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Yann Martel uses magical realism to create Richard Parker who develops the theme that one must learn to accept themselves if one wants to reach their full potential.

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When Pi's animal side briefly shows itself at the beginning of his journey, Pi wants to be rid of it immediately. 

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When Pi's animal side briefly shows itself at the beginning of his journey, Pi wants to be rid of it immediately. 

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“‘Let go of that lifebuoy, Richard Parker! Let go, I said. I don't want you here, do you understand? Go somewhere else. Leave me alone. Get lost. Drown! Drown!’” (Martel 99).

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The tiger in Pi has revealed itself because of necessity; leaving Pi in awe. 

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The tiger in Pi has revealed itself because of necessity; leaving Pi in awe. 

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“Between my feet, under the bench, I beheld Richard Parker's head” (Martel 132).

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Richard Parker does things that Pi's humane side sees as savagery despite the way it's saving him. 

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Richard Parker does things that Pi's humane side sees as savagery despite the way it's saving him. 

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“This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one. He ripped the flesh off the man’s frame and cracked his bones. The smell of blood filled my nose. Something in me died then that has never come back to life” (Martel 255).

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Pi is terrified of the tiger within him, it's scarier than anything else he has faced so far. 

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Pi is terrified of the tiger within him, it's scarier than anything else he has faced so far. 

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“It seemed the presence of a tiger had saved me from a hyena-surely a textbook example of jumping from the frying pan into the fire” (Martel 136).

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Pi's humane side plans to rid itself of its tiger counterpart, Pi doesn't yet realize how the tiger's helping him.

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Pi's humane side plans to rid itself of its tiger counterpart, Pi doesn't yet realize how the tiger's helping him.

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“Plan Number Six: Wage a War of Attrition. All I had to do was let the unforgiving laws of nature run their course and I would be saved. Waiting for him to waste away and die would require no effort on my part. I had supplies for months to come. What did he have? Just a few dead animals that would soon go bad. What would he eat after that? Better still: where would he get water? He might last for weeks without food, but no animal, however mighty, can do without water for any extended period of time” (Martel 158-159).

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Pi realizes how much he owes to Richard Parker for giving him something to live for.

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Pi realizes how much he owes to Richard Parker for giving him something to live for.

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“...a part of me was glad about Richard Parker. A part of me did not want Richard Parker to die at all, because if he died I would be left alone with despair, a foe even more formidable than a tiger. If I still had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker” (Martel 164).

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Pi's still cautious of the tiger but hes no longer terrified.

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Pi's still cautious of the tiger but hes no longer terrified.

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“I was still scared of Richard Parker, but only when it was necessary. His simple presence no longer strained me” (Martel 222).

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Pi and Richard Parker have grown to have a friendship-like reliance with one another.

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Pi and Richard Parker have grown to have a friendship-like reliance with one another.

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“ It was Richard Parker who was speaking to me! The carnivorous rascal. All this time together and he has chosen an hour before we were to die to pipe up. I was elated to be on speaking terms with a tiger” (Martel 246).

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Pi has become attached to his tiger, he realizes how its beneficial to him and he no longer wants to be without it.

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Pi has become attached to his tiger, he realizes how its beneficial to him and he no longer wants to be without it.

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“I could not abandon Richard Parker. To leave him would mean to kill him. He would not survive the first night. Alone in my lifeboat at sunset, I would know that he was burning alive…I waited for his return. I knew he would not be late” (Martel 283).

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By the end of his journey, Pi has become so attached to this animal part of him, that when it leaves, he misses and mourns the loss of it.

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By the end of his journey, Pi has become so attached to this animal part of him, that when it leaves, he misses and mourns the loss of it.

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“I wept like a child. It was not because I was overcome at having survived my ordeal, though I was…I was weeping because Richard Parker had left me” (Martel 285).

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“I could not abandon Richard Parker. To leave him would mean to kill him. He would not survive the first night. Alone in my lifeboat at sunset, I would know that he was burning alive…I waited for his return. I knew he would not be late” (Martel 283).

This quote shows how Pi has grown to accept and embrace even the tiger part of himself to the point that he doesn't want to be without it. Yann Martel uses magical realism in Life of Pi to show how Pi learns to accept all parts of himself. Martel is able to make the savage side of Pi a completely separate character through use of magical realism which helps the reader better understand the ways Pi feels about this part of himself. At the beginning of the story, Pi is terrified and even plots to kill the animal in him, but by the end of his journey, Pi is able to realize that it's actually helping him. This part of him does things that Pi’s humane side can't come to terms with, it's terrified of the capabilities of itself. But over the course of the journey, Pi learns to accept and even embrace this part of himself because of the way it keeps him alive through everything. He even starts to consider it as a friend instead of a foe. Throughout the novel, Pi’s main struggle was with his morality--he didn’t know if he deserved to survive because of what Richard Parker had done. At the end of the book he realizes that he does deserve a happy ending and this allows him to fully accept himself.