Reading Response Posting #3

In the third section of four, the main character, Pi Patel, and the tiger he lives with continue their voyage over the Pacific Ocean. However not everything is going as smoothly as it had previously. Both Pi and Richard Parker, the Bengal tiger, are beginning to feel the effects of having no food or fresh water left. Starvation is quickly becoming the greatest conflict Pi must face, as he has successfully managed to overcome living with a man-eating monster of an animal.

Martel has fruitfully employed Georges Polti’s model for creating a character that has fallen prey to misfortune. This dramatic situation is evident in the fact that not only has Pi been shipwrecked, he has been placed on a lifeboat, alone, with a tiger, and he has begun to run out of his most important possessions, food and water. In addition to this he has been so close to being rescued he could taste it; an oil tanker floated right beside Pi, so he “fired off a rocket flare, but [he] aimed it poorly. Instead of surging over the bulwarks and exploding in the captain’s face, it ricocheted off the ship’s side and went straight into the Pacific” (261). Sadly though, the ship passed by Pi’s lifeboat without noticing him and it soon became a “speck on the horizon” (261).

The theme of survival has continued throughout this portion and the last, although it has been quite evident in this section as Pi has started to give up on surviving, “I had lost all fear of death, and I resolved to die” (268). He has also begun to start imaging things in his mind, “I knew it. I wasn’t hearing voices. I hadn’t gone mad. It was Richard Parker who was speaking to me! The carnivorous rascal” (273). On the contrary, he has “gone mad” and is now beginning to blur reality with his dreams.

Unfortunately for Pi, his hard luck has yet to let up as he has also gone blind, from starvation and exhaustion, and his shortly lived friend, with a French accent, has been eaten by Richard Parker. It is not looking good for Pi, as he seems to be on the verge of death. Fortunately for the reader though, Martel’s zest and loveable writing style are able to lift this dark subject into a puzzlingly upbeat and exciting to read novel. Martel is also able to create a sense of suspense, although not in the traditional form, that would leave anyone wanting to read more.

This book has continued to build, and is only creating more questions, instead of answering them. One could not help but wonder how Pi will manage to get out of his situation. Hopefully though, Martel will be able to do it as artfully as he has been doing, and one cannot help but think that Martel will not disappoint.