Life of Pi & The Tyger: The Animal Within

A human being is imperfect, driven to survive by the innate animalistic qualities

that promote cruelty and evil.

“In what distant deeps or skiesBurnt the fire of thine eyes?”

(Blake 5-6)

Relations

Life of Pi: Richard Parker is Pi’s creation, a tiger born from his mind who carries out all the acts (murder, cannibalism) that Pi cannot bring himself to do. This allows Pi to stay sane and feel that he is not to blame for the events that transpire. He is simply a spectator as Richard Parker (the animal within him) looks to survive.

The Tyger: The tiger is a symbol for mankind, and the good and evil which resides in humans. By using a tiger in place of people, Blake is able to openly criticize the “deadly terrors” they are capable of causing. “What immortal hand or eye

Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?” (Blake 23-24)

Survival

Life of Pi: The protagonist depends on Richard Parker (a tiger who is the manifest of Pi’s own innate barbaric nature) whose animalistic qualities allow Pi to survive on the lifeboat.

The Tyger: God has created a tiger (a representation of mankind) with the capability to do both great good and terrible evil. While it is not evident why He would imbue the tiger with bad qualities, it is obvious that the tiger now depends on this power and instinct to survive.

“If I still had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker”

(Martel 179)

BalanceLife of Pi: Pi believes that Richard Parker shall eventually attempt to eat him. He lives with a doubt about whether Richard Parker truly views him as a friend, or if eventually the tiger will consume Pi. This is a reflection of the internal struggle he faces as he tries to keep his bestial side in check and make sure it does not consume him completely.

The Tyger: The entire poem revolves around doubt, as the poet questions who would create as dangerous a weapon as the tiger (mankind). The poet does not see why God would create such an animal with such a dangerous side. He cannot comprehend why someone perfect like God would create such an imperfect being. Instead, God has created a balance between the perfect and imperfect.

“What dread graspDare its deadly terrors clasp?”

(Blake 15-16)

I am the only being whose doom

No tongue would ask, no eye would mourn;

I never caused a thought of gloom,

A smile of joy, since I was born.

In secret pleasure, secret tears,

This changeful life has slipped away,

As friendless after eighteen years,

As lone as on my natal day.

There have been times I cannot hide,

There have been times when this was

drear,

When my sad soul forgot its pride

And longed for one to love me here.

But those were in the early glowOf feelings since subdued by care;And they have died so long ago,I hardly now believe they were.

First melted off the hope of youth,Then fancy’s rainbow fast withdrew;And then experience told me truthIn mortal bosoms never grew.

’Twas grief enough to think mankindAll hollow, servile, insincere;But worse to trust to my own mindAnd find the same corruption there

I Am The Only Being Whose Doom (Emily Bronte)

Works Cited

Blake, William. “The Tyger.” Poetry X. Ed. Jough Dempsey. 15 Sep 2003. 02 Aug 2013 http://poetry.poetryx.com/poems/1222/

Bronte, Emily. “I Am The Only Being Whose Doom”. The Poetry Foundation. Nov 2006. Web. 02 August 2013.< http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/184037#poem>.

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. Random House of Canada.

Canada, 2001. Print.