Alternate Ending As Pi gazed upon the once glorious pelt of Richard Parker, he realized his time had come. After 226 long days at sea, stranded, he was slowly going insane. Every ray of the sun seemed to penetrate further and further into his absent minded thoughts. The water beneath him that had once brought him such joy, only reminded him of the darkness that lurked in its depths. The fins of sharks sliced through the ripples of water every so often, sending chills through his spine. 226 days of still numbness, and perpetual turmoil. Although the waves below him churned so peacefully, and the sky above him shone so bright, Pi was in a dark place. A place filled with loneliness he had never experienced. …show more content…
Pi thought that he had come to terms with the fact that he would die on this raft, but he knew he wouldn't die alone.
Richard Parker glanced at him, Pi expected the usual piercing glare of this 400 pound tiger, but today he saw nothing. Not loneliness, not sadness, he simply saw nothing. Pi imagined he had the same listless look about himself. He peered over the edge of the raft and gazed upon his reflection. He had never really taken the time to do so as he feared what he might see. He examined his face, peering closer and closer, his face nearing the water. He felt the warm touch against his face, then his neck, then his feet. He slid into the water, but today he was not swimming. His body slowly descended into the dark depths of the ocean, as his thoughts drifted away. Piscine Patel, was dead.
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REAL Ending
Pi recounts various events while adrift, including discovering an island of carnivorous algae inhabited by meerkats. After 227 days, the lifeboat washes up onto the coast of Mexico and Richard Parker immediately escapes into the nearby jungle.
In the third part of the novel, two officials from the Japanese Ministry of Transport speak to Pi to ascertain why the ship sank. When they do not believe his story, he tells an alternative story of human brutality, in which Pi was adrift on a lifeboat with his mother, a sailor with a broken leg, and the ship's cook, who killed the sailor and Pi's mother and cut them up to use as bait and food. Parallels to Pi's first story lead the Japanese officials to believe that the orangutan represents his mother, the zebra represents the sailor, the hyena represents the cook, and Richard Parker is Pi himself.
After giving all the relevant information, Pi asks which of the two stories they prefer. Since the officials cannot prove which story is true and neither is relevant to the reasons behind the shipwreck, they choose the story with the animals. Pi thanks them and says, "and so it goes with God".