Life of Pi
by Yann Martel
Contents
Chapter Sixty Eight
Overview
Pi Patel’s exhaustion deepens as anxiety keeps him from sleeping for long stretches, even though he is physically resting much of the time. Richard Parker, by contrast, grows increasingly comfortable and becomes a “champion napper,” often dozing under the tarpaulin or in the open on calm days and nights. The chapter highlights the unequal psychological burden Pi Patel carries while living beside the tiger.
Summary
Pi Patel notices that his sleep pattern changes: although he rests constantly on the lifeboat, he rarely sleeps for more than an hour at a time, even at night.
Pi Patel realizes the problem is not the motion of the sea or the wind, which he has grown used to, but the ongoing apprehension and anxiety of survival that repeatedly wakes him. Even so, Pi Patel is struck by how little sleep his body can endure.
In contrast, Richard Parker becomes an expert napper, usually resting beneath the tarpaulin. On calm days and calm nights, when the sun is not too harsh, Richard Parker comes out into the open.
Pi Patel observes Richard Parker’s preferred sleeping and resting positions in detail—sprawled sideways on the stern bench with his stomach overhanging, or sitting with his back to Pi Patel and his face buried into the stern as if playing hide-and-seek. Richard Parker often lies so still that only the occasional twitch of his ears shows he is not necessarily asleep.
Who Appears
- Pi PatelNarrator; becomes an anxious, light sleeper despite constant physical rest.
- Richard ParkerBengal tiger; naps often, resting under the tarpaulin and lounging in calm weather.