How Can Restrictions be Liberating?

In my own personal opinion all restrictions can be liberating in a way, consciously or unconsciously, because they can take the question and the choices out of certain situations. At the zoo the animals may be in captivity, but the choices about food, housing, water, ect.. have been taken out of their lives which liberates them from those questions and/ or problems in their everyday life. This is, in my opinion, why the bear that escapes comes back to the zoo after a little while. The bear cannot survive regular life in the wild anymore because as a result of being liberated from those choices they have been forced to accept a certain life style.

Later in the book when Pi is on the lifeboat he has his own liberation. To sum it up quickly he is liberated from his religions. After an extended time on the lifeboat he decides that god has left him and he is suddenly liberated from all the beliefs and rules of religion. He no longer has to follow the specific and concrete guidelines and is open to believe what he wants to.