Chapters 53-57

Chapter 53

Pi realizes he faces certain death on the boat and certain death if he jumps overboard. He gains optimism through his religions, trusting he'll be fine as long as he has God on his side. He decides he needs to create a raft is he wants to survive. While the tiger is eating the hyena, Pi manages to complete the raft and tether it to the lifeboat. He jumps aboard. Later, when it starts raining he returns to the lifeboat to get a rain catcher, attracting the attention of Richard Parker in the process.

When Richard Parker accepts the rat from Pi, he shows an almost human characteristic in negotiation. This is interesting because it almost shows the Richard Parker can be somewhat tamed.

Chapter 54

In this chapter, Pi goes over his options with regard to Richard Parker. He comes up with six plans, but feels only one of them is realistic. Given enough time, Richard Parker will die of thirst as he has no water available to him. This gives Pi a sense of optimism, a flickering ray of hope that he must hold onto if he wants to stay sane.

Chapter 55

Pi is hit with the sudden realization that tigers can drink salt water just fine. All of his hopes are dashed. He realizes if he continues with plan 6, he will die before Richard Parker is even uncomfortable.

Chapter 56

Pi thinks about the nature of fear and how fear can destroy someone, regardless of how smart they are. He acknowledges that fear is his true opponent.

The passage "Already your lungs have flown away like a bird...jaw begins to gallop on the spot" (Martel 178-179) stood out to me because once again, Pi uses animals to describe human feelings. It seems Pi resorts to animals when he doesn't know how else to describe something.

Chapter 57

In this chapter, Richard Parker makes a sound that is indicative of harmless intentions (prusten). Pi decides to attempt to tame the tiger by using the whistle as a makeshift whip. It seems to work and Richard Parker cowers in the lifeboat.

A quote to keep in mind is "Knowledge? Was I not a zookeeper's son?" (Martel 182) This quote shows the importance of growing up with a zoo for Pi. The knowledge gained there could be the difference between life and death for him.