Richard Parker Character Analysis

Superior Essays
Register to read the introduction… Pi attributes the traits of Richard Parker to himself because Pi as an individual needs the traits Richard Parker possesses. This is palpable in the conversation between Mr. Chiba and Mr. Okamoto, “So the Taiwanese sailor is the zebra, his mother is the orang-utan, the cook is… the hyena—which means he is the tiger!” “Yes. The tiger killed the hyena—and the blind Frenchman—just as he killed the cook.” (392). The conversation between Mr. Chiba and Mr. Okamoto further validates the idea that Richard Parker is a part of Pi’s psyche, existing as a survival mechanism enabling Pi to survive on the boat. The general characteristics of a tiger- aggressive, feral, lack of conscience, ruthlessness and savagery- are all characteristics Pi is afraid to express and possess. Therefore, by attributing these characteristics of the tiger to himself, he is able to survive on the boat. Apart from this, Pi uses Richard Parker as a symbol of his imagination. His savage and animalistic conducts on the boat as a method of survival are inhumane; thus, as a means of coping with his actions, he childishly creates a false reality of Richard Parker. Pi acknowledges, “This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one. He ripped the flesh off the man’s frame and cracked his bones… something in me died then that has never come back to life” (321). As earlier stated, …show more content…
Pi loses his shadow self, Richard Parker when he reaches civilization. According to Pi, “He only looked fixedly into the jungle. Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life. (Martel 359). Pi’s eloquence used to depict the sudden departure of Richard Parker symbolizes the fact that Richard Parker is the wild, animalistic and uncivilized part of Pi. When Pi reaches the civilized world, Richard Parker suddenly disappears back into the jungle. The jungle is usually affiliated with primitiveness and the animal world. This action allegorically signifies the animal and instinctive part of Pi departing into the wild; never to return since Pi is now a part of the civilized world. In addition, Pi uses, “fierce thing”, which is defined as “eager to fight or kill” while describing Richard Parker as the “companion of my torment” reiterates the fact that Richard Parker is the wild and uncivilized part of Pi that keeps him alive. Despite Richard Parker’s sudden departure however, Pi remains emotionally attached to Richard Parker. Pi remains troubled and this is evident when he states, “I wept like a child… I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me so unceremoniously. What a terrible thing it is to botch a farewell” (Martel

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