Pi Patel stuck with Richard Parker is a fascinating analogy to the human condition.
Pi = humans and humanity
Richard Parker = death, fear, danger, mortality, knowledge, ignorance, obstacles, suffering, mistreatment, motivation, beauty, awesomeness, power-- which are all part of the HUMAN CONDITION. We are stuck with many obstacles, but we live on. We have enormous potential and power, too.
In your life, what specifically is your "Richard Parker"? Write 314+ of your own words answering this question.
78 comments:
Groninger pd 2
Richard Parker is a symbol of many different things such as death,strength, leadership, agreement, and to me it symbolizes the animalistic nature of humans compared to tigers. The reason I say this comparison is because Pi himself makes the comparison when he is telling the men interviewing him the second story and he talks about how he kills the chef and the one man figures out that each character represents the animals from his first story, and that Pi named himself Richard Parker. This to me shows how people have the capability to became deadly forces and do animalistic things if that is what it takes to survive when pushed to the limit. The main other thing that I think he shows is that this a comparison of how a person can hold in their inner beast while taking things that make them angry and push them down until they burst to the surface in an animalistic rage and possibly threaten to hurt someone who gets in their way. I think this is relating to the people who hold in their anger and then explode at some point causing massive damage or in some cases going on a murderous rampage of a school or workplace that has caused them so much anger and anguish. A different symbol that i think is important would be the strength of will to live that is found in the tiger and Pi. Showing that they will go to any length to be able to live even if it means being tamed or not killing the weak little Indian boy who would provide a momentary satisfaction of a meal. This relationship that is created shows how they are able to both understand that they need each other if they are willing to survive and get back to normal semblance of civilized life.
Randolph Period 6
For Pi, Richard Parker is an inescapable fear that not only fills him with fear, but also keeps him alive. We all have a Richard Parker and for me it is my fear of making mistakes that will lead me to my failure. With the midst of a new life on my hands, I have a lot to look forward to and many mistakes to prevent. This fear of failure is always lurking behind me and questioning my every move. If I go back to drugs, my life will be over, but they are always a phone call away and I know this. Discipline is a very key part to starting out a life and a marriage so young. They call me crazy. I call myself open to a new adventure with new obstacles. I can’t escape this fear. I am metaphorically stuck on a boat with it. Without this fear I would fail. Pi mentions that without Richard Parker he would go insane and would have never made the 227 days at sea alone. Without the fear of failure, we would fail. If we have no fear, the sky would be the limit as to what we would be willing to do. While I avoid and stay clean of drugs, my relationship is strong and healthy and my future in the Airforce can be a successful future building one.
The ocean surrounds us and our fears and leaves no escape. God intentionally makes it so we cannot dodge our fears. If I could simply just avoid my fear of messing up, I would mess up in a heartbeat. Pi learns to live with Richard Parker with confidence of staying alive. The author did this on purpose. We are supposed to replace Pi and Richard Parker with ourselves and our largest inescapable fear. We can survive and make it through life (as our Pacific Ocean) if we can use tactics to live with and in some cases avoid our fears. With the help of encouragement and knowing that my future is made up of what my actions are today, I know that I will not fail.
Nick Larsen
Pd3.
In my life there are many things related to Richard Parker and all the fear, danger, obstacles, and suffering; but the one thing that is most related to this furry fiend is failure. Failure and the fear of doing so is my one thing that puts me down, yet keeps me alive and alert in this world. Not a person I know is afraid of failure because it is in our nature to want to succeed, but failure is always in my thoughts. Failure is an option on every street of life and mistakes made just pushes me further towards it. I cannot out run this fear. The adventure of life lead to many difficult roles that I will have to play at some time or another such as being a husband, father, friend, and other roles. Marriage is tremendous responsibility not only to your wife but to yourself also. I never want to let my wife down because I want to have people, but most importantly her, feel like I am a dependable person. Childhood is full of failure, and none of us would be better in our lives if he had not failed before. When I let my parents down I feel like I am failing as a son and that is like putting a knot in my gut and a weight on my shoulders. Not only does this affect us in negative ways, but positive ways too. Like Richard Parker is not only a danger to Pi but also he a savior to him too. It is a mutualistic relationship where they both benefit from each other. Like failure is also a time in life where we are not only put down, but built up from the lessons learned and experience gained. The fear of failure also drives us to success. It gives us the motivation to work harder and put more efforts into every day applications. My actions in the past, both success and failure, have molded myself into the human being I presently am today. This driving fear will also be my friend in life pushing me to strive for success.
Engebretson, pd 6
Pi’s companion throughout his ordeal at sea is Richard Parker, a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger. Unlike many novels in which animals speak or act like humans, Richard Parker is portrayed as a real animal that acts in ways true to his species. It can be difficult to accept that a tiger and a boy could exist on a lifeboat alone; however, in the context of the novel, it seems plausible. In "Life of Pi," Richard Parker symbolizes death, fear, danger, mortality, knowledge, ignorance, obstacles, suffering, mistreatment, motivation, beauty, awesomeness, and power-- all in which are human like traits. For me, my Richard Parker is a combination of the unknown and growing up in general. I am a firm believer in God and the afterlife, yet I still fear the 'what if' in most situations. I know that everything happens for a reason and as a part of God’s plan, but yet I still struggle in anticipation in most circumstances. I feel that this ties in with my fear of growing up. Everyone always tells me, “You can always stay a child at heart, but you have to grow up sometime.” This statement is amazingly truthful, but I still have trouble grasping it. I want to stay the same goofy person I have been forever, but yet I still want to be taken seriously in my career—God-Willingly as a teacher. I think my fears are relatable to Pi’s ‘Richard Parker’ in life. Richard Parker symbolizes Pi’s most animalistic instincts. Out on the lifeboat, Pi must perform many actions to stay alive that he would have found unimaginable in his normal life. Most people can relate to this as well as the death of a loved one or especially a mother. Losing a mother is like losing the sun above you. I feel that this is almost anyone’s Richard Parker –as well as mine. The brutality of his mother’s death and his own shocking act of revenge are too much for Pi to deal with, and he finds it easier to imagine a tiger as the killer, rather than himself in that role.
Tyler Hansen Pd. 6
In my life Richard Parker is several things. He stands for a fear we must all learn to overcome and deal with. Richard Parker in my life stands for college. It is a scary thing to leave behind everything you once knew as home. It is just like when they leave the mainland and end up getting stranded on the life raft. Going to college I will leave behind a majority of my close friends, my family. The style of life changes as well, you must learn how to become much more independent. College is the unexpected, just like Richard Parker there can be both positives and negatives. If you can learn how to control Richard (college) everything will be easy and smooth going. But if you are not careful it can tear you to pieces, psychologically and financially. College can also be a motivator; if you succeed in college you will undoubtedly make more money throughout your lifetime and have multitudes of career choices. College will push you to your limits; push you deep into the cave of your conscience, force you to find a drive to succeed and continue your journey. Another Richard Parker in my life is something i believe everyone thinks of- finding someone that matches your personality. Not having to go through life alone, being able to have someone to support you when you need it. After all no one wants to be lonely, everyone needs somebody. One who lightens your day, causes a spontaneous smile by doing nothing, a spark within their being that gives you life and motive. When I was younger I feared death, the fact of dying, and the inevitable. Not saying I am not completely over the fear of dying, everyone must have some fear within their souls. It is the unknown, or perhaps the known. I believe in a life after death, but it is beyond human grasps to know how it must feel, to have any idea what happens or how it happens. The unfathomable is scary but also amazing, how many times do you remember a trip that did not have anything go wrong. We have more enjoyment and memories come from the unknown and the unplanned than anywhere else. You learn to live with Richard Parker.
Nicki Steffen Prd. 6
I believe my “Richard Parker” is my work. I love to work. I have a steady job but I know if I do not do something correct I could be out of a job real quick. So my job is precious to me. It lets me have someplace to escape to where I do not have to have the expectations that I do at home or at school. Work is the perfect example of Richard Parker because at work you have expectations to do your best and try to have fun, and to help other people out while you learn yourself. It is a great place to be when you want to learn and when you want to the beauty of power. At my work, it seems everyone thinks they have some sort of power, which technically they do. Without a job and no family to help pay for things we seem to dwindle and are relinquished of that power and potential. But with a job we get the help we need to make it through in life, the push to further ourselves in our careers and our livelihood. There are many obstacles when it comes to work. Always the obstacle of if you are actually doing your job correctly, another obstacle is the obstacle of making sure the customer gets the attention and the help they need and require to find what they are truly looking for and needing. A job has motivation, it has perfection. Nothing is perfect, no one is ever and will ever be perfect but when it comes to work you need the perfect job to succeed, and to excel. That job is yours for however many months or years you want it to be. But it will be yours. You have to make it yours. I earned my job. I work hard every day in everything that I do to succeed and to excel so my life with be as perfect as it can be.
Richard Parker stands for and commands many things: Strength, fear, respect, trust, wisdom, and much more. Richard Parker is many things and people, the Richard Parker of my life would have to be my uncle. He is much bigger than I, and that displays his strength but also creates a sense of fear and respect. Not a trembling fear, but one that shows you that you should not cross him, which is exactly what Pi is afraid of Richard Parker for. You have to respect those bigger and stronger than yourself because the outcome won’t be a pretty one for anyone, including Pi. He provides me with wisdom and insight and I trust my uncle because of who he is. Trust is a key aspect when it comes to many things, and it is very difficult to live life pessimistically. Pi trusts that Richard Parker will not eat him, or kill him – yet still is weary of Richard Parker. Trust only goes a certain distance. Insight and wisdom is a great tool to take from someone, it makes for a better individual. My uncle has quite more years on me and therefore knows more about life and other things, and some things that are said, unintentionally, help me greatly to provide myself with insight about anything. Just as Richard Parker did for Pi. Even though they were stranded on a boat for 227 days and Richard Parker is just a tiger, he gave Pi wisdom and insight into many things. Richard Parker is unable to talk to Pi, but teaches Pi many lessons. As the old proverb goes, “Actions speak louder than words.” My uncle is similarly gruff sounding as Richard Parker’s prusten would sound to Pi. Those rough, yet affectionate sounds they both make. Also, my uncle has the thick, bristly whiskers to rival those of Richard Parkers, which definitely completes their persona.
Trey Martin Pd. 3
Though my Richard Parker is not as exotic as the actual Richard Parker, the lack and presence of motivation plays an equivalent role in acting as my Richard Parker. Motivation can came to me at times when I least expect it, a lot like how Pi surprisingly was placed on a boat with a man eater out of the blue. When I think that the task I am working on requires no motivation is when my boost of reality kicks motivation into my face. Motivation could come to me in any form, be it from an infomercial that might have some inspiring words in it, or in the comfort of my own home, listening to the same songs that I have listened to for years. The exact same words that are like saying the ABC’s to me somehow take on a new meaning, and tell me to get up and do something with your life, whether it be homework, mowing the lawn, or in a bigger sense something to change the world. The thing about motivation that really irks me is when I feel I could really use motivation in something that has mandates of being accomplished and yet I have none. It is not there, nowhere to be found. Where has it gone, I do not know, but it has hidden itself from me. And the even harder thing is that I cannot just call motivation up and say, “Hey I need you, can you be here in five minutes.” It seems to me as if motivation has put itself light years away without the possibility of ever returning to earth. Like Richard Parker, motivation scares me in a sense when I know that I must to something just for the sake of feeling better about myself. I know that whatever it is I want to do is not going to hurt me, but there is that fear of degradation and degeneracy. I need the scary factor of motivation though to keep moving forward. Like we run away from scary things in horror films, I want to run away from the things that can prevent me from living a fuller and purposeful life. We need to keep running order to live, and I need to have motivation chasing me like Freddy Kruger in order to actually do something in life worth accreditation. Motivation is my Freddy Kruger that I cannot live without.
