The reader should learn about the behavior of animals before part 2. In chapter 8, Pi’s father takes him and his brother to watch the zoo’s tiger catch and eat a live goat after being starved for three days, “A streak of black and orange flowed from one cage to the next. [...] It was enough to scare the living vegetarian daylights out of me” (45). The tiger is shown as vicious. If starved, the tiger can go after prey at lightning speed. This is important, as in part 2 when the ship sinks, the tiger (Richard Parker) will go without food for quite some time. In chapter 13, Pi mentions how a lion trainer must make sure that the lions are in his territory, and that he is the king, “he establishes that the ring is his territory [...] by shouting,…show more content… In chapter 8, Pi talks about how seeing human emotions in an animal is very dangerous, “Father believed that there was [an] animal even more dangerous than humans, [...] the animal seen through human eyes. [...] I learned that an animal is an animal, essentially and practically removed from us” (39). Pi’s father tries to make a point that humans completely misunderstand animals by seeing them with human emotions. In part 2, Pi has to deal with dangerous animals, which could end awfully if Pi decided to treat them like they have similar emotions, such as keeping near them or petting them. However, animals can get used to humans, allowing them to come closer and closer (reducing “flight distance”), as shown in chapter 9, “tools for diminishing flight distance are the knowledge we have of an animal, the food and shelter we provide, the protection we afford” (49). This means that someone such as Pi can reduce flight distance by showing the animal that they help them, by providing necessities like food and shelter. This is important in chapter 2, as Pi comes face to face with a hyena and a tiger, which could mean certain death if you step too
