Life of Pi by Yann Martel is a fascinating story about a young man named Pi, who survived a shipwreck and lived on a boat with only himself and a tiger named Richard Parker for months, which ultimately changed his life. Initially, Pi was extremely dependent on his family for protection and guidance. However, throughout the novel, Pi develops into an entirely different person, due to his interactions with Richard Parker during his life at sea. Richard Parker drives the plot of the novel through his significant effects on Pi’s character development and life. Pi’s strong companionship with Richard Parker led Pi to feel emotionally attached to Parker and contributed to his desire to survive. After Pi figured out he was the only human survivor on the boat, he began to fear of being alone, and his lack of skill began to affect his ability to survive, in addition to his fear of the wild tiger on board. However, Pi was able to use the knowledge he learned, from working with his father in a zoo, to tame Richard Parker, which led to the development of their relationship. As their relationship developed, Pi began to feel attached to Richard Parker and he began to want …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, Pi was a humble and peaceful person that never harmed other living things and was a vegetarian. After living on the boat and interacting with the tiger, Pi began to hunt and kill animals to avoid starvation. Pi’s character developed from a peaceful vegetarian to a hunter shows how living things will do anything it takes, even the unexpected, to survive. In addition to his character development, Richard Parker influenced Pi by changing his lifestyle; Pi continues to hunt not only as a way to survive but as a way to continue to feed and take care of Richard Parker, and he gradually does not feel bad for killing and eating fish. Pi’s character is changed entirely when he said, “It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even killing”