Bachman Pd. 3
Richard Parker can represent fear, failure, anxiety, and many other things. For some he is a job, or person in their life. My Richard Parker is school. When you are in school you can feel protected. School can be a very helpful place because you are gaining knowledge for your future…and then you add in extra curricular activities, jobs, volunteering, etc. and it all gets to be too much. So the line has to come in somewhere and ask what needs to be done first? This is why students stay up so late at night studying and doing homework every night. It is so they can do all the things they need to do outside of school also. For most students, after school is over they either go to an extra curricular activity or go to a job. These activities can sometimes last well into the night. Jobs can last until just as long. And then students have to go home and start homework for all five to six classes they may have. When it is already ten o’clock and you have not even started homework, it can be a very stressful and sleepless night. If they do manage to get the homework all done, they are likely to not be fully aware of their surroundings the next day because of a lack of sleep the night before. While in school they will most likely get more homework or have to study for a test the next day. Same routine follows. The get home late and start all over again. This can actually have very negative effects on your body. Whether it be just lack of sleep or all the caffeine and sugar you are putting into your body to stay awake to study and do homework. Sometimes we need a little down time to just chill. Well that’s what weekends are for right? Wrong. This is when you are catching up on doing your homework and going to a job so you can have money (to spend during the free time you never have) or sometimes you even have extra curricular on the weekends too. This is why school is like my Richard Parker. It can be a safe haven for some like Pi. And for others, school can tear you apart like the Frenchman in the other boat.
Logan p.2
Richard Parker is one of the most significant and note worthy symbols in the award winning novel—Life of Pi. Richard Parker represents numerous qualities—some scary, but essential. The novel’s famous tiger symbolizes fear, knowledge, mistreatment, and motivation. Looking at my life, school is the dangerous but vital Richard Parker. High school fills your mind with fearful thoughts much like thanksgiving dinner fills your stomach. Fear of not fitting in has always been a fear of mine. Society and the small town of Brandon have become so materialistic. Instead of competing in sports—students compete to see who is wearing the best and most expensive clothes. Some students do not even give you the time of day just by looking at what you are wearing. The fear of not fitting has left me with empty pockets and hardly any additional confidence. A school’s main purpose is to educate. With education comes knowledge. Pre-school is the first step in your educational walk. In pre-school you learn colors, shapes, numbers and the building blocks on how you should act in a school-like setting. As you grow—so does your brain. Now a senior in college bound class, I am putting all these letters together: creating words, then sentences, next paragraphs and last— successfully creating eight page papers. Sadly, mistreatment is another quality school holds. Walking down an average high school hallway, it is filled with dirty looks, obvious whispers and stabbing words—every word cutting deeper and deeper. Often times you hear about this painful activity ending with self-harm or worse—suicide. On a more positive note, school also provides motivation. Graduation is in 36 days; I will get my diploma in 36 days. May 15th is the first day to a new beginning. I have worked so hard to get to this point and it is finally happening. With this diploma I will go to college and pursue my dream in becoming an events planner. My hard work through high school has motivated me to work just as hard in college; it gave me the confidence to know that hard work and dedication pays off in the end. With such a spectrum of qualities, Richard Parker and school are beyond important. Without Richard Parker, Pi would not have the motivation to survive; without school, my life would have no structure and no will power to accomplish anything.
Herrman
pd.3
Richard Parker stands for many things for Pi. He is fear, knowledge, death, danger, obstacles and more. In the novel Pi has to overcome his fear for Richard Parker and find ways to deal with his situation in a positive manner in order to survive. For me the fear of failure is always on my mind in doing anything I do. I of coarse want to be the best I can at whatever I do and with drive and passion I can succeed. But no matter what I always think what if I don’t do good or I fail. And sometimes that train of thought gets in the way of me doing well. It is an obstacle I have to overcome and gain as much from it as I can. So like Pi I have to make it positive and gain the confidence to overcome my giant obstacles. I do not know if there is really anyone who is not scared to fail. Whenever I make mistakes I feel like I am slipping closer to failure. I do not let it bother me too much and try not to think about it a lot either because if I do it will cause me to be distracted by the negative and I want to be positive. I feel like the fear to fail is only a danger but it is good to. If I do not want to fail then I am going to do all I can to stay away from it and succeed. Like Richard parker to Pi, Richard parker is a complete danger to him but if treated right he is also a savior. I will always have it in the back of my mind and be scared of it hurting me but I am also glad it will be there it gives me something to prove wrong when I out smart it. I feel like the Relationship between Pi and Richard Parker has taught me lessons how to deal with my own Richard Parker.
Mitzel Pd. 6
Pi represents our lives living with our own fears. Every person can relate to Pi and some of his same fears. Richard Parker is a 450 pound Royal Bengal tiger; he represents fear, obstacles, suffering, and motivation. In my life, my Richard Parker is failure and the unknown future. I have no way of predicting where I will be in 10 years or even 2 months. I know I will be going to college but I do not know where my rough times will be. The thought a failure and losing the best things I have in my life are constantly pushing me day to day. I want to be well prepared for anything that could/will happen to me throughout my life. I fear going to college, losing friends, and not succeeding. Every choice we make day to day will affect our outcomes in life.
Going to college is a lot like Pi when he first gets onto the boat. He is thrown into an unfamiliar territory with new people/animals and places to explore. Everything is learning on your own. You set the bedtime, you do your homework, you find your food. You have left your family/friends/support miles away from you and now it is time to grow up by yourself. Everyday will create more obstacles and loss of hope but we must never let our failures overcome us. We are stronger then we take ourselves to be. Meeting new friends may not be my favorite thing but when push comes to shove, it will always be better than being alone. Loneliness is pretty close to one of my biggest fears also. Pi states in the book that he would not have made it without Richard Parker. Without him, he would have no obstacles and things to do throughout the day. He would waist away into nothing.
We need our fears and doubts to help us succeed. All my fears push me harder to learn and grow in all I do. Our fears make us who we are, without them we are without motivation. We will lack drive in everything we do. If I had no fears or worries, nothing would get accomplished and I would never find love. We all know our fears and learn that we have to deal with them in our own ways. I fear failure, loneliness, and the unknown but they will never keep me down.
Neuberger--Pd. 3
Richard Parker is the most important and notable symbol in the novel, Life of Pi. Richard Parker represents many things while on the lifeboat with Pi Patel. He represents death, fear, knowledge, ignorance, obstacles, suffering, and mistreatment. When I look at my life two things really stand out as being my Richard Parker. I believe failure and my future are my obstacles. Richard Parker is a huge 450 pound domesticated cat. He is in quite the predicament with Pi—living on a 26 foot lifeboat with each other. That provokes death, fear, knowledge, and so much more in Pi. Failing in life is probably my biggest fear. I want to have a successful career that I love. I want to have a good, loving family. And I want to have pleased everyone that has raised me. My aunt always tells me it takes a village to raise a child and that is very true—much too many children’s dismay. It takes a lot to raise children—time, effort, money, patience, etc. I would not ever want to let my parents and family down by not applying myself to my highest ability. Lying ahead in the future I know there will be times I fail. I may not get into the sorority I have been dreaming of. I may not become a nurse anesthetist like I have been envisioning myself as. I may not get the job I wanted right after college. So many things lie ahead in my future it is starting to become nerve racking. There are 22 days left of school, before I graduate and move on to the next stage in my life. The fear of failure and the unknown future is very scary. I have the perfect little life all played out in my mind; Richard Parker is also in there holding me back. I know if I aim high I will do fine, but the knowledge I already have of Richard Parker keeping me from dreams will affect me. My dad keeps telling me I have to treat these last few days of high school as if they were a 100m dash. You never slow down once you see the finish line; you accelerate and finish stronger than you started. The fear that I have of failing in the future will one day be upon me, but with all of my schooling and life experiences I will be able to get through it; just like Pi will get off of that boat with Richard Parker.
Abby Moschell
Pd 3
Richard Parker brings a lot of fear to Pi on the lifeboat. Parker makes Pi think about his actions before he does them because if Pi does not he could get eaten by Richard Parker. My Richard Parker is probably college and the unknown. The last few weeks I have really been thinking about college and all the different things that I will not have that I am so used to. Being away from my family brings a lot of unsecure feelings to my head. The fact that they do so much for me and I am so close to them does not make college seem like a fun change. I am not sure that college will be what I think it should be like and I am not very fond of change in that regard. I feel like if I am too shy when it comes to college it will eat me up and spit me out. I think with all the hard work I have put into my education will help me with college and making me become what I want to. I have always had the dream of becoming a doctor but I have the fear that all those years in school to become a doctor will cause me to be to far in debt to reach my goal. Being the first person in my family to go out into the real world with no one to guide me scares me. Luckily I know I am able to pursue my dreams if I have the right mindset. I know there might be bumps in the road as I try and reach my goals but I think I will be able to pursue. I always think of it this way if life gives you lemons you make lemonade and that is what I plan to do. I have a lot of major goals in my life but the fear of the unknown really scares me. There is a lot of “What if…” situations that comes into my head.
Kramer
Richard Parker is a symbol of many things in this novel – Life of Pi. They all relate to something that any human can relate to in their day to day lives and trying to succeed in anything we do. Pi has to find a way to make do with Richard Parker on the life boat for 227 days, without self motivation, perseverance, and quick wit he would not be able to survive. The tiger in my life would be growing up and change in general. People tell me to have as much fun as I can while I am still a kid and in school. They say once you get into the “real” world you will be missing high school already. I can see the point of view their coming from having to work a full day five or six days a week can get old after awhile, with no matter what career field you go into. Pi has to grow up faster than most of us will ever have to experience; one day he is on his way to Canada with his family and the next he is on a life boat with Richard Parker. Number one he has to make sure he is safe from this beast; then he has to bring the bare essentials for living into access, all while on a twenty-six foot life boat and rickety little raft. Change in general for me is hard to get used too, I go through a daily routine that does not differ much from day to day. The transition from high school to college will be a hard one to get used to for me. Being away from home I know will be good for me but is scary at the same time. For an animal like Richard Parker, a normal animal raised in a zoo, he has a normal routine that is usually arranged for him by the zoo keepers. Now his routine has been broken, until Pi fills that position in his life bringing him food and water for him to stay alive at sea. We all have to go through changes as we grow up, either from moving on to a higher education or even to starting a family. When all of us come to that point in our lives we learn as we go, gaining experience along the way; just as Pi has done to stay alive with Richard Parker.
Schwarz pd. 7
For Pi Patel, Richard Parker is his everything; whether it be his fear, love, or perseverance, Pi admits that he would not have lasted the 227 days out on the Pacific Ocean. For me, my Richard Parker is the future, not knowing what lies ahead of me. Growing up in a family where there has always been a plan of the day or an activity, it is hard to grow out of that aspect of my life, knowing what is going to happen for sure in my own future. Pi does not know if at one point Richard Parker might attack him, or if he can keep up his training of this beast. The training of a beast for a high school senior is graduation, and moving forward with your life, and starting a new generation that will carry on your footsteps. Richard Parker is Pi's future, by keeping him sane, always on his toes and on guard, trying to be in control as much as possible. However, control is sometimes uncontrollable; Pi cannot control Richard Parker completely just like a human being cannot control the way their body's system works. Things could go perfectly well in a human's life, perfect health, or go on a downward spiral and start attacking itself to protect when there is nothing wrong. Pi does as much as he possibly can to control him, but all animals are wild, no matter how "housebroken" they appear to be. Also, my Richard Parker is my family. Without the love and companionship that families provide, life would be a boring waste to be in. As stated before, Richard Parker keeps Pi sane. Without his sanity, Pi would not have anything to look forward to, seeing as the rest of his family passed away with the sinking of the Tsimtsum, would not write a message in a bottle, hoping for rescue of him and Richard Parker. So, summed up all together is that my Richard Parker is my hope. Hope for healthiness, happiness, and love from all the people that work and grow around and with me.
Erickson pd. 2
Richard Parker is a notable part in this excellent novel—“Life of Pi”. He is a big symbol that we humans can easily relate to. He symbolizes fear that all of us have at one point in life. In my life, my fear is having the best future I can possibly have. In order to overcome my fear, I have to overcome important obstacles just like Pi needs. I would have to overcome finding the perfect man, graduating college with fantastic grades, raising a family, and getting the perfect job for me. The next step on my ladder is college which will be coming up in exactly 137 days. This may seem like a long time, but it is simply not enough for me. I fear of not being successful in college. Finding a studious, trustworthy group of friends is something I also fear. I don’t want to be placed in a group of people who will spend every weekend partying and not studying. I want to have fun, but I also need to respect my studies and spend a lot of my time working on being the best I can to impress professors. If I do this, my success will be much better in finding a perfect job for me. When I find a stable job, I will be able to support a family which I have been dreaming of. I want my children to have a phenomenal life. In order for me to fulfill my dream, I will need to dedicate all of my time outside of work to my children. Children are hard to take care of. They need patience, money, time, love, and effort. Pi’s fear is Richard Parker. He fears that someday Richard Parker will eat him up in one bite. In order to overcome his fear, he needs to overcome obstacles like taming him and showing him who is the leader. Completing obstacles to overcome your fear gives you hope to overcome your fear; Once Pi tames Richard Parker, he will come off that boat alive and happy.
