Right from the beginning of the book until Richard Parker’s true identity is actually said to be a tiger, I thought he was a human. This is because of the way Pi speaks about him while he’s telling his story. For example, early in his conversation Pi talks about how he loves Canada and misses India and that he misses someone named Richard Parker. Pi never said he misses Richard Parker ‘the tiger’, but makes it seem like he’s talking about a person whom he misses. The name of the tiger itself is too humanlike to be thought of as an animal. ‘Richard Parker’ doesn’t come across to me as an animal’s name; it sounds like a boy’s name. Also at some point the author comments on Pi’s state of mind, saying that after several years Richard Parker still preys on his mind. Again, what Richard Parker truly is, is not even mentioned. I don’t think anyone unless they were told by other people who have read the story, would ever know that ‘Richard Parker’ is in fact a tiger. I think this personification of Richard Parker significantly affected Pi’s story. Since the impression of Richard Parker is that he played a huge role in keeping Pi sane and alive and that Pi would not have survived without him, and so if Pi were to have made this impression on everyone but instead revealing that Richard Parker was a tiger, I don’t think it would have had a great as an affect. This is because a lot of people don’t see animals in being able to have an effect on a person like that, especially a tiger. How could a tiger have kept you sane? How could a tiger have made it possible for you to survive? So by personifying who Richard Parker is, it can make it easier for the readers to see the strong connection between Pi and Richard Parker by first assuming that he was a person not a tiger.
Pi being someone so faithful proceeds in his speech about losing everything and being ‘in hell’ because his life has drastically changed. He went from being on the ship waking up to his family every morning to being stranded all alone on a raft with no security of his family life and death all around him. This is something Pi may see as ‘hell.’ Although he is someone who believes in faith, with the brutal conditions he is in, even a person like himself would compare it to hell. He is alone with no sign of civilization, a zebra is being eaten alive right in front of him, and he constantly has to worry about his life with a Begel Tiger being onboard. This to anyone is hell. By Martel having Pi alone, theologically he is trying to show that now Pi is in a situation that will really reveal how god will help you. Pi has studied and practiced all these religions and has faith in all their gods so now Pi and the reader will see the nature of god and the religious truth. The relationship between the Hyena and Orange Juice can compare to the relationships between religions. Since there are no natural conditions in which a hyena and an orang-utan can meet, there is no way of knowing how they would relate. This is the same for religions. Each religion is so different from one another and there is no way that either one could come in contact with each other, that if for some rare moment they did, there would also be no way of knowing how they would relate. Like a hyena and an orang-utan, the religions are completely different creatures/beliefs and so unless there is a time where they can meet, there is no way of knowing how they could possibly relate with such differences.
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