Pi Gone Blind Quotes

My agency was pure and miraculous. It conferred power upon me” (Martel 248). To further support Pi’s claim, Pi even provides evidence for why Richard Parker’s reliance on him gave him power: “Proof: I remained alive day after day, week after week. Proof: he did not attack me, even when I was asleep on the tarpaulin. Proof: I am here to tell you this story” (Martel 248). If Pi Patel had not been on that lifeboat with Richard Parker, the chances of survival of the tiger would have been slim. Richard Parker would have eventually died of starvation or dehydration if Pi had not been there taking care of him. Thus, Richard Parker’s reliance on Pi gave Pi power over Richard Parker.

Pi kills a fish for the first time and that experience has changed him. At first, Pi was upset about his actions but sees that one must do what they must to survive. Pi desperately will do whatever is needed in order to survive even if that means doing things he never imagined himself doing.

The tiger that Pi refers to throughout his ordeal is could be perceived as the alter-ego of himself, “The tiger killed the hyena- and the blind Frenchman- just as he killed the cook” (311). While Pi was able to use his imagination to portray a tiger as himself, Richard Parker was never more than an extension of Pi’s imagination. Richard Parker simply symbolized Pi in the real world and could never

The violent outbreak of Richard Parker, along with his silent departure at the end of the novel, portrays how futile it is to try to change a wild animal into a civilized being. Richard Parker seems, at first, to have experienced a spiritual breakthrough and transformation after Pi’s attempt to training. Even in the end, Pi’s ability to survive such a journey with a beastly killer seems evidence enough that Pi trained the tiger. Pi’s main goal, along with survival, is to establish a level of equality between himself

Though Richard Parker proves vital for survival, he also reflects Pi’s character and helps further develop it throughout the novel. When first introduced, Pi was a teenaged boy curious in many different belief systems and also vegetarian. However, his experience with this tiger aboard a lifeboat after a shipwreck leads to necessary changes in Pi’s lifestyle and these dramatic changes in way of life are characterized through the tiger itself. For example, Richard Parker instinctively tears at animals and eats them in a barbaric manner in means of survival. Though Pi is disgusted by his animal-like behavior, he later resorts to the same methods of eating, “noisy, frantic, unchewing wolfing-down…exactly the way Richard Parker ate” for his own survival (Martel 225). As a previous vegetarian, Pi is not comfortable with the idea of killing animals to eat them but realizes “it is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing” (Martel 185). He even, later, uses human flesh from a passenger that Richard Parker killed for means of survival and food. He also kills birds by “[breaking] its neck [and] leveraging [their] heads backwards”, a harsh and violent murder (Martel 231). Pi’s ability to adapt to a more vicious yet necessary way of life reveals his inner animal

Pi loves animals and has a special bond with them, but when it comes to hyenas that is a different story. As day breaks, Pi realizes how much energy the hyena has, “the zebra was dead by noon. It was glassy-eyed and had become perfectly indifferent to the hyena’s occasional assaults ” (Martel 183). Pi does not show sympathy for animals who indulge in violence. After the hyena killed and ate the zebra, it then killed the orangutan and that is when Pi was sure he and the hyena would not get along. While realizing the end may be near for Richard Parker, Piscine expresses his love for him, “I love you Richard Parker. If I didn’t have you now I don’t know what I would do. I don’t think I would make it” (Martel 342). Pi goes on to promise to get to land and that without Richard Parker, he would have died which shows Pi’s love and appreciation for animals. Pi was taught by his father that tigers were very dangerous and now here he is swearing that he would be dead if a tiger had not been with him. Despite not feeling well and being very uncomfortable Pi makes a happy remark towards the orangutan, “and Orange Juice had not only cheered me up; she had also taken on both our feelings of

By sharing a lifeboat, Pi had a zoomorphic arrangement with Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. At first, Pi and Richard Parker did not coexist well, but then both had to adapt to living on a lifeboat with limited supplies and together they went through traumatizing experiences, such as the storm. By going through this experience with Richard Parker, Pi noticed a bond growing between them. Pi was first scared of Richard Parker, but then as time went on, he thought of him as a friend rather than an enemy. To some degree, Pi even loves Richard Parker and sees him as a human. Once the lifeboat reached Mexico, Richard Parker disappeared into the jungle unceremoniously, which troubled Pi. Humans often expect goodbyes when someone is leaving from their life and this shows how Pi had seen Richard Parker as almost human