Richard Parker mean a lot of things to me but a major one for me would have to be college. College is going to be a whole different ball game. We will have to stretch our selves thinner then ever before and really focus on the tasks ahead of us. I know that I am going to be nervous jumping into that ship, and when it comes, I hope that I will be ready. I am deathly afraid of what is going to happen when I go to college. I will be heading up to SDSU next year and I am beginning to wonder if I am making the right choice by choosing to go to a public school Vs a private school. I understand that private colleges probably have if not more parties then public campus’s do but I am nervous that I am going to fall into temptation when I go up there. I have spent all of my high school career making sure that I stay clean of drugs and alcohol, not to say that I wasn’t tempted, but I stayed clear. Being around that all the time next year is definitely what I think my Richard Parker is right now. I would also have to say that another one of my Richard Parkers is the fact that I don’t know if I am choosing the right profession. I know that I want to go into education and theater, but I feel like the other talents and loves that I have might go to waste and I am afraid to let that happen. I firmly believe that God gave everyone of us talents and abilities that are meant to glorify him, so what if the talent I am choosing isn’t the right one. If only I had time to sit down and think over everything! I know that my peace will come one day soon and that I will know what my purpose in life is going to be. But for now, I can’t wait to read the rest of the novel!
Mariah Nachreiner
Period 2
Throughout the novel Richard Parker symbolizes many human conditions, such as death, fear, danger, mortality, knowledge, ignorance, obstacles, suffering, mistreatment, motivation, and hope. Pi states multiple times how without Richard Parker he would no longer be living. Richard Parker gives him hope, friendship, and love. An example of this is when Pi and Richard Parker see the enormous ship and are filled with hope and then they realize the ship does not see them and the ship is headed right for them. After this fiasco, Pi states, “I love you! I truly do. I love you, Richard Parker. If I didn’t have you now, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t think I would make it. No I wouldn’t. I would die of hopelessness. Don’t give up Richard Parker, don’t give up. I’ll get you to land, I promise, I promise!” (236). My Richard Parker is hope. I fear my hopes and dreams could be crushed unexpectedly in the future. Much like how Pi is given the hope he may be saved and then unexpectedly the little hope he has is crushed and he is back to square one. The time has come where we as seniors are moving on with our lives. Some of us jobs some college. Mine is college. My dream is to attend college, do well, find a job, and start a career and family. But, I am afraid of what obstacles may come my way. I am not always promised a rewarding easy ride throughout college. Hard work, intelligence, and fate are what decide my future. Our fears and doubts are an important factor in what makes us succeed. All my fears push me harder to learn and grow in all I do. Our fears are what create who we are, and without fear we become unmotivated and unsuccessful. If I had no fears or worries, nothing would get accomplished my hopes and dreams would never come true. We all know our fears and learn that we have to deal with them in our own ways.
Zins p.7
Richard Parker is a very prominent figure in the novel Life of Pi. Everyone has their own Richard Parker in their lives, something that taunts them and makes them feel pressured constantly. In my life, Richard Parker is the pressure of living up to my parent’s standards of excellence for me. Staying up late to study for tests or just get my homework done is a constant struggle for me and my parents try to teach me that that is the way to get what you want in life. “Hard work and perseverance always pays off,” my dad regularly says. In times when I feel that I have no energy to do anything at all I think of what my dad would be saying if I just sat down and did nothing all night. He would be disappointed and tell me to stop being lazy. When striving for the approval from parents many children would not try super hard, but for me, hearing my parents say, good job or I’m proud of you means more than many things in my life combined. With the acceptance of my parents I feel that many things are possible, graduating from high school, going to college to pursue my dream job, buying a house, getting married, and having kids. My parents opinions are play a very important role in my life; much like Richard Parker has played into Pi’s life, because of being stuck on the boat with Richard Parker Pi’s life has forever been changed. He has learned to survive through many things and knows how to handle certain situations. My parents have done this for me my whole life, teaching me right and wrong, how to deal with stress, and how to work hard for what you get. Exceeding their expectations for my life is what I strive to do and I will surpass the expectation of my Richard Parker.
Makayla Henning pd. 7
The author of Life of Pi, Yann Martel, has presented Pi with obstacles, fear, danger, death, and motivation. All of those things are represented through the tiger, Richard Parker. In order to survive, Pi has to deal with Richard Parker and make the best of things with the resources he has been given. Pi learns how to handle the situations he is presented with. The Richard Parker of my life is my future career. I feel as if there is no overcoming my fear of the unknown. Whenever I picture myself as an adult I see myself working some unrespectable job while everyone else is prospering. I worry so much about attending the right college and receiving the best education possible. I plan on being a nurse anesthetist and I understand how much dedication and drive it will take to become one. I fret of failure. I am terrified of all the disappointment my failure will cause within my friends and family. There will be such a long struggle towards my goal of becoming a nurse anesthetist. I do not know that I am ready for all of the ups and downs on this path. I will not be alone like Pi Patel though because I will have the support of my friends and family. I try to have a positive outlook on my predicament most days and just take everything that comes my way one day at a time, which is exactly how Pi handles living on a 26 foot boat with Richard Parker for 227 days. It really is not a plausible thing for Pi to have made it out alive from his scenario, but it at least makes me think that if he can handle near death experiences then I will be able to make it through college and achieve my dream of being a nurse anesthetist.
Brianna Bly Pd. 6
Throughout my life, I have had different forms of Richard Parker. As of today, my Richard Parker is college. It is everything that describes this Bengal tiger. School will be dangerous, motivating, awesome, knowledgeable and more. Thinking about next year makes me both scared and excited. My years at SDSU will be the best and worst times of my life, and it will shape me into the productive and hardworking adult I plan to be. There is no avoiding growing up, just like Pi can’t avoid Richard Parker. Even though it will be a major change in my life, I am choosing to do something with my life and taking the next step. School will keep me occupied, and it will give me a place to use my time and effort. Pi chooses survival and keeps himself busy with keeping everything in good shape. I choose to be a good student, and plan to keep myself busy with homework and extracurricular activities such as chorus and drama. There will be different tasks and people who will be obstacles during my years at college, and I feel that I am ready to take them on. I will do my very best to avoid mistreating those around me, and I am well aware that there will be some who will choose mistreatment as a way to humor themselves. Pi needs this Bengal tiger like I need college. Without it, I will not be able to “survive” in our consumer society. My future will depend on accomplishing the high set goals I have for myself. Pi has no idea that he is going to end up in this life-threatening circumstance when boarding the Tsimtsum. Even though I am more aware of what the future has in store for me, I know I will be put in situations where I will not know what to do and will have to adjust to my surroundings. I am looking forward to meeting new people and to experiencing life as a college student. If Pi can survive the ocean in a lifeboat with a tiger, I am confident that I will dominate at college.
Melissa Johnston pd.3
Throughout this novel I have been asking myself this very same question. What isolates me? What threatens my life every day, what embraces it, what holds me back and then again embraces my future. I would have to go with School. School is my Richard Parker. My youth pastor once described school as “ a big box you are thrown into and forced to fight for your life every day.” I realized it not too soon once this year came along. It isolates you, keeping you away from a realistic sense of the real world. It threatens me in a way that I have to be top notch at everything I can possibly do yet it dares me to be a better person, and make better decisions. It holds me back in a sense of community, not being able to serve the way I might want to in our little society, but at the same time it is preparing me to learn from people who want me to go out in the world and do bigger and better things to make this already big world into a better place. In many ways I am threatened with the reality that will sooner or later slap back in my face, but I am also comforted knowing that I can always go back, and refer to the teachers who have stuck by my side through these challenging four years. Eventually, these high school experiences will leave me, oral interp, speech, fine arts, musicals, band, chorus, but the memory of learning, and the satisfaction of building character will never be taken away. Knowing that it will always be there, much like Pi knowing Richard Parker is safe in the jungle. Taking my experiences, telling my story and embracing what will come next with open arms and a prepared heart. My Richard Parker, is much more mighty than a figment of my imagination.
Richard Parker in the novel Life of Pi symbolizes a lot of things. He symbolizes death, fear, danger, knowledge, ignorance, obstacles, and many more. My Richard Parker would have to be the fear of the law. I’m sure that it could be that for many people because the law is one step from getting you away from getting you separated from society for a long time or for a short amount of time. For example, if you got into trouble with the law for drugs, depending on the number of times you have gotten caught, you could be in prison for quite some time. I am sure that fear that the person that is going away for a long time fears for his family in that he hopes they stay safe, family fears for him and the fact they can only see him from a glass door. You could say that motivation to be on good behavior in jail could lead to getting out sooner and getting back to his family. You would think that people would fear for the law because I am pretty sure that people would fear for their family if they were separated all the time, but for some people that do not have families, they could care less to be in jail or not because some of them do not have anything to go back to so they overcome obstacles to either get out of jail or get themselves into jail. The reason for that is because some of them are homeless people, and committing a crime just to get into jail is just a free ticket to food, shelter, and water. Just like in the book Life of Pi, Pi had to overcome obstacles to get food, water, and food, people that are homeless have to get over their fears to committing crimes to get them a place to stay. It is just one of many things that can represent Richard Parker.
Drenth Pd. 2
Richard Parker can represent fear, obstacles, suffering, motivation, death, danger, and knowledge. For some people, their Richard Parker is a person or a job. For me, my Richard Parker is school. We are protected from any people that can hurt us. Richard Parker can protect Pi from animals like sharks or the visitor that try to kill Pi. We also are sometimes scared of school. If we do something wrong or, for some of us, do not get good grades, we get worried. School also helps us get a better life and get through life. We can go to college and get a degree thanks to going to school. We become smarter because we go to school. If we did not go to school, we would not know how to do math, or how to read, or how to write. We would not be able to get a good job and how would you like it if your doctor was not very smart? Pi mentions how it is because of Richard Parker that he did not lose hope. Richard Parker was the reason why Pi keeps fighting for his life and Richard Parker’s life. School is also an obstacle. We are stuck at school five days a week from 8 a.m. to 3:10 p.m. Plus after we get home, we have to do homework, work, and sports. We barely have any time to do what we want to do. When we do finally get to do homework, it is late at night; therefore we get barely any sleep. With the same routine everyday, we loose a lot of sleep. This is not good for our bodies. This can tear our bodies apart, just like Richard Parker tore the visitor apart. School can also be our motivation. We are motivated to get good grades so we can go to college and get a good job. Without a good job, we cannot get a good amount of money. Some people do not care about grades, but I do. Therefore that makes school my motivation. And that makes the school like Richard Parker. Richard Parker motivated Pi to live longer and not just die right away.
Ryan Rohrbach Period 6
My Richard Parker or my fear would have to be life its self. From one of my essays, earlier this school year, I wrote I wrote about how life is a Nightmare. Life puts you in situations everyday with a very high risk of dying yet we still go places in metal death traps. When we drive the metal death traps we are taking a high risk of dying because there are other people driving the death traps around you. The other people are not always smart because they think they are invincible or nothing will ever happen to them just like Minnesota people. In my essay I wrote about three different time, this school year, that I could have died. One of the times was when my brother and I went into a ditch during the winter, but our dad came to pick us up. As i was speed walking towards his van i slipped on black ice and a car was nearing straight towards us. Life can throw many situations at you where you have an immense chance to die. You have a monstrous chance to die when your vehicle slides into the ditch because you could have your vehicle flip and die from the crash. Even driving to the school some dumb driver could run right into you and kill you in an instant. You might even be driving home after just having dinner with your family and a drunk driver kill you and your family while he is fine. September 11, 2001 the passengers on the planes never expected to die on the plane but life dealt them a bad hand. Some passengers risked there life knowing that they would not survive that day so they did there best to save the most lifes. In the end life always wins. Life is like a nightmare, the possibility of death lurks.
