Similarities Between Pi And Richard Parker

Another way Pi was able to survive through his harsh times was by learning how to live with Richard Parker. At first Pi was terribly afraid that he might be the next goat. “I had a choice so long as he did not sense me. If he did, he would kill me right away. Could he burst through the tarpaulin, I wondered.”(Martel, 119) Since Pi was afraid of Richard Parker, he would try his best to avoid him. His fear towards Richard Parker distracted Pi from the sorrow left by the sinking of the Tsimtsum. Even if Richard Parker was a man-eating carnivore he had to learn how to live with him. “In my case, to protect myself from Richard Parker while I trained him, I made a shield with a turtle shell...” (Martel, 228) If Pi wasn’t able to tame Richard Parker

Pi is an eager, outgoing, and excitable child, dependent on his family for comfort and support. In school, his few main concerns were to prevent his schoolmates from mispronouncing his name and learning as much and as fast as he can about religion and zoology. But when the ship went down Pi is torn from his family and left alone on a lifeboat with wild animals which would make anyone believe that they weren’t going to even make it through the night. The disaster gives him a reality check which makes him realize that he has to become self-sufficient. He mourns the loss of his family and fears for his life, which any normal sane person would do but he realizes that he has to take this challenge and make the best of what he can. He finds a survival guide and emergency provisions. He had to force himself to question his on values and decides that his vegetarianism is a luxury, and he wouldn’t make it a week without teaching himself how to fish. He manages to protect himself from Richard Parker the bangle tiger that has managed to get stuck on this boat with him and take on a parental relationship with the tiger, providing him with food and keeping him in line, to protect himself as well as keeping Richard Parker alive. The devastating shipwreck turns Pi into an adult, able to fend for himself out in the world alone. Which gives him good morals, and

Pi had to face the reality of the situation. After he’s been shipwrecked he’s stuck with a tiger, hyena and an orangutan. The theme that strongly fits this scene in the book is “the survival of the fittest”, where only the strong can live. For example, the tiger appears when he kills the hyena because he knew it was a threat to him and his survival. “Life on a lifeboat isn’t much of a life. It is like an endgame in chess, a game with few pieces. The elements couldn't be more simple, nor the stakes higher. Physically it is extremely arduous, and morally it is killing. You much make adjustments if you want to survive” (Martel 217). If anybody other than Pi was in his place, all the possibilities and emotions flow altogether and form into fear and anxiety, which quickly disappears when Richard Parker proves Pi wrong by not killing him.

He starts out with a zebra, hyena, an orangutan, and a tiger, but the animals slowly diminish leaving only Pi and Richard Parker. Pi works to tame and care for Richard Parker, and the two survive for two hundred twenty-seven days. Pi encounters a fellow French castaway who is eaten by Richard Parker (Martel 311-320). Pi also comes across a man-eating island (Martel 322-358). The events that take place are fairly far-fetched, and the probability of all of them occurring to the same person in the period of time given is even less believable. The second story, on the other hand, is a perhaps more believable retelling of the original story. Pi relates the second tale upon the request of his interviewers for “‘a story without animals’” (Martel 381). In this story the animals are replaced with human representatives including an injured Chinese sailor, a French cook, Pi’s mother, and Pi himself. The second story, like the first, begins with many passengers on the boat, but in the end it leaves only Pi to survive by himself after brutally murdering and eating the cook who killed both the sailor and Pi’s own mother (Martel 381-391). Unlike Pi’s first story, this account is dark, desperate, and harshly realistic, without any sense of hope to counter it all. After relating both of these stories to his interviewers, Pi asks them which story they think is better (Martel 398). Although the

Left without any companionship and the consequences of his deed, Pi spent the rest of his time creating the better story. He weaved a web between the story of Richard Parker and the events on the ship, to disassociate from the events of the other survivors. The death of personified animals stings much less than witnessing the death of Pi’s mother and the sailor. It also made it easier to live life connecting Richard Parker to the hyena’s death. This also explains the disappearance of Richard Parker after climbing into the boat, and his reappearance to kill the hyena in the second story.

The result of Pi’s response to Richard Parker’s behavior saved Pi’s life numerous times. The peaceful relationship between the two protagonists helped them both endure 227 days at sea, struggling against all odds. With Pi’s prior knowledge of the body language of animals, he is able to successfully asses his options with the intent of optimizing his chances of survival. During the falling action of the novel, Pi and Richard reach a beach in Mexico, meaning that his bravery and valiant decision to

Most would assume that floating through the Pacific Ocean is not as bad as it sounds but floating across the Pacific with a Bengal Tiger is a completely different story. Pi must battle all the elements, and the Bengal Tiger, Richard Parker, to make it safely back to land. In the text “Life of Pi,” Yann Martel employs several literary devices, including theme, throughout the text to connect to the reader and keep them interested. Martel introduces many themes into the story through Pi and his lessons learned. In order to support the theme Martel introduces symbolism into the text.