Richard Parker, the tiger, is a symbol of Pi himself. Pi directly correlates himself with Richard Parker. If Richard Parker “give[s] up” (121) then Pi is giving up. When swimming toward the life boat Richard Parker “look[s] small and helpless” (121) much like Pi actually is. Next to the tiger, zebra, and hyena Pi is small and feeble; he has no way to defend himself against the other animals. Pi egging Richard Parker on, toward the boat; “keep[ing him] swimming” (122) shows Pi’s resilience for survival; determined for Richard Parker to survive, which is actually his determination to survive. It is often mistaken in the novel as to whether Pi is speaking of himself or of Richard Parker because they could be the same being.

During this part of the novel, Pi’s father is teaching him a lesson by letting a tiger brutally kill a goat right in front of him. He is trying to teach Pi to not go near an animal such as tigers because they are incredibly dangerous. I believe this thread represents the foreshadowing of what is to come for Pi.

Pi is stranded out at sea on a boat with his only company as a tiger, Richard Parker. Pi is scared for his life, very uncomfortable and isolated out on his boat with Richard Parker. “‘ And what of my extended family - birds, beasts, and reptiles? They too have drowned. Every single thing I value in life has been destroyed.

To begin, when Pi went blind in chapter 90 and practically gave up on surviving, he heard a voice. “It’s astonishing what you hear when you’re alone in the blackness of your dying mind.” (Martel, Pg 242). To people, this could refer to Pi hearing an actual person or it could just be a figment of his imagination.  “ Misery loves company, and madness calls it forth.” (Martel, Pg 242). This adds to the theory that the voice Pi heard was just a figment of his imagination. Further on in the novel, Pi “meets” and “speaks” to “the Blind Frenchman” after figuring out that it wasn’t Richard Parker he was talking to. Later on, Richard Parker “killed” the Frenchman and Pi explored his boat, finding out that the Frenchman had lied to him about having food. What doesn’t add up is that Pi regained his eyesight two days after the Frenchman’s “murder” and when he went to check out the dead man’s boat, he was still blind. This could mean that Pi didn’t actually go on the Frenchman’s boat but was actually exploring his boat and that the man was a figment of his imagination to suppress the loneliness Pi was feeling.

“Don’t we say...what they have” (17). In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, this excerpt occurs early on in the novel, a few pages into “Chapter 4”. In this quote, Pi exalts his extensive knowledge of animal boundaries and territories. This allows the reader to assume that Pi’s awareness of animal comfort and ritual, contributes to his ultimate survival when trapped in a lifeboat with a 450-pound Bengal tiger.

In addition, Pi decides to feed a “450-pound” (Martel 61) bengal tiger named Richard Parker for his own self preservation. He acknowledges, “I had to tame him. It was at that moment that I realized this necessity…More likely the worst would happen: the simple passage of time, in which his animal toughness would easily outlast my human frailty” (Martel 164). This means that Pi fears that the fierce animal strength and power of Richard Parker would eventually kill and eat him for food.

“You might think I lost hope at that point. I did. And as a result I perked up and felt much better.” At several points in my life, I have reached a point at which I lost all hope. I lost my energy and determination, but from that negative energy came a light to guide me in the right direction. When we realize we are in a dark place, it motivates us to try to escape it. This dark place can lead to the best creation and some of the greatest levels of accomplishment in life. When I lost the first art contest I entered, I thought I was a failure, unable to create anything worth looking at. However, some of my best work came after that instance. In friendship the same applies. My best friend had been using me all my life,

Pi contacted with animals when he was very young. Therefore, when he was in trouble and afraid to solve the problem, his savagery will help him. “We fight to the very end. It’s not a question of courage. Its something constitutional, and inability to let go. It maybe nothing more than life-hungry stupidity. Richard Parker started growing that very instant as if he had been waiting for me to become a worthy opponent. My chest became tight with fear”( Martel p.187). Pi finally chose to face the tiger, and save himself. He did not choose to stay until the tiger eats him. Even if he knows that it’s difficult to survive, he did not give up. Pi stayed with animals when he was a child. His curiosity made him have a great interest in animals. He might learn something from the wild animals. Moreover, if animals did something very cruel and their behavior will probably leave a deep impression about those things in Pi’s mind. Therefore, Pi’s savagery leads him to have the determination to against the tiger, Richard