Koens Pd. 3
Throughout the story told by Pi I realized Richard Parker symbolizes so many different things to Pi; He symbolizes death, fear, mortality and many more things. Pi was stuck with Richard Parker on the lifeboat for 227 days. Pi was scared of him yet Richard Parker saved Pi’s life in many ways. Richard Parker in a sense gave Pi the will to live. Without Richard Parker’s company Pi would most definitely have gone insane. My Richard Parker is failure. My Failure symbolizes the same things that Richard Parker symbolizes to Pi. I believe that my fear of failure has made me in a sense a little bit of a perfectionist when it comes to school and sports. I strive for the best I can get and if my best is a B that is okay but I rarely get C’s. I think this fear of failure really helps me push myself to succeed in everything I do. I am or was the number one player for Brandon Valley High School for two years and played varsity for five years. This shows that I push myself to be the best. Not many people strive and compete to be a varsity player on a high school sport when they are just in middle school, but I did and I made it. Although tennis is a little bit different than other sports in the aspect of being able to move up, everyone practices in the same area so the coaches can see talent. Also, depending how you look at it tennis is an individual sport, or so many people see it that way. I see it completely the opposite but that is my view being on the team for a long time. All in all Pi’s Richard Parker is very closely the same to my Richard Parker. They both make us strive to do better. Pi had to strive to find food and water for both of them and I strive to do the best to get a good job to eventually provide for my family.
Garner Pd.2
Pi is such a relatable character, because he is only human. He makes mistakes, has fears, shows emotion, and occasionally succeeds. If he was perfect and got every detail correct on the first try we would not be able to relate ourselves to him as much, because that is not reality. Richard Parker is dangerous beauty. The Richard Parker in my life right now would have to be my quickly approaching life as a soldier in the Army National Guard. I am excited but terribly scared. I want to make a difference in this world and help people. I know that somewhere down the road there is going to be conflict between us and another country and I will be putting my life in harm’s way for the protection of others and that scares the crap out of me. As scared as I am for training to begin I am also thrilled. I get to be a part of something bigger than myself and receive outstanding skills. As of right now I have no regrets regarding joining the Guards, but the unknown keeps me awake at night. I like to control certain aspects of my life and once in the presence of higher command my voice is nothing. This is going to drag me out of my comfort zone and into a whole new world. Another Richard Parker that lingers in my mind is most definitely college. Once I finally get in to the routine of things in high school I am thrown into a brand new setting. I like to be prepared and right now I feel like I am going into everything blindfolded. My parents have prepared me well for the life outside of their shelter, but college is the one thing that they have not experienced so they could not offer me any forewarning. The unknown and unexpected is my biggest fear and everything in my life right now is just that.
Natalie Turner
Period 2
In the book Life of Pi there is a tiger called Richard Parker. He is on the lifeboat with Pi in the middle of the ocean and Richard Parker represents fear, death, obstacles, and suffering. My Richard Parker is the uncertainty of the future. Not knowing what is going to happen to you is quite scary. One minute you could be perfectly normal but then there may be one small thing that turns you world upside down. One of the most unknown things for me and the rest of my class is graduating and then off to start in the really world, weather it being college, job, or even tech school. We all are wondering if we are making the right decision for us because this is a crucial time for us because this decision of what to do next will impact our lives forever. Now we are on our own and have to make our own decisions and our parent will not be able to bail us out of things we are pretty much dependant on our own. This frightens me because I want to do the best that I can and succeed in what I plan on doing just like the rest of the kid in my class. Another is not letting this pass us by because great things do not come around all the time so you have to act on it as soon as possible or else you may lose it forever. Taking chances and going outside your comfort zone is scary because you are not use to it, but it may be the best thing that you could ever do. Every minute counts and letting something slip by you can impact you for a long time. I have let a lot of things slip and now I wish I haven’t so I am not devoting to not lets thing slip but seize them with every opportunity as possible.
Aaron Engebretson Period 3
For most people, Richard Parker is death, fear, danger, knowledge, or many other things. My Richard Parker is the need to try to make everyone happy, the need to never want to disappoint someone, especially my parents, my family, teachers, and friends, and the need to never want to make a mistake in life. I never want to make someone feel bad about them and I never want to see someone in a bad mood. I want to make everyone happy every day and sometimes that puts me in situations I never want to be in. If two people are mad at each other I always seem to be in the middle of it trying to bring everything back to normal. I hear the terrible sides about the other person involved and yeah….it sucks. Never wanting to disappoint anybody is a terrible flaw in my eyes. “I am disappointed in you Aaron.” Those words pierce through me like a knife. Even when they do not say those words it always seems like they are leaning to them or saying them in a different way. The problem is when I do something wrong I do not want people to know about it because it just makes me look like an idiot. In middle school and throughout my freshman year of high school when I was getting terrible grades, I never wanted my parents to know. All of my other siblings were straight “A” students or very close to it so when I received bad grades and my parents asked how my school work was going I would just lie straight to their faces. I just wanted to seem like I was just like my siblings and just a straight “A” student. Also, I never want to make a mistake. I believe that without mistakes you will never know right from wrong, but I also believe that mistakes show the bad qualities in people.
Sperlich—pd. 6
Motivation, obstacles in life, and laziness, all represent Richard Parker. In Life of Pi, Richard Parker motivates Pi to stay alive; he is a major obstacle on the boat—trying to go around a 450-pound Royal Bengal tiger is not an easy task. Richard Parker is lazy. It is as simple as that; he is a tiger after all. Tigers are engineered by God to be lazy but fierce when needed to be. My obstacles or the Richard Parker in my life is just that, motivation and laziness. My motivation in life is different than most people. I am more motivated by helping others than I am about school or anything else. Actually, if I did not have to go to school I probably would not. I would spend my whole life helping others with disabilities or helping a homeless, addicted man on the streets find a warm place to live—get him back on his feet. I am motivated from my family just like Pi is motivated from Richard Parker. Once afraid to admit it, I am lazy. I know now that being lazy during school can get me in a lot of trouble—not by being reprimanded by authorities. By being lazy, it could cost me being a horrible student in college—a dorm sloth. I may not be able to help the ones I want to because of my obstacle in life. I am trying to overcome both being lazy and trying to stay motivated during school. Sometimes I find it hard—I almost did not want to write this blog because I had other things to do or just plain did not want to write it. My Richard Parker is like my id, needing to be controlled at times and others it is fine. Laziness needs to change, but my motivation for others needs to live on.
Murtha pd. 6
In Life of Pi Richard Parker is Pi’s worst enemy and only ally. He is an animal version of Donald Trump. If you can do a good job feeding him money, or in this case food, he will let you be but if you do not then you are fired (eaten). My personal Richard Parker is my indecision. I plan on going to SDSU in the fall but I have still not decided the major that I wish to take. I feel that I enjoy and would excel at many different tasks but I have not formally chosen a path. This is scary for me especially because I usually have someone to give me some rather ingenious insight so that I might make the best decision. In this case however I must scout my own path without a wise, old hermit to lead me. My indecision is much like Richard Parker because it is motivating me to pull out my proverbial machete and strike my own path. It also represents my fear of not having anyone to spot me as if I was lifting. Richard Parker also symbolizes ignorance, much like how I have ignored my need to better understand what I wish to do with my life after high school. I have left it as untended as a lawn and now I must spend so much extra time in the blazing sun working to trim it down. Even though I have not finished Life of Pi I have inferred that Pi had to eventually face Richard Parker and was able to conquer him. If Richard Parker also symbolizes power than hopefully when I defeat my personal Richard Parker I will become more powerful. I hope that I am like Pi and can overcome this colossal obstacle that is in my way. Now that I think about the book more intellectually if there was no Richard Parker it would simply be called A Boy Alone on a Boat which would not grab a reader’s attention. If the book needs Richard Parker as the major antagonist to give the book its power and suspense does that mean I need this Richard Parker to add suspense and unknowing to keep me tentative and on the edge of my seat to see how it ends?
Haase pd. 2
Its as simple as this, Richard Parker is the reason Pi Patel is alive. He had Richard Parker as a companion for two hundred and twenty-seven days in the novel Life of Pi. Not only was he a companion but he was also something Pi could take care of. It gave Pi a purpose to life. Taking Care of himself, a tiger, and their habitat together. I would have to say my Richard Parker on life, the thing that keeps me going, or gives me purpose is my need to care for others. Much like Pi Patel I enjoy taking care of others but in a different sense of the word. I always believed everyone’s voice should be heard, life is a struggle among life forms and sometimes others need help. I think we forget this sometimes, so consumed in our material lives. Much like the relationship between Pi and the tiger we need to reach across social hierarchies or our spot on the food chain and help each other survive. This is something that makes life worth it, even if you do not know what your life holds in the future then maybe like Pi and me you can do what you can to help someone else figure it out. This book is all based off of survival of the fittest, be it brawn or brain if we work together we can survive more than two hundred days with a tiger. I also have my care free ways of thinking. I live life with a carefree attitude. Why spend a life being uptight and always on schedule when you can just do what makes you happy and do it with the people you enjoy. I would rather be poor and happy than to be rich and snotty. Its these libertarian ideas that give my life purpose, my purpose, is to not have a purpose, I just want to help others and pass the knowledge that I absorb through trial and error. This is my Richard Parker.
Joe Boy Pd. 3
Personally I see Richard Parker as a friend, not an enemy. Almost a coworker in the sense that we are both working towards the common goal of surviving. Even though it would be easier to survive if you ate one another, you have too much respect for the other to do so. You would rather die of starvation or thirst than kill each other to remain alive. So in my life, my Richard Parker would have to be my girlfriend. Someone I have grown to love, have tremendous respect for, and find beauty in. Pi loves Richard Parker--he tells us so, he has the utmost respect for Richard Parker--he acknowledges his power as a predator--and he constantly recognizes how beautiful Richard Parker is to him. So yes, my Richard Parker is my girlfriend. However, Richard Parker could also be somebody like my dad. I look up to my dad, like Pi does to Richard Parker. I respect my dad's strength, also like Pi. There are certain attributes that tigers have that make them naturally scary though. Comparing R.P. with fear should not be too difficult; everybody is afraid of something. I suppose my scary Richard Parker would be dying before my family members. I feel that I am strong enough to go on living without feeling horribly lost, as to where they would mourn me more than needed. If I were dead, I would like my parents and sister to keep living like they normally would. Not being on earth to take care of my family bothers me more than my own life being in jeopardy. I would rather be an orphan, than to see my family's pain from my early death. So my Richard Parker is my own death, but not in a selfish way, in a way that I wouldn't want my family to suffer.
Winterringer 2
My Richard Parker is my fear. My fear is something that is always there; something I have to deal with daily. Most people fear things like spiders, snakes, heights, or confined spaces. My fear is a little bit more out of the ordinary. I do not necessarily fear a physical thing. What I fear is something more on a metaphysical level. To put it simply, I am afraid of stagnation; the lack of progress. I have a drive to always progress further and to always better myself. I am also afraid of never reaching my potential. There are millions of people on this earth, and for the most part, they will pass through their few thousand hours like a lit match in the wind, never accomplishing anything lasting. They will never truly live, but die in the end anyway. Most people are just going to accept the standard of average and settle for what is just “good enough”. That is what I fear. I am afraid of settling and just giving in to the mindset of “that’s just the way it is”. I am afraid of letting myself just be average and being okay with that. I am pushed by my fear to not just to accept the standard and to give up when I think what I did was just good enough. My fear will not let me be mediocre when I know there is the potential to do something great. Way too many people like to just sit at home and play Call of Duty when they could be at the gym, getting stronger to help their team win. Too many people sit at home and watch TV when they could be improving their writing or reading ability.
Too many people, even a few that I know will sit at home and make excuses after excuses for why they can not be in the gym, even though it directly pertains to their success in the next few months. Though I am by no means comparing myself to him, Arnold Schwarzenegger seems to have a similar fear to mine. He once said, “For me, life is continuously being hungry. The meaning of life is to not simply exist, to survive, but to move ahead, to go up, to achieve, to conquer.” Though it seems like I fear a lot of things, my fear pushes me; it keeps me from stagnation. My fear keeps me from giving up. My fear nourishes my drive and pushes me to better myself in every way I can. I love my Richard Parker— my fear.
