Who Is Richard Parker A Figment Of Pi
Madison Garner
Becker- B4
July 27, 2013
Richard Parker Analysis Being in unfamiliar surroundings after a tragedy can really take a toll on a person. Learning to cope with it could mean bottling up your feelings, becoming angry, or in Piscine Patel’s case befriending a four hundred and fifty pound Bengal tiger. Depending on which of Pi's stories you believe, Richard Parker is either a real tiger or he's simply a very developed figment of Pi's imagination.
After analyzing the stories, it is clear that Richard Parker was simply a mirage. A way for Pi to feel powerful or to do something he would never have expected to do as a young boy. Nevertheless, Richard Parker was a real animal at the Pondicherry zoo, but like everything else on the Tsimtsum, he drowned at sea. Even if there was a tiger on the boat, it has impulses when under pressure. Richard Parker could have attacked Pi at any moment, yet Pi lived on the boat unharmed. Pi could’ve chosen any animal to stay on the boat with him, considering it was just his imagination. However, he had already had a connection to Richard Parker. Chapter 48 begins with the sentence, "Richard …show more content…
He is a friend because he was the one thing that kept Piscine alive. However, Richard Parker made a side come out of Pi that Pi himself could have never imagined. Richard Parker symbolizes Pi’s most animalistic impulses. Out on the lifeboat, Pi must complete many actions to stay alive that he would not have found possible before being on that lifeboat. Growing up a vegetarian, he must kill fish and eat their flesh. As time progresses, he becomes more harsh, tearing apart birds and stuffing them in his mouth, the same way Richard Parker does. After Richard Parker mauls the blind Frenchman that tried to kill Pi, he uses the man’s flesh for bait and even eats some of it, becoming cannibalistic in his relentless
Becker- B4
July 27, 2013
Richard Parker Analysis Being in unfamiliar surroundings after a tragedy can really take a toll on a person. Learning to cope with it could mean bottling up your feelings, becoming angry, or in Piscine Patel’s case befriending a four hundred and fifty pound Bengal tiger. Depending on which of Pi's stories you believe, Richard Parker is either a real tiger or he's simply a very developed figment of Pi's imagination.
After analyzing the stories, it is clear that Richard Parker was simply a mirage. A way for Pi to feel powerful or to do something he would never have expected to do as a young boy. Nevertheless, Richard Parker was a real animal at the Pondicherry zoo, but like everything else on the Tsimtsum, he drowned at sea. Even if there was a tiger on the boat, it has impulses when under pressure. Richard Parker could have attacked Pi at any moment, yet Pi lived on the boat unharmed. Pi could’ve chosen any animal to stay on the boat with him, considering it was just his imagination. However, he had already had a connection to Richard Parker. Chapter 48 begins with the sentence, "Richard …show more content…
He is a friend because he was the one thing that kept Piscine alive. However, Richard Parker made a side come out of Pi that Pi himself could have never imagined. Richard Parker symbolizes Pi’s most animalistic impulses. Out on the lifeboat, Pi must complete many actions to stay alive that he would not have found possible before being on that lifeboat. Growing up a vegetarian, he must kill fish and eat their flesh. As time progresses, he becomes more harsh, tearing apart birds and stuffing them in his mouth, the same way Richard Parker does. After Richard Parker mauls the blind Frenchman that tried to kill Pi, he uses the man’s flesh for bait and even eats some of it, becoming cannibalistic in his relentless