Life of Pi

Richard Parker is a 450-pound Bengal tiger and Pi’s main companion on his journey. That Richard Parker was able to co-exist with Pi on a lifeboat for 227 days is at the core of our doubts as readers. However, due to Pi’s upbringing in the Pondicherry Zoo, and adept understanding of animal social hierarchies, we come to believe the feasibility of this tale. Richard Parker responds to Pi’s training because he is accustomed to captivity. The origins of his name stem from a clerical error which confused the name of a hunter for a tiger cub (originally, he was named “Thirsty”). The nature of this mix-up embodies Pi’s tendency to anthropomorphize. We are routinely reminded, however, of Richard Parker’s capacity for violence and savagery in his killing of the hyena and blind castaway. Upon reaching Mexico, Richard Parker darts off into the jungle without so much as a glance back. This display of unsentimentality is heartbreaking for Pi, but consistent with the realities of animal nature. Moreover, if Pi’s second version of events is true, Richard Parker is a symbol of Pi’s animalism and own capacity for brutality, so it fits that these traits would “flee” upon his rescue.

That Richard Parker is capable of being tamed is a testament to Pi’s zoological knowledge and beliefs in the laws of nature, particularly animal social behavior and hierarchies. Pi rejects conventional knowledge that views zoos as institutions that constrict animal freedom. The best evidence for this is when Richard Parker goes off to explore the algae island in the daytime before returning to sleep on Pi’s lifeboat at night. Richard Parker demonstrates “conservative” and “reactionary” traits in his desire for predictability. In a metaphor employed by Pi, Richard Parker is a human who likewise craves order in a chaotic universe. Zoos, like religion, offer stability amid anarchy (represented by the wild or the state of pre-Creation) and are not antithetical to freedom as derived from human reason.

The name “Richard Parker” is likely an allusion to castaways in history and in literature. In 1867, Richard Parker was a cabin boy on the yacht Mignonette. Parker, along with a few other crewmembers, climbed aboard a lifeboat when it became clear the yacht would sink. The crew was adrift for nearly a month, and Parker, having lapsed into a coma after drinking seawater, became his crewmates’ meal. Interestingly, in Edgar Allan Poe’s novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (1838), which was published prior to the sinking of the Mignonette, a character named Richard Parker is also cannibalized by his crewmates after a shipwreck.

The author can possibly be a stand-in for Yann Martel himself. In the “Author’s Note,” the Brazilian Jewish novelist Moacyr Scliar is mentioned as an acknowledgment. Famously, Martel was accused of plagiarizing Scliar’s novel, Max and the Cats. Although the allegations were rescinded, the parallels between Martel and the fictitious author are obvious. The author appears primarily in Part 1 and Part 3 via narrative interludes. Crucially, these interruptions break the flow of Pi’s story while adding an extra layer of non-chronological narrative. This multilayered narrative framework mirrors that of Pi’s interview with Okamoto and Chiba which is presented as a transcription with intermittent translations performed by an unknown third-party. The author also offers intimate details into Pi’s life in Canada which offers the most objective account of Pi’s character.