Do the characters seem real and believable? Can you relate to their predicaments? To what extent do they remind you of yourself or someone you know?

There are many details about Pi’s personality, behaviour, and life that make him seem like a regular 16-year-old boy. However, there are a few things that seem unrealistic, but you never know what you would do to stay alive in a similarly desperate situation. For instance, it seemed to me a little immature of Pi to create an imaginative story in his mind about living with dangerous animals and finding a man-eating island while he was stranded. Also, some things seem exaggerated, like when Pi catches a shark with his bare hands, although it may have been a small one. Pi is unpredictable, yet believable, which is one thing that makes this novel so good.

Richard Parker, the tiger, is the only other main character. It seems highly unlikely that he would be so calm even though he is close to starving and Pi is so close to him. Then again, he is also suffering from severe sea sickness and who knows what a real seasick tiger would act like. Again, the characters may seem unusual, but they are believable considering the circumstances.

I cannot really relate to Pi’s predicaments because I have never been in such a bad situation or even been that lost. However, many years ago, when my family and I were on vacation, my sister and I climbed a relatively small mountain or a huge hill and got lost. It was behind our cousin’s farm in Mexico and when we got to the top we walked around and explored. When we wanted to go back down, we couldn’t remember where we had come up and when we looked down, all the farms looked the same. My sister panicked so I made up anything to calm her down because I knew that as long as she was relaxed, I could relax. I told her that I knew exactly how to get back and I could find the farm because of the shapes of the haystacks. I remember pointing to a random farm and saying that was it. Luckily, when we actually got to the bottom, our cousins were outside so it didn’t take too long to find them. The point of this story is that I, like Pi, did what it took for me and my sister to stay clam and sane in the scary situation.