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Through the use of allegories, Yann Martel reveals Pi’s internal conflicts and develops a theme that one must depend on their most extreme qualities in the most desperate of times.

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Even though Pi despises the cook's inhumane actions, he knows he was the one to first show Pi that he needed to depend on his extreme qualities for survival.

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Even though Pi despises the cook's inhumane actions, he knows he was the one to first show Pi that he needed to depend on his extreme qualities for survival.

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“When your life has been given a reprieve, it’s impossible not to feel some warmth for the one to whom you owe that reprieve” (309).

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The animal nature of Richard Parker in Pi to look after only himself internally conflicts with his moral obligation to avenge the zebra and orangutan.

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The animal nature of Richard Parker in Pi to look after only himself internally conflicts with his moral obligation to avenge the zebra and orangutan.

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“I must be honest about that. I didn't have pity to spare for long for the zebra. When your own life is threatened, your sense of empathy is blunted by a terrible, selfish hunger for survival” (120).

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Pi struggles with internal conflict between his moral values and the actions he must take to survive.

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Pi struggles with internal conflict between his moral values and the actions he must take to survive.

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“I wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul. It was the first sentient being I had ever killed. I was now a killer. I was now as guilty as Cain. I was sixteen years old, a harmless boy, bookish and religious, and now I had blood on my hands. It’s a terrible burden to carry” (183).

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Pi reflects on his change in behavior compared to his old self.

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Pi reflects on his change in behavior compared to his old self.

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“To think that when I was a child I always shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animal’s neck. I descended to a level of savagery I never imagined possible” (197).

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Pi realizes that he must depend on Richard Parker to survive and that without him, he would die.

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Pi realizes that he must depend on Richard Parker to survive and that without him, he would die.

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“I had to tame him. It was at that moment that I realized this necessity. It was not a question of him or me, but of him and me. We were, literally and figuratively, in the same boat. We would live-or we would die-together” (163).

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Although Pi despises the inhumane actions he makes, he knows that he needs to in order to survive.

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Although Pi despises the inhumane actions he makes, he knows that he needs to in order to survive.

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“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. He pushed me to go on living. I hated him for it, yet at the same time I was grateful. I am grateful. It’s the plain truth: without Richard Parker, I wouldn’t be alive today to tell you my story” (164).

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Pi begins to become comfortable with the characteristics of Richard Parker that he possesses as he depends on them for survival.

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Pi begins to become comfortable with the characteristics of Richard Parker that he possesses as he depends on them for survival.

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“But in point of fact the explanation lies elsewhere. It is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing” (185).

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Pi experiences internal conflict when he has to embrace a dietary shift to survive but is able to cope with it by justifying his actions through religion.

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Pi experiences internal conflict when he has to embrace a dietary shift to survive but is able to cope with it by justifying his actions through religion.

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“With this fish I was retaliating against the sea, against the wind, against the sinking of ships, against all circumstances that were working against me. ‘Thank you, Lord Vishnu, thank you!’ I shouted. ‘Once you saved the world by taking the form of a fish. Now you have saved me by taking the form of a fish. Thank you, thank you!’” (185).

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As Pi depends on extreme measures to survive, he continues to try and maintain some form of moral values to prevent further internal conflict with himself.

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As Pi depends on extreme measures to survive, he continues to try and maintain some form of moral values to prevent further internal conflict with himself.

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“I will confess that I caught one of his arms with the gaff and used his flesh as bait. I will further confess that, driven by the extremity of my need and the madness to which it pushed me, I ate some of his flesh....They slipped into my mouth nearly unnoticed. You must understand, my suffering was unremitting and he was already dead. I stopped as soon as I caught a fish” (256).

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Even though Pi had to develop a dependency towards his animalistic nature, he is able to accept his actions because of the reward of a better life.

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Even though Pi had to develop a dependency towards his animalistic nature, he is able to accept his actions because of the reward of a better life.

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“At each number he softly presses the tip of her nose with his index finger. She finds this terribly funny. She giggles and buries her face in the crook of his neck. This story has a happy ending” (93).

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When Richard Parker kills the French man to save Pi's life, "he gave [Pi] a life" but "at the expense of taking one." As the French man is being killed "he ripped the flesh" and "cracked his bones" as "the smell of blood filled [Pi's] nose". The allegory of Richard Parker as Pi's extreme side reveals the dependency and need for animal instincts in order for Pi to survive. Without the side of Richard Parker, Pi would have never gone to the extremes of killing or eating a man as a means of survival. Pi adds on that "something in me died then that has never come back to life" which refers to Pi's humane side (255). Not only does Richard Parker sacrifice the life of another man for the life of Pi, the part of Pi that always upheld his moral beliefs and religious traditions also dies. The use of allegories further reveals Pi's internal conflict since he needs to embrace an animalistic behavior while still trying to uphold his moral beliefs. However, he eventually has to let go of the humane side of himself as he chooses to depend on the extreme side of Richard Parker.