Maassen 7
Pi is a boy who is seen as realizing what his fear is, coming up with a plan to get over that fear, and then executing that plan so he over comes his fear. His fear disappears and becomes his best friend. Everyone has this fear that they are stuck with and have to learn to conquer it. My fear is going to college and learning to live by myself. Because I have always been in such a close nit family it will be hard for me to leave them start my future. Pi also had to leave his family behind. I am glad that I do not have to lose my parents forever though. Like Pi I will have to stare down my fear and learn how do demoralize my fear so I can dominate it. Like Pi I am a little uncertain of how to go about this fear because I have never been to college, and Pi has never been on a boat with a Bengal Tiger. Although my fear is not one of immediate danger, this will most likely decide the rest of my life for me. If I let my fear dominate me I will not have a good education which would make my job opportunities very slim. I will also have some help along the way. My “survival manual” will be my syllabuses and my teachers. I think the reason why I fear this so much is because it is unknown to me. The only way to get over this fear is to go out and give it my best and hope that it does not eat me up. I will have to put my faith in God and let him guide my boat so to speak. I will have to change my lifestyle to be able to get along with my fear and hopefully this will turn into one of the best experiences of my life.
Jordan Edwards P.7
The Richard Parker in my life is my fear of making mistakes and not succeeding. I believe this is a big fear that many people have because who wants to fail at anything. Everyone always wants to be the best at what they do and want nothing to go wrong in life. But in reality not everything goes right. I am always trying to do the best that I can at whatever I do. And when something goes wrong or I fail at something I try my hardest to make things better. I believe this fear of making mistakes and not succeeding comes from growing up with my two brothers. My brothers and I were always competing with each other as we were growing up. It was always who could ride their bike the fastest, who could throw a ball the farthest, or who is the strongest. They have always pushed me to the limit of my capabilities. One of the things that has kept me nervous is college. In college I will be outside of Brandon away from most of the people I have known all my life and with many people I do not know. I have to worry about paying for college and living expenses. Many things are going to change for me when I move up to Brookings next year. I am going to have debts that I am going to have to pay off once I am done with college. It is definitely going to be a large mountain in my life that I am going to have to overcome. Classes are going to be harder and I am going to have to try very hard to do well in class. I am going to be expected to be able to a lot better than I did in high school and hopefully I will be able to impress professors and do very well.
Hamrick pd. 6
Richard Parker is something different for everybody. He has the power to shape shift, and take on a different personality whether it be fear, suffering, death, or motivation. In my life, I have two Richard Parkers: the fear of the future, and the fear of failure. In the past couple of months, there has been so much thrown at the seniors, and it is a lot to handle at one time. For some of us, we have known what they have wanted to do with their lives since they were in middle school, and others are still trying to figure it out. For me, I thought I knew what I wanted to do, but now that it is literally right around the corner, I feel like maybe that is not the right choice for me. My entire life, I have always just assumed that I would grow up, and be a successful veterinarian, but looking at all the things that it takes to be a vet, I am not sure that I am ready for what it is asking of me. It makes me nervous because I have never thought of what would happen if I weren’t a vet, I always assumed it would work out. But because I want it so bad, the fear of not being able to succeed is motivating me even more to work harder so it’s not an unattainable goal. Like Pi being motivated by Richard Parker, I am motivated by the fear of failure to do better.
My other Richard Parker is a fear that is constantly making its presence known. In my TEAM lead by Dr. Talcott, he continually reminds us that in the future, we will eventually lose touch with our close friends. He says that the change is inevitable. I hate knowing that my best friends, whom I’ve been friends with since elementary school, might forget about me or vice versa. Thinking about it literally makes me sick to my stomach. I can’t imagine life without my closest friends. This form of Richard Parker is continually reminding me to not forget about my friends, and to try to keep all of them happy so they don’t get mad at me and start forgetting about me. It is literally my biggest fear to go to college and not have any friends! My friends now always make fun of me for that fear, but it is serious for me. I just hope that I can overcome this Richard Parker in my life, like Pi did, and not lose touch with my best friends.
Bruggeman 2
In my life, Richard Parker is procrastination. Procrastination has cost me many learning experiences, although none come close to being as destructive to me as thoughts of post high school plans. Only recently have I received my first job. I have yet to apply to college, as I have never sat down and actually thought of what I was going to do after high school. Now I have learned that life does not slow down for those waiting for the next opportunity. Life presents the opportunity to look ahead. It allows you to make plans to adjust accordingly, although if you keep putting it off it will leave you. And it will not say it did not warn you. Procrastination has and will continue to be a valuable lesson of life that I must deal with sooner than later. To overcome my procrastination and be able to prepare for the future in ample time is a goal I will continue to strive for. Though the cons of procrastination vastly outweigh the pros, it has helped to teach me a lesson of which is an integral part of my being. Procrastination has taught me that although you may have missed the bus, it does not mean there is not another one on the way. Missing a bus will throw you into a funk, and have you feeling blue. That feeling is all a part of the natural rhythm of life. You can always wait and catch the next bus, because it is going only one direction, forward. Life will continue to go on, and you will find your way no matter how many busses you have missed. Life has a way of working itself out for everyone. How it works out is up to the individual, and the results may be good or bad, but that is necessary for how our world functions. Overcoming procrastination will help me get on that first bus.
Selken, Pd. 7
In the book Richard Parker to Pi is his motivation and his competition. When I think of what my Richard Parker is I think that my track teammates are the perfect example. We all run together every day and we cheer each other on in workouts and at meets, but they are also my biggest competition. Not everyone can go to a varsity meet. We have limited space and every practice is a competition to see who goes and then once you know you’re going it becomes a competition to see who can get the best time out of the three that are going. Although my teammates are my biggest competition they are also my biggest cheerleaders. I know that they will do anything to help me finish a tough workout and will always be on the sidelines when I’m running my race. Even if they really want to run the event that you might be better at they are always there telling you positives and giving you good advice on how to improve. Even when you are in relays and your team is relying on you to get a good time, I think there is always this small part of you to not want the person before you to get a better time than you. Although it’s hurting the team it’s the competition side coming out in you. You never actually tell anyone that’s how you feel, but sometimes you just can’t help it. Teammates will always be there for you thick and thin. Although you might sometimes be against each other, at the end of the race you always give the other girls a hug and tell them thank you so much for being on the team because without them you never would have been pushed hard enough to get the time you wanted. Teammates are priceless and without them I would be a lot worse off.
Garrett Bratland Period 3
My Richard Parker would have to be abandonment. My worst fear is being left alone in this world. Especially now that life seems to be giving me tougher and tougher decisions that I must start to make on my own. I have so many choices and options, that I lose track at times. If it were not for my close friends that are always there for me, my mom, and my family, I would have nobody. Abandonment has become my Richard Parker, because I felt abandoned after my Grandpa Jerry passed away last April. Life after he moved on seemed to get harder and worse. I had lost my Superman. He was the best man and role model any grandchild—or anyone for that matter—could possibly ask for. He was always there for me. Whether it was marching band on weekends, wrestling meets when they were close, or to even come to a band concert during the week; he was always there. His grandchildren were his world, and he showed it blatantly. After he passed on, my world seemed to crash down. I felt abandoned. He was everything to me. I felt like nobody knew my pain that I was suffering. Just knowing that he wouldn’t be there for my senior pictures, for my senior wrestling season—even though I wasn’t fortunate enough to have my desired season, my senior prom, senior band concert, and even worse…my high school graduation. I was now alone in this world without the comfort and support of my grandpa. I felt like Pi on the lifeboat, but without Richard Parker there next to me. Thankfully, I had the support of a few marvelous friends and the love and support of my family to help get me through this feeling. Without them, I don’t know where I would be right now. I may not be who I am—not as strong willed or strong hearted as I am today. Without all of their help and support, my fear of being abandoned, may really have became reality.
Hallstrom Pd 6
Richard Parker is a great representation of fear, death, and total awesomeness. My biggest Richard Parker is caught between two things death and fear of what is to come. Death would have to be a part of everyone’s Richard Parker even if they do not admit it. Death to me is something to wonder and try and imagine what it feels like I wish someone in the world could tell me what it was like to die, but I do not think there is such a person in the world that would have that ability because they all would be dead. For Pi Patel his biggest thing that he worries about is the fear of Richard Parker which in many ways actually keeps Pi alive through his ordeal at sea. The fear for everyone is something that they tell themselves they are scared of even though I think that it is just a superstition that they have towards certain things. I overcame my fear of death by joining the marines even if that may mean I would be shot and killed I figure everyone dies sometime in their life. What would be so bad about changing your life by a certain amount of years? The military is a good thing for people to do in ways that it changes people’s attitudes towards certain topics and themselves, yet there can be terrible consequences of the military such as PTSD (post traumatic stress syndrome) but for the most part the military is good for everyone that gets involved in the military. I do believe that fear is my biggest Richard Parker for the reasons that fear is what drives me and others to do the things that people do in their everyday lives no matter how weird or how normal those things may be. Death also plays a big part in my Richard Parker as well but I have somehow overcome that Richard Parker by joining the marines because I could die at any time during war but it does not seem to bother me one bit.
Nick Vigants period 2
Richard Parker faces many emotions and obstacles. These emotions and obstacles can often times help us achieve our goals. My Richard Parker would have to be the fear or messing up, making mistakes, I fear that if I mess up in school next year I will not get excepted into South Dakota State University School of Nursing. Becoming a nurse is my goal in life or at least my current goal in life. So messing up this would really suck. I do not even know what I would do if I could not become a nurse because I work with nurses every day at my internship and I absolutely love it. I do realize that life moves on so if I did not get accepted into South Dakota State University School of Nursing. I would still be able to do something similar like becoming a patient care tech, or something similar to this. But I know if I did not live up to my expectations I would look back and say I wish I did not do x and x. and studied more.... I Believe this Richard Parker has worked for me in the past. For example I am scared of getting a speeding ticket or getting into a car crash. So normally I do not speed and stay extra alert. This has worked for me, I have not ever even been pulled over. So fearing something is not necessary a bad thing. Unless it is something silly like being afraid of the dark or something childish like that. I believe without the obstacles Richard Parker and Pi have neither of them would have made the trip across the pacific. This is assuming they do make it across the pacific ocean. Like Pi and Richard Parker I believe that my obstacle of fear of messing up will make me work harder in school. In doing this I think I will be able to get into South Dakota State University School of Nursing.
In my life, the ocean is a representation of the United States court system, and the role of Richard Parker is played by Judge Larry Long of the Juvenile Courte System. Until the day I turn eighteen in August twenty-seventh, that man has the power to literally pull my feet out from under me. Yet, as Pi did, I reeled him into my life by my own choices. Once I made one bad choice I was figuratively calling Richard Parker’s name. I through the life preserver towards him when I continued making stupid decisions. By the time I realized I was pulling a tiger into my territory, exposing myself to him through all of my humanness, it was too late. I am responsible for my survival under his watchful eye. It is now my duty to not train him, but train myself to avoid risky situations, as Pi did. I never want to hear my Richard Parker’s roar, because if he decided to pounce I would surely find all of my future plans crushed by the dissatisfaction of my tiger. I keep his hunger composed through my cooperation and his thirst satisfied with my success. He is someone I brought upon myself, and is utterly unavoidable, until I can find away to either accept his punishments to me for not fulfilling his needs, or survive with him as Pi learned to do with his Richard Parker, so we can both go on our merry ways in four months. If I keep myself in check, and watch my movements respectfully and carefully, I will be reworded with the life I want to live, and with the high school diploma and record I need to do so. Judge Larry Long is, I am sure, not the last Richard Parker of my life, yet is truly the one big focus of my life for the time being.
