Pi’s story of him and all the animals living on the boat might seem crazy and out of this world but it might be truer than you think. While I don't believe the first story is true I do believe it's a symbolic version of the second story. Each of the animals fit a role of one of the characters he described in his second story (Pi 168). He talks about himself, his mother, the cook, and a sailor. They all fit the roles of the animals from his first story.



The first character he describes is his mother. His mother seems to be represented by Orange juice (the orangutan). He describes orange juice  “It was Orange Juice-so called because she tended to drool-our prize Borneo orang-utan matriarch, zoo star and mother of two fine boys” (Pi 63) Pi`s mother like O.J. lost her babies, unlike O.J. Pi’s mother had one son but was quickly losing him. The next character talked about in the second story is the Sailor “The sailor was young. Actually, he was older than me, probably in his early twenties, but he broke his leg jumping from the ship and his suffering made him a child. He was beautiful. He had no facial hair at all and a clear, shining complexion. His features-the broad face, the flattened nose, the narrow, pleated eyes-looked so elegant.”(Pi 169) Just like the zebra, he was gorgeous but also had an injured leg which he hurt jumping into the boat just like the zebra.



The third character is the cook. The cook is a “Brute”, “He was a brute. He dominated us” (Pi 169) The cook seems to be symbolized by the hyena. He is vicious and a killer. He chopped off the sailors leg which led to him dying “He died quietly, the life drained out of him like the liquid from his leg. The cook promptly butchered him.” (Pi 171) the cook killed and ate the sailor much like the hyena and the zebra “The zebra's broken leg was missing. The hyena had bitten it off and dragged it to the stern, behind the zebra. A flap of skin hung limply over the raw stump. Blood was still dripping. The victim bore its suffering patiently, without showy remonstrations. A slow and constant grinding of its teeth was the only visible sign of distress. Shock, revulsion, and anger surged through me. I felt intense hatred for the hyena. I thought of doing something to kill it.” Pi (67)



After that the cook had fought with Pi’s mother after the cook hit pi, “Mother hit him. He hit her back. She turned to me and said, 'Go!' pushing me towards the raft. I jumped for it. I thought she was coming with me. I landed in the water. I scrambled aboard the raft. They were fighting. I did nothing but watch. My mother was fighting an adult man. He was mean and muscular. He caught her by the wrist and twisted it. She shrieked and fell. He moved over her. The knife appeared. He raised it in the air. It came down.” (Pi 172). Like when the Hyena killed O.J. they were fighting. O.J. fought the hyena even though it knew it would lose. The hyena killed Oj which infuriated Pi and Pi thought about killing it, but before he could do anything the tiger jumped out and killed the hyena.













Which brings me to Richard Parker. Richard Parker seems to be the part of Pi that is willing to do whatever it takes to survive. The day after the cook killed pi’s mother, Pi slew the cook “Then we fought and I killed him. He had no expression on his face, neither of despair nor of anger, neither of fear nor of pain. He gave up. He let himself be killed, though it was still a struggle. The knife was all along in plain view on the bench. We both knew it. He could have had it in his hands from the start. He was the one who put it there. I picked it up. I stabbed him in the stomach. He grimaced but remained standing. I pulled the knife out and stabbed him again. Blood was pouring out. Still, he didn't fall over. Looking me in the eyes, he lifted his head ever so slightly. Did he mean something by this? I took it that he did. I stabbed him in the throat, next to Adam's apple. He dropped like a stone. And died.” Like the tiger and the hyena, the tiger emerged and killed the hyena after the hyena killed O.J. This brutal side of Pi came out of him after watching his mother die. He was scared of this part of him as he was scared of the lion. When he began trying to tame Richard Parker that was likely him trying to control this other part of himself.



Throughout the book, more and more things point to the fact that the tiger is part of Pi. When Richard Parker falls out of the boat he considered letting it die. He thought about killing off that part of him but a thought came to him “It was Richard Parker who calmed me down. It is the irony of this story that the one who scared me witless to start with was the very same who brought me peace, purpose, I dare say even wholeness.” He couldn't let this part of himself go. He needed it to survive. He had to keep this part of him with him no matter how dangerous it was. Another example is when he found the Island. After he found the island Richard Parker ran off and left him until he had to leave. On the flip side, this could be the fact that Pi felt safe on the island so the survivalist side of him had left him temporarily. Richard Parker leaves him a second time once he got to Mexico. When he got onto the beach Richard Parker jumped off the boat and vanished never to be seen again. After Pi knew he was safe that side of him left as it was no longer needed. “Then Richard Parker, companion of my torment, awful, fierce thing that kept me alive, moved forward and disappeared forever from my life.” (Pi 155)



There are many more examples that could show how the animals actually were the people. It is evident that the second story was the true one and that the first was either Pi lying or just the way he rationalized it all. As you can clearly see there is a lot of evidence that the animals are actually the people. As I said previously I believe the second story is the true one and that all the animals represent the people he talked about in the second story.