"I looked Richard Parker dead in the eyes. Suddenly his brute strength meant only moral weakness. It was nothing compared to the strength of my mind Richard Parker licked his nose, groaned and turned away" (Martel 281). Without the mask that Pi had on, he probably would not have lived through the lifeboat experience. It had saved his life from being destroyed by Richard Parker by showing a fake side but enough to make the tiger leave him alone. "But enough was enough. I had suffered so much. I was so hungry. There are only so many days you can go without eating" (Martel 280). This is what drove Pi to come out and go out against the tiger; he was backed by his will to survive hunger. This is what had triggered the mask on him was the will to continue on in life and without it; he could have been stuck in Richard Parker's stomach. "Because it makes me feel, stronger, smarter, or better than the person I'm bullying." Richard Parker became the aggressor from this; he thought that he could beat Pi. What he did not know was Pi's will to survive was greater than Richard Parker's will to kill. "Because it's one of the best ways to keep others from bullying me." Which was one of the ways Pi had come to the though of intimidating his for Richard Parker. Pi did not want to be bullied around by Richard Parker because then he …show more content…
Then another person entered the picture. "It was someone else! My heart beat fiercely, making one last go at pushing some blood through my worn-out system" (Martel 313). Pi had put on a mask of happiness to cover up his sadness and loneliness from the seas. He wanted the person to be there for him from being on the journey for two hundred days. Pi was out there alone and depressed for 200 some days all alone, the experience of having another person there to share the pain with was drawn out by his mask. The mask of happiness helped Pi communicate and welcome the other person. "'Wait, I'm here!' I shouted" (Martel 313). Was when Pi found out the person was not Richard Parker and he found himself needed support. For he was losing his faith somewhat and his mask of religion was fading away, as his depression grew worse and worse. Only a person could save his mental state, so he lunged out at the opportunity by adding the mask on to get the other person's attention. "'Day after day, night after night, time just kept passing. Somewhere along the way, I lost weeks, months, and years.'" The feeling that Pi had before he had help which had come back soon after the French cannibal was eaten by Richard