Richard Parker Life Of Pi

Richard Parker, a massive bengal tiger lost at sea for nearly a year with only a teenage boy to keep him company. Or is it the other way around; Pi, a teenage boy with only a tiger to share the boat with? As interesting as it is unlikely, but just who are Pi and Richard Parker? Pi, formally Piscine, grew up at his father’s zoo, the same one where Richard Parker came upon. As the story states, the tiger was initially named Thirsty because he was caught while drinking, yet there had been a clerical error, resulting in the renaming of Thirsty to Richard Parker. Uncoincidentally, Pi also undertakes a name change, though it is due to the relentless teasing of his peers rather than a mistake. Regardless, this is the first indication we have that …show more content…
Eventually, Pi even begins eating in the same way as Richard Parker, aggressively tearing into the flesh of any fish he can get his hands on and gobbling up every morsel. Keeping in mind that Pi is a strict vegetarian and then relating that knowledge back to his ravenous consumption of meat can refer back to the analogy of Richard Parker being connected to God. As it was, Pi admits that “without Richard Parker, [he] wouldn’t be alive today to tell . . . [his] story” (164), yet when they were finally safe Richard Parker leaves without even looking back. To me this greatly signifies that Richard Parker was God’s way of showing Pi how to survive, the motivation for him to do what it takes and put his pride aside in order to live. Which is of course why Richard Parker would leave as soon as Pi was safe, not because he was a real tiger, but because Pi no longer needed God’s vessel. As well, I think that the reason for the prolonged reveal of Richard Parker’s identity was intentionally used by the author to create some wonder and let us assume that perhaps he was a man, because in doing so the whole story becomes much more