In the "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel Pi opens the early chapters by introducing himself. Pi mentions a lot of things from his religion to his interest in Zoology. Pi then talks about how he has been surrounded by animals his whole life and the relationships between him and all the animals. The relationships are to the point where he could control any animal he stepped infront of, except one.
Not a Hyena. Not a orangutan, and not mighty king of the jungle. It was a tiger, named Richard Parker. Pi had spoken of the Tiger as an animal that could not be controlled, but I feel the Tiger is an animal that is misunderstood. Fast-forward to Pi being stranded in the ocean with his biggest fear (Tiger), and I feel it is a real possibility that Pi learns to love and care for the Tiger with the name of Richard Parker. I feel this way because Pi speaks of tigers in a mysterious way, and seems to not know much about them. This leads me to infer that by the end of the novel, Pi will develop a loving relationship with Richard and change the way he thinks of tigers. (Logan)
Not a Hyena. Not a orangutan, and not mighty king of the jungle. It was a tiger, named Richard Parker. Pi had spoken of the Tiger as an animal that could not be controlled, but I feel the Tiger is an animal that is misunderstood. Fast-forward to Pi being stranded in the ocean with his biggest fear (Tiger), and I feel it is a real possibility that Pi learns to love and care for the Tiger with the name of Richard Parker. I feel this way because Pi speaks of tigers in a mysterious way, and seems to not know much about them. This leads me to infer that by the end of the novel, Pi will develop a loving relationship with Richard and change the way he thinks of tigers. (Logan)
At the end of the book when Pi reaches Mexico, I noticed that Richard Parker did not say goodbye to him even though Pi kept him alive. This point in the book was a twist for me becuase I had just assumed that Pi and Richard Parker were going to keep that close relationship after they had reached land. One of the reasons R.P. Might have abandoned Pi is that he returned to his animal instincts rather than depending on a human for survival.
ReplyDeleteI was going to say the same thing as Nikhila. Pi had taken care of Richard Parker for hundreds of days and if it weren't for him, Pi would have died. I thought that Richard Parker would of at least shown some thanks by maybe roaring a goodbye. I guess it turns out you it's true that one cannot tame or befriend a tiger.
DeleteBlogPost: Even though Pi has a complicated relationship with Richard Parker, he also has a nice relationship with the meerkats on the algae island. After being on a boat with only a predatory beast for company, the harmless and adorable meerkats give him some good company. They also are a good source of food. Pi soon grows to enjoy living with the meerkats when he says that "[ he] felt empty a little. [He] had liked the experience of sleeping with the meerkats"(276).
ReplyDeleteSadly, he has to leave the meerkats behind to find land that isn't covered in acidic algae. He kills as many meerkats as he can for food and they help him survive. In a way, the meerkats allowed Pi to feel affection again and helped him regain his health. They were loving and at the first sight of him, the meekarts knew that Pi was harmless and and treated him like family.
The most interesting relationship throughout the book in my opinion is between Richard Parker and Pi. Richard Parker is a tiger, one of the most powerful wild animals in the world while Pi, is a little boy from India who has little experience up close to a tiger without a cage separating them. I ind it amazing how Pi managed to not get eaten throughout the book and was almost able to befriend Parker, almost.
ReplyDeletePi had been the one that kept Richard Parker alive and without Pi, Parker would of surely died; However, when they arrived on the island, Parker walked past Pi and into the woods without ever taking a second to look back at Pi and show a thanks to Pi for keeping him alive and feeding him throughout 227 days of drifting in the sea. I thought that being stranded for that long and actually surviving and making it out alive would of made Pi and Parker best friends and inseparable but it turned out that Parker didn't have that much love for Pi at all and didn't do anything to thank Pi for keeping him alive.
I'm actually not that surprised that Richard Parker just left Pi as soon as they reached land. We have to remember that Richard Parker is still a tiger, and he was only depending on Pi for survival. Richard Parker was probably able to survive on his own once they reached land, so he didn't feel the need to stay with Pi.
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