Jessica Johnson Pd.6
McNamara Pd: 3
Pi Patel stuck with Richard Parker while on the lifeboat in Life of Pi. Martel made Pi’s character very relatable to its readers; this connection allows us to feel for Pi and the obstacles he faces with Richard Parker. Richard Parker in this novel stands for much more than just a Bengal tiger. Richard Parker represents death, fear, and danger. The Richard Parker in my life would have to be fear of failure and disappointment. Throughout my life I have been told that I always “overachieve” but yet I am always worried about not succeeding. These aspects will continue to haunt present and future time periods. I never want to be a person to disappoint others and always strive to achieve on a higher level. Richard Parker being such an obstacle for Pi in this novel presents itself to be just like having to cope with the transition from high school to college life. With this difficult transition I must have faith in others and myself while guiding through these harsh situations. Some people may say with some of my biggest fears in life being failure and disappointment that I really do not value the person I have become. I feel that I have gained great personal respect for others and myself but I always try to become more successful. Disappointment is a major factor in living life because it is never something that anyone wants to display in life. I always hate the feeling of showing disappointment or disappointing other people. These harsh realities in our world offer a much-needed fight towards reality, because no one can be perfect in everything they do.
Sickler, Period 6
What is my “Richard Parker”? Well, to say I have just one fear is to say there’s only one way to look at a certain situation – I have many fears! For example, I am deathly afraid of clowns and other non-living mascots. Spiders and snakes seem to make me jump out of my seat too. Thinking about end-of-the-year preparations, graduation plans, and future college days get me worried and fearful as well. Oh, and the occasional scary movie (The Orphan) definitely knows how to get my blood going again! However, I would have to say that my biggest fear or obstacle – Richard Parker being Pi’s biggest fear/obstacle – is myself. Who else gives me so much criticism for everything I do wrong? Who else knows me better? The answer is me. I fear mistakes I may make, that I usually end up doing anyways. I have never been completely comfortable with myself, so in return I put myself down. I feel I have gotten better over the years, but just like with Pi, how Richard Parker is a constant thought running through his head, I feel I will continue to be an obstacle to my own success. Even when looking at this in a physical stand-point – track – I am my own worst enemy. If I am not feeling well that day, I usually run terribly. It is all in determination and confidence. On a shallower note, I have a concrete obstacle of a hurdle while running in track. However, it is not the hurdle’s fault if I do terrible; it all comes back to me and the determination I have within myself.
Being an obstacle, or fear, of myself is not always negative either. If I apply the determination and confidence, I am sure I can succeed the important things I want to achieve. I will always have fall-backs, but it is will strength and willpower that I get right back up in the race.
Austin Hanson
Prd. 2
Richard Parker is a great and majestic animal that represents a lot in the novel. My very own Richard Parker is the thing that I not only love but also am vastly afraid of, the ocean. The ocean is filled with the unknown and things that can maul, beat and batter me with the greatest of ease. For my career I wish to pursue Marine Biology and ultimately have enough experience and time to have a government grant to study shark habitats and different aspects of the shark’s mating and eating patterns. This all greatly scares me. The fear that working with these all powerful creatures poses constant fear for my life of if I make the wrong move that I could become their meal. Another fear that I have is not being able to dive or get certified as a diver. My ear has a perforation in it so it makes any pressure caused by water irritate it and cause swimmers ear to happen in a relatively short amount of time. It all comes down to whether I can get a customizable earplug that will compensate for all of my needs and if I do not get one that can I will be stuck trying to find a different profession. This process could either make or break me because it is a life altering decision. If all goes as planned it will consume my life and hopefully ultimately become the love of my life and will do it till the day I die. The other fear with it is the fear of the unknown and how when you get to a certain point in the ocean you reach a point where you cannot see the bottom and do not know what lurks in the depths. This fact not only excites me but also causes anxiety of never knowing what is going to happen. This fact is a lot like Richard Parker because Pi was always afraid of what will happen next but it came to be that Richard Parker was mostly docile and only attacked when felt threatened. The ocean is the greatest of unknowns next to space and is something I have grown to love, respect and fear, but one thing is certain without it I would have no Richard Parker to love, hate, respect and fear.
Wetrosky Pd. 3
I have two Richard Parkers that go hand-in-hand with each other in my life. My first Richard Parker is my confidence and self-esteem. I have a pretty low level of confidence in myself. Having a low level of confidence really hampers my ability to achieve certain things, the way the Richard Parker prevents Pi from living safely on the life boat. I know that I have the ability to achieve great things but when I get into the mindset that I can not do it, then I will not be able to, because I tell myself that I can’t. Having smart friends really feeds into this when it comes to academic works. I almost feel unworthy to be with them sometimes because they are in more advanced classes and it really brings down my confidence in that area. But it sometimes helps. When I am in a class that they are in, my confidence goes up because I strive to get a similar, if not better grade than them. The other side of my low confidence is in the sports and athletic side of life. I have a birth defect in my leg that prohibits me from doing things that I love such as soccer, snowboarding, and many other things. Most people look at things and say that they can’t do them or achieve in them. They can, they just don’t apply themselves. I literally can not do those things and it just destroys my confidence. In one sport that I actually can play, I am not as good as I could be, because of my leg. The fact that I know I have a problem with my leg really holds me back from my full potential in baseball. For example, when I go to the plate to bat, I know that if I get hit on the bottom half of my leg, I will be out for the rest of high school. With that thought looming in the back of my head, my ability to hold my ground while batting is diminished and my confidence crumbles. The problem with my leg also helps me sometimes, though. Most people would give up under such circumstances, but I have not, and that is a relatively large confidence booster. We all have our Richard Parkers, but it’s really about how you work with yours.
Granberg Pd. 2
Richard Parker symbolizes many things in Life of Pi; he symbolizes death, danger, our fear, obstacles, suffering, and motivation in our lives. Richard Parker controls our every action in our lives; always tormenting us of what could happen in the future. My Richard Parker is my fear of my future. I feel my future seems very uneasy because as of this moment I have four different careers in mind. The four careers I have picked out is a pathologist, laboratory technician, pathologist assistant, or a research scientist. Each of these careers takes so much planning and preparation, I think that I could run out of time to do so. These four different career choices remind me of when Pi has six different ideas of how to kill Richard Parker. Pi carefully rationalizes some of his plans to kill Richard Parkers and realizes they would not work. His plans are either to push him off the lifeboat, kill him with six Morphine syringes, attack him with weapons, choke him, poison him, set him on fire, or weigh a war of attrition. Out of those options Pi chooses to state a war of attrition with Richard Parker. Pi’s plan of the war of attrition was to allow nature to run its course and for Richard Parker to break. Pi’s decision seemed kind of rushed; unlike mine will have to be well thought out, but at least taking thirteen years I will know what I want to do for a career for sure. I fear by the time I get through school for one of these careers, there will be no jobs available, because the schooling took so long. The problem with becoming a pathologist is the amount of schooling needed to become one. The thing I want to do most in life is to start a family, but starting in thirteen years is way too long to wait. I have the feeling that even though my Richard Parker scares me for my future now; it is really just going to prepare me to plan ahead an make good choices in my future.
Bryce Christopherson
Period 3
Richard Parker is a complex, many-faceted and poignant symbol in this novel, and an appreciation of him is axial to an understanding of the true power this volume holds. Parker represents our oppressors; our animalistic tendencies towards brutality, simplicity and cruelty; terrible power (both within ourselves and our oppressors); the eventuality of death; the dangerous, awe inspiring beauty of nature, and the fears we each harbor. And, as any learned reader, one takes this allegory Martel weaves and extrapolates from it their world.
As for me, Richard Parker is my future.
I’m terrified of it – amazed by its potential for great beauty and great suffering. Like Pi, if I am to survive in any meaningful capacity, I have to tame it, assert control over it, and accept it onto my boat to live by its side. I was denied admission to the Naval Academy because of my past problems with drugs and depression and, ironically, I am now stranded adrift in the endless sea of possibility because I cannot be a sailor. Pi and I are in the same literal and metaphorical boat, really. We’re each stuck, faced with the knowledge that someday we are going to die, and that the small decisions we make until that point will predicate our circumstances. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life hiding from Richard Parker. I want to cohabitate with my primal, unwaveringly serious brother of indefinable gravity.
Really, I just want to know what I’m doing.
So many of the firm foundations upon which I built my life – The promise of a bright future in the academy, my relationship with Courtney, the possibility of the Navy – have melted like a cathedral of wax above my trembling frame. There is so much yet for me to do, and even now, the certainty of my success isn’t guaranteed. I have tried to train the Richard Parker of my future, but insofar, I’ve been but swatted off the boat. I thought of this, all of this, when reading Martel’s masterpiece. From his simple fable, one can extrapolate important parallels between the not-entirely-foreign plight of Pi and each and every one of our own trials and tribulations.
Dylan Niklason Period 6
Richard Parker in Pi’s life is an inescapable fear. As long as Pi is alive, Richard Parker will always be there right with him. The only way for Pi to escape this fear is death. But Pi’s fear also keeps him alive. My Richard Parker in my life would have to be failure. It is something I will always fear no matter what the situation. Whether it is my team’s failure during a game, my failure from my individual performance in sports, my failure on an assignment in a class, etc…the thought of failure will always be there. The biggest chance I have of failing is coming ahead of me with college. It scares me to think if I fail at college it could change my whole life. Nothing I have done before college would affect me in the same way as college can. It is my doorway to my career and my future. If I fail during college than that could lead to me failing in life. But failure is also something that “keeps me alive” like it does for Pi. Failure gives me the motivation I need to not make the same mistake and strive to succeed. Without failure, I could not learn from what I have done wrong and I would not know what I need to do differently next time. Can you imagine how dull and unsatisfying life would be if you never failed at anything? You would never realize how precious and sweet things are unless you feel what it is like to not succeed and not have those things at some point. So while I will always fear failure, I accept it and embrace it because without it I would not know how good things are when things are good and I don’t fail.
Greenhoff Pd.3
Richard Parker symbolizes many different things such as death and fear. His function in the novel runs deep. He represents the animalistic side that is most definitely in everyone. I have had many different Richard Parkers in my life, but currently my Richard Parker is the future. The transition from high school to college is undoubtedly going to be a drastic and exciting change; but also somewhat frightening as well. Although I am looking forward to the challenge that Augustana College will provide, I am concerned about the difficulty level of the classes. I want to swim and not sink at this school and I feel as though the jump in difficulty level is going to be an extreme challenge for me. I have always tried to challenge myself in life, usually cramming my schedule full of extracurricular activities; but I feel as though I have not provided myself with enough of a mental challenge to prepare me the educational road ahead. Although I do have my fears I am well aware that I will have the support of several teachers and other students. It will most certainly be an adjustment, and like Pi, I will have to adapt to my surroundings in the most efficient way possible. At this point I have heard a lot about what college is like and how life is going to change, but one can never truly know until they have personal experience under their belt. I hope that I will succeed in college and understand everything that I am taught. Hopefully college will be a success for me and I will not turn into the sulky dorm sloth that I have heard so much about. Like a 250 pound Bengal tiger, my future is something that is unavoidable and will most certainly advance whether I like it or not. I look forward to dedicating more of my time to my academic studies and cannot wait for the unknown and exciting future.
Isaac Hanson, Pd. 3
The Richard Parkers in my life are self-consciousness and worry. I am always worrying about what other people may think about me. As a result of this I do not allow myself to do a lot of things that I would really like to do. I have been labeled as “socially awkward” by a number of different people/friends just because I have always been too self-conscious to go to dances or hang out with certain people; all because I am worried that I will be judged. I am starting to get better at this but I still find myself second guessing certain decisions I make and not wearing certain clothes that I would like, all because I am afraid somebody will think that I look stupid or that I'm a “poser”. My self-consciousness has affected the activities I partake in and some of the friendships I have. I always like to be the person to try new things but I just won't allow myself to do so without thinking that somebody somewhere is going to think something bad about me. I am especially self-conscious around people who are more “popular” than myself. Being around people like that makes me think that if I do something I would normally do, they might think I'm an idiot. This kind of mentality has changed how I act around people, and its probably not a good thing either. I also worry about not being organized. I cannot stand people who fly by the seat of their pants and just let things happen. I am the type of person who needs to know in advance what is going on, where, what time, etc. If somebody doesn't plan an event ahead of time it drives me crazy. I tend to worry about people who don't do things I ask them to as well. For example, if I ask somebody to call me and they don't, I start to worry and think that I'm not important enough for them. I know these are both stupid reasons for not allowing myself to do the things I really want to do but overcoming them is just one of those things that is easier said than done for me. Since I've told myself for years that I'm not good enough for certain people or that I will be judged if I do something that isn't “normal”, it's hard for me to stop telling myself that stuff. Self-consciousness and worry are my two main Richard Parkers and I hope that one day I will finally be able to not allow these obstacles/fears to bother me, just like how Pi has done with Richard Parker in the novel.
