Life of Pi

Plot development
  * The chapter begins with a lightning and thunderstorm, endangering both Pi and Richard Parker making them both possible prey. (Neither of them are predator and they are literally on the same boat).
  * Pi overcomes a bolt of lightning with amazement; he is not afraid.
Pi says on page 258-9, “Suddenly a bolt struck much closer… I was dazed, thunderstruck- nearly in the true sense of the word. But not afraid.” In contrast, Richard Parker is trembling and is flat on the floor of the boat.
  * Pi views the thunderstorm and lightning as a miracle, while Richard Parker views them as a dangerous inconvenience.
On page 259, “To Richard Parker I shouted, “Stop your trembling! This is a miracle. This is an outbreak of divinity.”
  * Pi praises Allah and feels “genuine happiness” for saving Pi’s life.

Setting/Mood
  * The setting is on the lifeboat, in the Pacific Ocean. There is lightning with thunderstorm, so it is dark. Pi says, “The sky was so black, day looked like night” (257-8). Pi describes a bolt of lightning as vivid.
  * The mood is intense, Pi says that the thunderstorm is “positively deafening”.

Character Development
The thunderstorm reverses the roles by empowering Pi while putting Richard Parker in an extreme disadvantage. Richard Parker may have had dominance over Pi in the beginning of the journey. However, in this moment, both Pi and Richard Parker learn that the sea holds the potential power to kill them both; the sea is the alpha male.
  * Pi: Throughout this chapter, Pi is portrayed as brave. During the thunderstorm and lightning, he demonstrates strength and confidence towards the storm as well as towards Richard Parker.
  * Richard Parker: Throughout this chapter, Richard Parker is portrayed as a coward. He doesn’t know what lightning is, which makes him nervous and scared. He may have had dominance over Pi in the beginning of the journey, but he loses all his dominance. “He was flat on the floor of...