Pi's reporting of the events that followed the sinking of the ship Tsimitsum included both animal and human main characters. In his original retelling, Pi claimed that, within the lifeboat, he was accompanied by four drastically different animals: an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger. Upon investigating its prey, the hyena reportedly killed off the defenseless zebra and consumed it piece by piece. (120) Then, in Pi's second story, once humans substituted the animal roles, a cook from the Tsimitsum played the part of the hyena and an injured sailor was cast as the zebra. "The cook threw himself upon the sailor's head and before our very eyes scalped him and pulled off his face," (307) Pi vividly mentioned. Although different species, both the cook and hyena shared common characteristics in seeking to satisfy their immediate need of food. At the end of the day, it didn't matter who played predator and who played prey. The main idea, in both stories, remained constant: one life had been taken by
Pi's reporting of the events that followed the sinking of the ship Tsimitsum included both animal and human main characters. In his original retelling, Pi claimed that, within the lifeboat, he was accompanied by four drastically different animals: an orangutan, a zebra, a hyena, and a Bengal tiger. Upon investigating its prey, the hyena reportedly killed off the defenseless zebra and consumed it piece by piece. (120) Then, in Pi's second story, once humans substituted the animal roles, a cook from the Tsimitsum played the part of the hyena and an injured sailor was cast as the zebra. "The cook threw himself upon the sailor's head and before our very eyes scalped him and pulled off his face," (307) Pi vividly mentioned. Although different species, both the cook and hyena shared common characteristics in seeking to satisfy their immediate need of food. At the end of the day, it didn't matter who played predator and who played prey. The main idea, in both stories, remained constant: one life had been taken by