical and emotional acceptance for Richard Parker represents the strong psychological correlation between the Superego and the Id. Pi's appreciation for Richard Parker allows Pi to live, pushing him to survive, the same way the contrasting, yet symbiotic behaviors of the Id and the Superego allow one's mind to flourish. Pi and Richard Parker, the Superego and the Id: both pairs seemingly opposite, yet able to thrive in coexistence.