Richard Parker may sound like an accountant, but in actual fact he's a fearsome, 450-pound tiger accompanying Pi in a lifeboat along with other animals who've survived the recent sinking of their ship. Yet, much to Pi's confusion, this great beast isn't behaving like a great beast; he's actually more like a pussy cat on board the lifeboat as he inexplicably allows the hyena to take liberties with him, such as killing the zebra.

At first, the hyena was scared and intimidated by the presence of Richard Parker, so much so that he waited a long time before making his move and killing the zebra. But once he does, Richard Parker makes no effort to retaliate. It's hard to imagine a tiger acting like this out in the wild.

But for the first three days on board the boat Richard Parker remains in this quiet and passive mood, not like a tiger at all. Pi figures out that there are two possible reasons for this: sedation or seasickness. Pi reflects how his father used to sedate the animals in his zoo. Perhaps he sedated Richard Parker before the ship sank? Or maybe the mighty tiger has been tamed by seasickness? These are the only plausible explanations that Pi can come up with.