Hauck pd. 6
To Pi, Richard Parker symbolizes death, fear, danger, mortality, knowledge, ignorance, obstacles, suffering and a whole mess of other emotions. In my life I have many Richard Parkers. Failure, fear, and suffering are some of the biggest for me but only parts of each that all have to do with pain. Maybe it is all the stress I believe I go through on a daily basis, which therefore leads me to fear certain things in my life, many things. I do not handle stress the way I would like to, but at the same time who can say they do? The mass abundance of pain that comes from stress usually involves losing something, feeling feelings that I have always hoped to never feel, or never feel again. I believe each and every one of us is taught lessons day in and day out. These lessons or life experiences help us to live our life in our own way, feel our own feelings, and do what we so choose to do. Everyone is different and it clearly shows by ways of our own personalities. I think that the stress, failure and pain that I face, much like anyone else, needs to be brought on because how else would I learn? The world is a harsh brutal place and without the lessons I have painfully learned, I don’t see how I could be subjected to what I am today. Without feeling traumatized and hurt, sick and down, how is one supposed to feel happy and proud? To Pi, Richard Parker represents the greatest fear he has ever known. But, on the contrary, he also represents another relatable life source, something that moves, breathes, eats and in its own ways speaks. In Pi’s life as a castaway, all feelings come with contradicting feelings. When I stop and think about it, in my life good can come from bad and happiness can come from pain. Everyone goes through rough times, but this also gives the opportunity to be able to relate to one another, stick together, and make it through.
Pacheco Pd. 7
Richard Parker can represent many things in my life. I can probably relate to some other individuals my age. Their Richard Parker is my Richard Parker. We all share the same thing. However, I believe my main Richard Parker is my occupation. I would always become stressed out from working hard or too much, as Pi gets stressed out when Richard Parker is making noises and being disruptive, etc. All Richard Parker does is eats, drinks, and sleeps. So he is basically lazy. Pi is to Richard Parker as parents is to teenagers. At my job, it is very stressful and every time I dream of leaving the job, I cannot. As a senior, I have many responsibilities such as school, seminary, car payments, insurance, and the job of course. I feel if I quit my job I will be a failure to people’s eyes. As much as Pi wants to push him overboard, he cannot because it is his responsibility on taking care of him, as it is for parents to take care of their children or teenagers. Customers can also be somewhat of a Richard Parker to me. Sometimes we have angry customers coming in “roaring” at us that we got their order wrong and demanding we fix as soon as possible. It is stressful when those customers sometimes “push me overboard”, but I keep telling myself I have to get back on that boat, as Pi does as well. Sometimes we have to fear the customers because they are unpredictable as Richard Parker is. Managers are sort of demanding as well. They can also represent Richard Parker because they expect perfection from us, employees, for everything to be on a plate for them. I know they are the boss, but some of them just goof around and are not serious but still expect a lot from us. Richard Parker depends on Pi to make him breakfast and dinner every day, as part of Pi’s mental schedule. By reading this novel, I hope I am strong enough to tame my Richard Parker in my life.
Sjoberg Pd. 3
For Pi Patel Richard Parker, a 450 pound tiger, is not only Pi’s fear but can also be seen as a motivation for him. Whether they chose to confide in it or not, every person has some sort of fear. A fear does not have to suppress you from going forward with life but it may help you through those obstacles. My fear when I look forward into my future is the fear of the unknown and what is ahead of me, this is what scares me the most. Not only do we have to look forward to college, but also the fear of not knowing if you are going to succeed in what you do. Knowing that every decision you make could/will affect your future even in the slightest form. Also like Pi obstacles are thrown at you everyday. Pi had to learn to do the imaginable; provide his own food for not only him but also Richard Parker, learn to live with a vulnerable and vicious animal, and also find some source of water. Though for our future our obstacles are not as extreme as Pi’s were, we still need to learn to get through them to only better what is to come. The fear of the unknown and not succeeding does not serve as just a bad thing but can also better us. This fear can give us a drive to want to succeed and do our best so that we do not have to feel that feeling of failing and so we are also more confident in our future than not knowing what to expect. Instead of walking with our fears we need to walk in front of them and overcome them. By having our fear overpower us we are not accomplishing anything, but if we can learn from our fears or even have it act as a motivation, we will be better off. Though my fear is the unknown and failure I let that motivate me and it makes me work that much harder.
Hanson, 2
Richard Parker is a symbol of many things. However, what he symbolized most to me is fear and being scared. Pi is afraid of Richard Parker throughout the novel and the things that Richard Parker does make him fear his life. Pi feels that at any moment his life could be taken away from him and he would not have time to react and make it better. As the novel progresses Pi becomes more comfortable with having such a life threatening animal on board the life boat with him. It makes me feel sad and sympathetic for him knowing that he has to live with something that could potentially take his life from him at any moment. For me, cancer has the same effect on me as Richard Parker has on Pi. Cancer is something that is very emotional for me because my grandma died of lung cancer a couple years ago. Just like Pi, my grandma had to live with this terrible disease that was killing her for an immense amount of time—about 7 months. It kills me inside to know that people with this disease grow to live with it. They begin to accept the fact that something inside of them is taking over and they cannot do anything about it. The same goes with Richard Parker and Pi. Pi grew to live with the fact that there was an enormous tiger on the boat. In the end Pi says that Richard Parker was the one and only thing that kept him alive during his 227 days of life on the boat. As much as it pains me to say it, I cannot imagine my life without the effects of cancer. I have learned so much from its effects and what they do that I don’t know who or what I would change in my life. My grandma was my best friend and Richard Parker was Pi’s. We both lose our best friends and we are both greatly affected by the experiences we shared with each of them. That’s why cancer is my Richard Parker.
Shabino pd. 6
Richard Parker is all of Pi’s fears and worries he suffers while on his nightmarish voyage in the Pacific Ocean. For me my Richard Parker is my fear of getting in the way of myself. Getting in the way of ones self can cause many missed opportunities in life and as graduation is getting closer and the move in date for college arrives I do not want to get in my own way and miss out on all of the great things life has to offer after high school, after college, and eventually to my senior citizen years. I am always second guessing myself and not trying new things because I think its not for me or that im not the right kind of person to do that. I definitely want to stop having this attitude of thinking and be a more outgoing kind of person. College will have endless opportunities throughout the four year period in which a lot of the experiences will be brand new while others might seem familiar. I want to step my mind set of thats not for me or I would just look like a fool for attempting that aside and try all the new things the world will have to offer. Pi manages his Richard Parker by taming it. Although he ends up taming him the thought of Richard Parker being a danger is always there and he has to constantly fight for dominance along the way. I am in the process of taming my Richard Parker. I signed up for a FYE (First Year Experience) class in which you will get to know a group of people with similar professions in mind and stay with them and get to know them for a few years. I normally would not consider this type of thing but I am slowly taming my Richard Parker in hopes of complete control of it some day.
Ryan Angerhofer
period 7
Who is my Richard Parker? My Richard Parker(s) are all the opponents I have faced on the wrestling mat over the past 5 years of my wrestling career. They, like Richard Parker is to Pi, made me what and who I am this very day. I set goals for myself in the past and I had to overcome those goals to get where I am today, like Richard Parker forced Pi to live with him on the boat. We have what we have; Pi is stuck on the boat with RP and can’t do anything about it so we had to make the most out of what we had. My opponents have pushed me to my breaking point over and over again, stood between me and my hopes/aspirations, and often times punished me with the painful heartbreak that comes with defeat. Though rough at times, these experiences shaped me into the person I am. We all will/have faced vicious adversity at least once in our life, for me this was a weekly occurrence during wrestling season. Even off season, my teammates and I put ourselves through hours upon hours of training and preparation all for a six minute match against our own “Richard Parker.” Facing a large array of opponents, I, like Pi, had to prepare myself both mentally and physically to go out and battle for the ultimate goal of getting my hand raised. Man vs. man. Like Pi, I had opponents that I just knew I would fall to, so, I had to give my best effort and do my best, like Pi does. Also, I had opponents that I “tricked” to get a win, like Pi has to “trick” or “bribe” Richard Parker with food and shelter to keep him from making him into a human happy meal, like he is very capable of. Everyone has someone or something that hold them back, keeps them from being where they want to be, for me, it was my opponents, but no matter what or who they are, you have to do what you can with what you have, where ever you may be.
Nicole Zens
period 2
In Life of Pi , Pi Patel has to face with an obstacle, a 450 pound Bengal Tiger, Richard Parker. Richard Parker equals death, motivation, fear, and power. In my life my Richard Parker would have to be my parents. My parents are my Richard Parker because they give me the motivation I need to get through life. Without their support to me would have given up on trying to succeed in life. They give fear to me because they always ask me what I want to do after high school, and I do not have a credible answer. My parents have power to control my life in many ways; they can control who I can see, when I go out, and doing other stuff. In the book Pi needs Richard Parker to survive for Pi to survive also. That is true about my parents, without my mom and dad, I would have no wisdom to know what to do in the world. It is also good to have parents who have power over you. It is good to have a limitation to what you can do, and what you cannot do. Fear is sometimes good to have to make you realize that not all things are good. Pi realizes that Richard Parker is dangers and he fears him, this helps him realize that he needs to be cautious towards what he does around Richard Parker. Pi also realizes that that he would be lost without Richard Parker, that he would probably go insane without him. I am glad to have an obstacle that not only pushes me to the limit, but also an obstacle that helps me realize how to go over the obstacle in the most efficient way possible.
Bri Matthies .6
My Richard Parker is organizing and planning. To Pi Richard is a constant threat and Pi knows the only way to survive is it to train him or to contain his threat on killin him. For me planning is what I do. I plan out events years in advance (Have my wedding planned minus the guy) and constantly want to get perfection when it comes to any aspect of it. This has a tendency to stress me out and make me seem like kind of a... witch. But Richard also keeps Pi sane. For me planning is structure in life. With a roller coaster life you need something to be stable and that's what planning does for me. It keeps me in charge and keeps me happy. I can plan things to escape reality and plan things to keep reality from escaping. As much as planning kills all my energy and makes me stressed, it is also something that brings me great joy in life.
Batzer, 7
Everyone has a Richard Parker in their lives, someone or something that has complicated their lives. Richard Parker can symbolize many different things like fear and motivation. In my life I would have to say that perfection is my Richard Parker. I often find myself redoing many tasks because I feel it was not done the best it could be or the way that I wanted it done. I desire to need perfection often gets in the way of homework, crafts, and daily activities. When it comes time to do homework I often feel that my work is not adequate to hand in so I continue to work on it or just give up, thinking it will never be good enough. Since Pi is trapped on the life boat in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with his enemy/ fear he must perform many tasks in order to stay alive. Making small mistakes in a situation like he is in can be dangerous, Richard Parker could attack if something is not done correctly. There are also many other things that could go wrong, the waters could take him, or if he is not smart about this water intake he could become extremely dehydrated. Pi’s precision in his everyday tasks stuck aboard this boat help him to survive. For me sometimes I feel like my perfection is taking over, I feel the need for my handwriting to always look nice, and everything to be organized. When it comes to homework I feel like teachers would accept my assignments because they are not good enough but in reality they would be just fine. I need to realize that perfection is an unreasonable and impossible goal to have. Life will go on if everything is not neat and done perfectly, instead I need to just try my best like Pi does. Pi does an extraordinary job of overcoming his flaws in order to survive, and he is still a strong smart person.
