Notice carefully the training methods Pi uses to work with Richard Parker. Zoo owners and managers take classes and update their degrees so they can work effectively with their animals. Classes stress management (not total submission) through positive reinforcement (often using food), knowledge of the animal's diet and territorial needs, and the repeated use of use of sound cues. How did Pi employ these techniques? What additional knowledge did he use?
Pi needed knowledge of Richard Parker's brain, as well as his own, to survive. How did Pi consciously program himself for survival as his journey began? How long did his routine help him? What caused it to falter?
At this novel's heart is another part of the human brain: the subconscious. Many web sites discuss a subconscious brain function called memory repression, which can be viewed as a survival technique. Related to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, memory repression occurs when the brain of a traumatized person compartmentalizes the trauma deep within the subconscious mind, allowing the person to continue to function. In some cases, memories return much later in the individual's life. The web site medicalnewstoday.com/memory repression supports the new theory that traumatized people should not be forced to "relive their trauma," but rather allowed to keep the memory repressed until it resurfaces at its own rate.
Pi's Richard Parker story begins after what traumatic events? As his voyage continues, what actions does Pi have to perform that are deeply repellant to him as a religious vegetarian? What evidence at the book's conclusion suggests repressed memories which Pi chooses to keep private?
Speaking of minds... have you seen "Induction"? The plot revolves around subconscious brain function.
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