What Does Richard Parker Symbolize Pi

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Richard Parker symbolizes who Pi needed to be to survive and what skills and knowledge that Pi needed to obtain. This situation of circumstance links Pi to Richard Parker and develops his survival skills. When Pi and Richard Parker first got on the life boat, they were two very different characters with different qualities and morals, but in order to survive, Pi was forced to change himself to act more instinctual like Richard Parker. Richard Parker was an animal with only beast-like behaviors like dominance and fierceness while Pi was a boy just trying to stay optimistic about his fate. When Pi is first on the lifeboat, he has no idea that Richard Parker is on it with him. After a short period of time, Pi learns about Richard Parker’s presence with him. The sudden appearance of Richard Parker represents the needs for survival that have suddenly come to attention. Richard Parker, at first, seemed like an unconquerable beast, but with diligence and courage, Pi is finally able to tame him. This is a metaphor for when Pi gets stranded on the lifeboat. Pi finds that the need for survival is very sudden but over time he is able to develop these skills. This relationship plays such a significant role in Pi’s survival that he was willing to kill living beings to feed Richard Parker, even though it went against his principles and beliefs. Richard Parker was crucial to Pi because he sharpened Pi’s alertness and diverted his mind off the tragedy of the shipwreck by intensifying Pi’s already harsh scenario. Richard Parker helped mold Pi into a different person with skills and knowledge that he hadn’t previously had or known. Pi tried to keep Richard Parker alive because if he knew that if he could accomplish that, then he could keep himself

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