Pi has learned about animal nature and its violent capabilities
but it is not until he is faced with these circumstances. Not long after the ship sinks Pi and a tiger named Richard Parker are the only ones left on the lifeboat. Pi fears Richard Parker in some way but when he learns that his chances of survival are becoming very slim he uses his fear as a key to survival. Pi temporarily forgets all his other problems and manages through several courses to dominate Richard Parker. Pi The author uses indirect characterization to show how an awful position can bring out the worst in a man, and unexpected help in the most effective of animals. Pi becomes very quick and aggressive when it comes to finding and consuming food. “I just didn’t have the time to consider what was before me. It either went into my mouth that instant or was lost to Richard Parker, who was pawing and stamping the ground and huffing impatiently on the edge of his territory. It came as unmistakable indication to me of how low I had sunk the day I had noticed, with a pinching of the heart, which I ate like an animal, that this noisy, frantic, unchewing wolfing-down of mine was exactly the way Richard Parker ate.” This compares the close similarities between a man and an animal.