Life of Pi Characters Analysis

Piscine Molitor Patel - He is the protagonist of the novel and the castaway who survives for 227 days on a boat with a tiger. The adult Pi recounts the story of his ordeal to the author of the book, which is written more like non-fiction than a fictional novel. Pi grew up in southern India with his family, which operated the Pondicherry zoo. Besides Zoology, Pi nurses a deep love for theology which he begins to explore independently quite early in his life.

Richard Parker - The human name of the adult tiger that shares the lifeboat with Pi. The tiger was originally brought to the Pondicherry Zoo as a cub called 'thirsty', but a clerk had mistakenly interchanged the names of the cub with the hunter that had caught it. Pi decides to tame the tiger instead of attempting to kill him, and they seem to establish a loving relationship, but Richard Parker leaves Pi just as soon as they reach the beach in Mexico.

Orange Juice - The name of the orangutan that Pi rescues from the shipwreck as the creature comes into his view floating on a huge body of bananas. The creature had been a matriarch that had given birth to two sons while they had been living at the zoo, and it is her grief at their loss that causes Pi to realize his own loss. The orangutan is killed by the hyena when the two creatures begin to fight. In the human version, the orangutan is replaced by Pi's mother which makes her death all the more poignant for the young Pi.

The French Cook - Pi meets another castaway in the first version of his story, just after both he and Richard Parker have gone blind. The French cook confesses to having killed both a man and a woman, in addition to cannibalizing them. He attempts to kill Pi, but he is himself killed by Richard Parker. In the human version of the story, the french cook takes the place of the hyena and kills both the Chinese sailor and Pi's mother. Pi kills the French Cook in the second version of the story.