It isn’t revealed until the ship has sunk that Richard Parker is actually a Bengal tiger. Pi’s initial reaction to being stuck in a lifeboat with this carnivorous beast is that he must try to kill him, but eventually he comes to realize that he must instead tame him. Is this realization representative of a greater transformation in Pi, do you think?
During the course of their journey at sea, Pi and Richard Parker develop an almost symbiotic relationship. Pi even says:
‘It’s the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story.’
Do you think Richard Parker symbolises more than just the challenge of living with a 350-pound Bengal tiger? Is he a metaphor for dealing with our own challenges?
Michael
said:posted 14 August 09
I wonder would we treat “Richard Parker” any different if we knew he was a human instead of a Bengal Tiger. Do we think that just because its another human being like Pi, that it is in any way less dangerous? Aren’t we all animals in nature?
Jamila
said:posted 14 August 09
Yeah we are all animals in nature, but we don’t all weigh 350 pounds and can crush a human to dimise with just one brush of a paw ^^
Maria do Céu Costa
said:posted 14 August 09
In our view, Life of Pi tells us that mental power is above physical one. To face our challenges we have to get a mental balance, we mean to devise better ways of involving with others, trying to approach sensible strategies, establishing concessions, pondering about hard situations, having control… All these happened with Pi in the presence of Richard Parker. They both have got used to “understanding” each other.
Judy
said:posted 17 August 09
I have just reached this part of the book and was becoming convinced that Richard Parker was someone that Pi had lost after his arrival in Canada – a friend/ lover so I thought that the revealing of who Richard Parker was well done and clever
Susan
said:posted 26 August 09
I think that Richard Parker represents PI’s “id” or primal instincts. On the lifeboat, Pi chooses to separate himself from this instinct because Pi ( believes in God and religion(s-) “super ego”) and Richard Parker is about man’s raw, brutal , primate survival. Pi’s choice to save Richard Parker is his choice to save himself- both physically and spiritually. Pi chooses life – which is a basic religious tenet. He can not deem his journey as hopeless, as hope is essential to man’s survival (as is food and water). Pi chooses to live, albeit more primal, in the face of unbelievable odds. He doesn’t kill his inner beast, he just tames it . When Richard Parker leaves without nary a goodbye , it is because Pi no longers needs this primal side- he is on dry land and back to civilization. Richard Parker runs into the jungle, taking with all of his actions and behaviour leaving Pi to reconnect to his non-primal self and begin his life again.
It is no coincidence that Yann Martel choose the name Richard Parker. There are at least 2 cases, one fiction and one true of a shipwreck involving a man/boy named Richard Parker. In 1838, Edgar Allan Poe wrote “The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket” in which 3 shipwreck survivors kill and eat a 4th man named Richard Parker. In 1884, the yacht named the Mignonette sank, leaving 4 men shipwreck. Fearing their inevitable death, the captain killed a young weak cabin boy named Richard Parker and his body was eaten.
DVG
said:posted 26 August 09
Wow. I enjoy reading everyone’s comments because they are helping me see the ‘whole’ story and helping me expand my thoughts. So thank you all. =)
Not much to add to these comments except agree that we all must learn how to deal with life lessons – whether it be taming an animal or human – we all need to learn to live together on this planet. Respecting life, nature and spirituality.