Tayler Elster, pd 3
In the novel Life of Pi, Richard Parker is the representation of the death, fear, motivation, and power of all humanity. Showing some of the good, but also showing some of the bad. Everyone has some Richard Parker in them; it is just a matter of admitting it to yourself and learning how to cope with all the hardships you are facing in your life. For me, my Richard Parker is May 15th. I am terrified of what is going to come after graduation. Facing the unknown has never been easy for me and having been in a familiar atmosphere all my life with the same people everyday and every year is going to be a hard thing to lose in my life. I do not feel as though I am ready to leave all my classmates and teachers that I have had the last four years. I do not know what to expect in college because it will be a completely new experience for me. But at the same time I am feeling more motivated to do my homework and get everything in order before I have to leave for college. In my life I have not really gone out and seen a lot of movies, or gone to the mall a lot when I get bored with my friends. I have always been told that I do not need to waste my money on such things, and it is true, but I wish I could have gotten to spend more time with my friends instead of sitting at home reading a book in my room every night. Now we are down to the last month and I am far too busy with school, work, and two softball practices and games that I can barely keep up with all that, let alone find time to hang out with all my friends before we go our separate ways for college. My Richard Parker is time.
Kayla Sorensen pd. 3
In the novel “Life of Pi” Richard Parker is a very important part on this amazing novel. We can easily relate to Richard Parker. He represents fear, obstacles, mortality, suffering, danger, ignorance, mistreatment, knowledge and motivation. The symbol of his that stuck out to me was fear. I can relate this to my own life. I fear of being abandoned by my dad. I fear he will be sent away in the military again just like he has for all my life. He was gone for all my elementary and middle school years and freshman year and has been back for 3 years now. It is more than I could ever ask for. I feel like I am getting to know my dad which I should have done for a long time ago. He helps me will everything. If I ask him to help he helps. He helps with many school projects my sister, brother or I have. When he was away I always felt like a part of my life was missing. I always cried when he came home and visited and when he left. All I ever wanted when he was gone was to him to watch me dance or play basketball (when I played). I remember very clearly a time when he came home for a visit and was able to watch me play a basketball game my freshman year and I played maybe 30 seconds but I remember just being happy playing that short of time. I now am so thankful every time he comes to my dance competitions and I couldn’t ask god for a greater gift. I feared back when he was gone all the time for the military that he would miss my graduation just like he missed most of my birthdays. I fear for my mom also if he gets deployed. She went through so much after my brother was born and he left again for the military. My mom shouldn’t have to go through this. No military wife should have to. We all need him home and safe. Without the rest of my family and my friends and their family I wouldn’t have gotten through the hard times without my dad.
Kayla Sorensen pd. 3
In the novel “Life of Pi” Richard Parker is a very important part on this amazing novel. We can easily relate to Richard Parker. He represents fear, obstacles, mortality, suffering, danger, ignorance, mistreatment, knowledge and motivation. The symbol of his that stuck out to me was fear. I can relate this to my own life. I fear of being abandoned by my dad. I fear he will be sent away in the military again just like he has for all my life. He was gone for all my elementary and middle school years and freshman year and has been back for 3 years now. It is more than I could ever ask for. I feel like I am getting to know my dad which I should have done for a long time ago. He helps me will everything. If I ask him to help he helps. He helps with many school projects my sister, brother or I have. When he was away I always felt like a part of my life was missing. I always cried when he came home and visited and when he left. All I ever wanted when he was gone was to him to watch me dance or play basketball (when I played). I remember very clearly a time when he came home for a visit and was able to watch me play a basketball game my freshman year and I played maybe 30 seconds but I remember just being happy playing that short of time. I now am so thankful every time he comes to my dance competitions and I couldn’t ask god for a greater gift. I feared back when he was gone all the time for the military that he would miss my graduation just like he missed most of my birthdays. I fear for my mom also if he gets deployed. She went through so much after my brother was born and he left again for the military. My mom shouldn’t have to go through this. No military wife should have to. We all need him home and safe. Without the rest of my family and my friends and their family I wouldn’t have gotten through the hard times without my dad.
kalo pd .2
In my life there are many things that are hard in my life just like Richard Parkers. Just like Richard Parkers in my life and one of those fears that I have faced just like Richard Parker is my senior year, I am trying to overcome many obstacles. I thought this year was going to be easy, but it the total opposite I have to tried extra hard just to do the bare minimum and its crazy, I just wish I could get the brains that some people have. But like Pi in the book he uses he smart to the best of him, he uses it in many ways being stuck on a boat with a Bengal for a long period of time. Just like I can get through this year just like I have all the other years, I only have 20 more days left and im done with school and I am going to push myself to the most potential I can. Pi has been trying his best to be on the boat wit Richard Parker and he will do anything he can to see his parents. So I want to be like Pi and impress my parents and show them I can graduate ,and I will all I need to do is push myself and I can do it. All I need to do is try hard and push myself to the end . And I believe I can do . So if pi can be a boat with a Bengal for a while I can graduate high school this year and I will .
Danielson Pd. 3
While reading this novel I have come to asking the exact same question. What or who is MY Richard Parker? What stresses me out even though I know is there for the good effects? What makes me who I am and makes me stronger everyday? It may take some thought to find the answer to these questions but when it is narrowed down my Richard Parker becomes clear and I know that it is School. It grabs a hold of me everyday and tells me this is what I must do to make it past the obstacles that are in place later in life in the real world. School tells you that in order to succeed you have to be your best, and you are graded. If you know that you are not doing well in a particular class it stresses you out and Richard Parker becomes stronger because it is beating you. To win you have to fight back and get on your feet again. Like in the novel when Pi leaves the algae island and finds the coast of Mexico and is rescued Pi’s Richard Parker leaves and is replace with a new one of having to tell what really happened on the life boat my Richard Parker is slowly coming to an end a new one will replace it and a whole set of new challenges will have to be faced. For example I will either have to go out and find a job or go to college with each of them posing unique challenges to overcome. School will always be a part of my life even though it will become something less that Richard Parker, the skills and values I learned throughout the twelve years will stay with me forever and I can refer back to these skills I learned and hopefully be able to overcome more difficult Richard Parkers.
Mork pd. 2
My Richard Parker would probably be my decision to join the National Guard because being in it brings me to fear from having to leave my family and the comfort of my home. Another relation to the human conditions is death in that I could die if and when I do get sent overseas. This also could be seen as a fear for me also it made me think about my decision for a couple more months. But on the plus side it also is a motivation to do something worthwhile in my life and being able to fight and defend my country. My family and the others in my unit also help to motivate me through tough times. The decision also brings about a lot of suffering not just for me but for my family as well in that I will be separated from them at times. Making sure I’m in the best shape I can possibly be in is an obstacle in it because for me I’m addicted to fast food and it’s a little hard to stay in the best shape. And also I have to have a good attitude through all of the hard work so it brings about many obstacles for me. But most of all the danger this brings might not be as dangerous as being stranded on a boat with a tiger but it still is a very high danger to my life. So through all of the similar human conditions this is why joining the National Guard is my Richard Parker.
Bakken 7
Pi has to deal with a fear and unknowingness everyday while on the lifeboat. Richard Parker is something that he has to face and deal with, and if he does not deal with him the consequences will be dyer. We all have a Richard Parker in our lives and for me it is not knowing what the future will hold. Now that we are graduating high school there are many choices that we will all have to make. Many of these choices will affect the rest of our lives. These next few months may determine what the future will bring. I think that this is frightening because for once our basic everyday lives will not be planned out for us. Instead we have to decide where we will go and when we are to do it. Many people will go off to college or go off into the military or even go straight into the work force. All of these choices are based on what is best for the individual. What frightens me is that I may not know what is best for me. I can only try different things to see if they work out. Although I have confidence in myself that I will make the right choice in what I decide to do, I have the ever present thoughts that it may not work out in the end and I may indeed fail at what I choose to do with my life after high school. But I guess that is part of the growing experience. I hope that I can be successful in the choices I make and if the choices I do end up making do not work out, I will have to try another route. Pi’s everyday danger and fear made him a stronger and more faithful person and maybe the next few months will also make me a stronger person as well.
Nick Karber Period 2
My Richard Parker is video games. When I was still in possession of my xbox 360 and my Playstation 3 I would prefer to get on that over doing something else. I work frequently therefore I get stressed and would take time away from family or school or friends to socialize online or just sit on my behind and play video games all day. When done in moderation it is fine—some games such as LittleBIGPlanet require knowledge and thought process to enjoy the full potential of the game—however I abused it. I would get so stressed that I would play my xbox instead of eating or sleeping because I didn’t care; this is very unhealthy. Eventually, buying games became more about occupying time then enjoying a hobby. I would not even like playing the game, but I felt as if was obligated to play it anyway. So, I would spend about fifty dollars on a new game (my employee discount, fifteen percent, gives me more incentive to buy games) even if I did not like it. This would cause more stress because now I am juiced after working and I don’t have money to buy food because I eat once or twice a day. I ended up losing around fifteen pounds my sophomore year because I stopped eating as much getting down to 132 pounds standing at five eleven. The easiest way to remedy the situation was to get rid of it. Some of my best friends were online and I will never forget them because I could talk to them about things that others could care less about, not say that my good friends do not help me. I sold those systems and used that money to get a Nintendo 3ds, a portable device that encourages walking around and limiting video game play time. Since selling those systems I have gained eleven pounds in muscle from eating healthier and working out, as well as running.
John McKenzie Pd. 7
Throughout the novel Richard Parker was a constant threat to Pi. He was always there, looming under him, waiting for the moment to prey upon him. If Pi made the slightest mistake he could've been tiger chow. Eventually he did tame Richard Parker but he was still an unpredictable, wild, instinctual animal. Even when tamed, R.P.s true nature appeared when they were on the island and R.P. Killed meerkats far beyond what he needed to just because he could. Even when tamed, R.P. Was still a wild beast, ready to strike at any moment if irritated. This leads me to my R.P., myself. I constantly find myself fighting battles with myself over pretty much everything. I wake up every morning not wanting to go to school, wondering what the point of it is. And yet, there is a part of me that screams “I'm not ready! I don't wanna move on yet!” As many of my teachers and peers know, I have great potential, I could achieve much more than I currently do, yet I find myself failing at multiple classes. I also find that I have little control over my emotions at times. I randomly get annoyed at angry and people for seemingly no reason. It's like yeah I want to hang out but I want to be alone at the same time. Procrastination is another part of my R.P.. I always wait until the last possible second to get anything done. Be it chores, homework, or getting ready for school or work. Even if I have nothing else to do but what needs to be done I'll always find some way to keep from doing it until I'm either going to be late or it just has to be done. I look at other people who seem to have all their “ducks in a row” and I wonder why I can't be like that. I always fight the battle with myself of not being good enough, strong enough, smart enough, brave enough. Things I mean to say often never get said because I'm too shy to stand up and say them. I find myself slowly conquering my R.P. But I still have a long ways to go before I'm the non-lazy, non-shy, not overweight, guy that I could and should be. Everyone has their own Richard Parker they have to do battle with and tame. It just so happens that mine is myself. I may be my own worst enemy most of the time but no matter what, I'm still me.
Phillips. Period 7
My Richard Parker is my life. I am easy to trust and give second chances to those whom would hurt again and again before calling it quits. It is also my situation at the moment, nothing seems to be going as it should but then again, life never does. We just need to keep living. My question is do we really live as we intend ourselves to? Do we go about taming the animal within?
I feel as low as dirt and even still beneath that. I may not be tackling my Richard Parker alone but I feel that people take pity on me. That is the other thing too that hurts my pride. I love and have mad respect for those whom can pity but when it is me I cannot stand it, it hurts. I want to know that I can do things on my own and that there is help, for the most part I want to this on my own. Enjoying the freedom that everyone supports silently is far better then anyone coming up and asking if I need anything.
A shoulder to weep on and a stronger person to lean against when things start dragging me down is all I could ask for. I do not want handouts and money just support. It is bad enough the principal is taking care of my graduation stuff. I cannot attend anyone else’s graduation parties because I am just trying to make it in this world. All of this is my Richard Parker. Sometimes it holds me back a lot and drags me about like a ball of yarn. At least coming here, to school, is like when Pi goes to the zoo. Its calming and I can relax and not have to worry about what is happening outside of this building until my day completely ends. I know from this Richard Parker that I have a raft to balance upon and supports to help, a shelter to keep me from being weathered away.
Richard Parker is both life and death. Life is scary as is death also. Depending upon how you tame it and respect it. In others and within ourselves. We all come and go in similar ways but we often have that same daily fear of the unknown as did Pi. The ocean represents our lives. The islands are who we meet
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