The longest known castaway survivor was Salvador Alvarenga who survived for a total of 438 days at sea. His only companion was the rotting corpse of a crewmate whom he befriended and talked to it before throwing it overboard. His companion kept him going, but at the cost of his own sanity. Although this castaway’s ‘trip’ was not as long at Alvarenga, his story is that of legend. After his father sold their family zoo in India, Piscine Molitor Patel and his family take a boat trip to Canada. But after a horrible storm sinks the ship and kills both his parents, and nearly all the zoo animals, Pi must survive in a lifeboat with only a tiger for a companion. In Yann Martel’s, Life of Pi, a young boy learns that the most dangerous of animals can become the best friend.
When his boat sinks in a storm, Pi is hurled into a lifeboat and cast away by sailors in attempt to save him. Unbeknownst to Pi, there are several uninvited shipmates that have stowed away along with him. As Pi’s boat is tossed in the icy waters, he spots the zoo’s tiger Richard Parker and begins to help the tiger into the boat. Almost immediately he realizes his mistake and screams at the tiger in an attempt to save himself from a gruesome death at the hands of this natural predator. Unfortunately, the tiger was “too fast” and using his last reserve of strength, “he reached up and pulled himself aboard”(124). Pi now was faced with not only the prospect of months at sea, but he would share his torment with a “three-year-old adult Bengal Tiger”(124).
After a few days, both stowaways, the hyena and zebra, had died. With an adult tiger held at bay by only a tarpaulin, Pi needed to make a decision on how to deal with his last shipmate. The poor boy realized that he could not kill the beast; even with a weapon. He realized that he had to “wage a war of attrition” against his mighty foe. This meant that he would have to let the behemoth simply starve to death. As time passed, Pi created a new and wonderful thought. He remembered how in a circus, lions could be tamed and taught to jump through great hoops of fire. If he could tame Richard Parker, he could be taught to help Pi. At the very least, he could be trained to starve to death. “And so it came to be: Plan number 7: Keep him Alive” (209).
The poor boy had been wasting away for months but he had managed to train his tiger by blowing on a whistle and providing a treat for the veracious beast. Pi had managed to stay alive, but now he had been blinded and he was starving. His mind started to play tricks on him and one day, he began to hear a voice. He began to believe that he was hearing a voice in his head until he realized, “It was Richard Parker who was speaking” (310) This vicious animal began to have intelligent conversation with Pi. The tiger was his only friend and Pi was glad to have Richard Parker as a shipmate.
At the end of his arduous journey, Pi claws his way to land along with his only friend in the world. As Pi lay, soaking wet on a beach, Richard Parker emerges from the lifeboat that for so long was home. The beast ran to the edge of a nearby jungle but “at the end of the jungle, he stopped” (359) Then without a second glance, “Richard Parker, companion of [his] torment…moved forward and disappeared forever from [his] life” (359) Pi’s magnificent and fearsome protector had vanished from his life without a goodbye.
In the Life of Pi, a young boy discovers that a fierce and dangerous tiger, could become his closest companion. Pi loses his entire family, leaves his home and must betray his strict beliefs in order to survive. Throughout all of his hardships, Richard Parker is always there for Pi and provides an excellent conversationalist. A friend can come from the strangest of places. It doesn’t matter who or what it is, all that matters is that you recognize one when they arrive. They just might save your life!