Piscine Patel is Richard Parker

Analysis of the Main Character and His Id in Martel's The LIfe of Pi

Jul 20, 2009

In The Life of Pi, Pi Patel and Richard Parker are portrayed as two separate entities, but Richard is actually a physical representation of Pi's 'id', his primal instinct

In The Life of Pi, Piscine (Pi) Patel and Richard Parker are portrayed as two separate entities, but Richard is actually a physical representation of Pi’s ‘id’, his primal instincts.

The Creation of Richard Parker

Pi Patel, Richard Parker, and the other animals on the boat are created in the first story Pi tells during his interview. In the first story, Pi, a young Indian boy, watches Richard Parker, a Belgian tiger, commit horrendous, animalistic deeds; but in the second story, Pi accounts for every animal as a person, except for Richard Parker. Richard Parker can only be assumed to be Pi, but Pi is reluctant to make the direct association himself. Pi instead, has chosen to disassociate himself from the tiger, because he is highly religious and does not want to admit to the brutal, primitive actions he made throughout his voyage.

The Acceptance of the Id

In the first story, Pi is on a lifeboat with an assortment of animals. But when Pi is given the choice to live with or without a tiger, he chooses to save the tiger and they are constant companions. This symbolizes his acceptance of the darker and more primitive side of him.

Eating Habits

In the novel, Pi loathes Richard Parker and refuses to take part in any of the tiger’s carnivorous eating habits. As time progresses and the days get more desperate, Pi gradually begins to revert to the more primitive side of him, taking on similar traits as the tiger. By the time they encounter a blind man, Pi admits to eating small pieces of the blind man’s flesh and Richard gorges himself.

Blindness

Along Pi’s journey in the lifeboat, he and the tiger become blind. If Pi is the tiger, and they are both blind, it can be interpreted as a moral blindness. At this point, Pi becomes depressed and feels that his “end was approaching”. The fictitious story portrays the physical blindness, but can be interpreted as moral blindness. When Pi meets another blind French man, they are morally blind, living on instinct, and attack one another. According to Pi, it’s Richard Parker who kills the intruder, which as Pi’s id, illustrates the primitive need for survival.

Farewell to Richard Parker

Drawing near the end of Pi’s animal story he speaks of how Richard Parker just left him without a goodbye or even an acknowledgement that Pi had been a part of his life. If these two are one and the same, in actuality the part that ran off was Pi’s malicious side with only instincts to live off. The only reason Richard Parker really became a part of him in the first place was because Pi was about to face desperate times and would need a fighter to survive. Pi’s darker side ran off because it would no longer be needed on the shores of civilization. With the “tiger” gone, it would no longer be a part of Pi’s personality and would thus be easier for Pi to say that the tiger was a separate entity. Pi could also have a clearer conscience about his deeds on the lifeboat because there is something else to blame and that part of him is gone.

In conclusion, Pi cannot accept that Richard Parker is a part of who he is. When he reaches land, Richard runs deep into the forest, symbolizing the id returning to a submissive state now that they return to civilization. In his interview, Pi feels he must separate himself from his id, his primitive and appalling habits, by creating a fictitious story and entity.

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