When faced with traumatic circumstances and events, each individual develops their own personal ways to cope. Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a fictional adventure novel that follows the expeditions of a castaway and a Bengal tiger. In Life of Pi, Piscine (Pi) Patel subconsciously translates his story into one that aids him in coping with recent events. He begins to parallel human characters with the animals that personify them; each illusion stemming from his very own past experiences.

For a book claimed as “a story that will make you believe in God,” Yann Martel’s Life of Pi does not fall too far from that claim. Being the son of Indian zoo owners, Piscine Patel always grew up in close proximity with animals. However, this could not prepare him for being adrift in a lifeboat for 277 days, with a full grown 450 pound adult bengal tiger. All the while, Pi manages to juggle being faithful to three religions at the same time. While the plot of the story may seem to grind to a complete stop early on, Martel finds a way to speed it up just in time to provide a thrilling conclusion. Pi must fight many internal conflicts, like being faithful to his religion or doing what he must in order to survive, even if it conflicts his beliefs.

Richard Parker is the tiger on board the lifeboat he makes his first public appearance by devouring the hyena. Having a tiger on board doesn't really make your chances of surviving very high especially if that tiger is hungry. When Pi first realizes that Richard Parker is on board he builds a make-shift raft so that he is not in the presence of Richard Parker. But as the days go on Pi realizes that first his raft is extremely uncomfortable, second, he needs to go get food from the lifeboat and third, he needs to take care of Richard Parker. Because of Pi’s knowledge of zoology. Pi knows how to take care of Richard Parker. So for the next few days Pi gets Richard Parker food and water and soon Richard Parker becomes his friend but Pi still stays on alert and Pi always goes back to his raft to sleep. Soon Pi realizes that he needs to exert his dominance over Richard Parker so he sets out to show Richard Parker who is number 1. Pi realized that “it was rights I needed, the sort of rights that come with might. It was time to impose myself and carve out my territory” (Martel 202). Richard Parker kept Pi busy for all of Pi’s 200 day ordeal. Richard Parker was the other main reason that Pi survived. Richard Parker kept Pi busy and occupied. If it wasn't for Richard Parker Pi probably wouldn't have survived for so

Fear said Yes…”(108) Pi is afraid that Richard Parker will eat him whenever he gets hungry, therefore Pi is always looking out for him, he believes he must keep Richard Parker happy, therefore, he rations food and water. Pi studies the structure of the lifeboat and the material it was made with to ensure that Richard Parker would not be able to spring out and attack him at any moment. Also, by fishing for food and getting clean water to keep Richard Parker alive and strong, Pi is keeping himself alive. “I had to start fishing very soon. It would not take long for Richard Parker to finish the animal carcasses.”

The character of Richard Parker helps Pi cope with killing other animals, an act Pi has opposed all his life. The imaginary character of Richard Parker also helps Pi stay sane after taking another human’s life. In Pi’s alternate story, Pi murders the cook who had killed Pi’s mother, which is reflected in Pi’s original story with Richard Parker and the hyena. It is only after the entire ordeal that Pi can recount this horrible event with factual accuracy. Without the presence of Richard Parker, experiencing the death of his mother followed by the murder of another human being, it is extremely likely that Pi would have gone

The fiction story, Life of Pi, displays a relationship between a youthful boy and faith. The book, written by the Spanish author Yann Martel, depicts the arduous and crucial journey of a young, religious boy. Named Piscine Molitor Patel, often referred as Pi, he encounters a dilemma regarding his spirituality. The text consists of three parts that take place in entirely different places: the first one in his hometown; Pondicherry, the second one stranded on the Pacific Ocean with Richard Parker, the ferocious tiger, and the third one in America, where he lives the rest of his life. The author interlocks Pi’s actual life to the three parts to give an understanding of his beliefs. Accordingly, he mere point in this story is how significant is faith in defining and shaping a person, in this

In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Pi Patel and Richard Parker are the two main characters whom are followed throughout the second part of the literary work. Pi, being the main character, the one who is telling the story, and Richard, his shipwreck companion, the duo creates the theme of suffering builds love.

Furthermore, his vast knowledge of animals, having grown up at a zoo, helps him to tame Richard Parker. Pi knows tigers’ psychological thinking and exploits this by classically conditioning Richard Parker. Likewise, Pi’s experience of watching a tiger kill a goat in his early childhood taught him the fundamental lesson that ‘an animal is an animal’, enabling him to strategically and mentally survive his long and testing time at sea. In addition to that, during the early parts of Part 2, Pi comes across a survival manual, a crucial object for his continued existence. The book gives him critical information on the do’s and don’ts of survival at sea and it is hard to imagine that Pi could have survived without this book which also gave him the opportunity to write down his words which were “all he has left’’.