Even as I wonder how a boat, a boy, and a tiger on the high seas can go on for a couple hundred pages, I see Martel filling up paragraphs with lists and details. While it is interesting enough, and does bring a certain sense of Pi's character to the story by his observations, I wonder why I find myself skipping through a bit. Lists are naturally scanned by the mind, looking for recognizable objects or words.
There may be a more likely reason, that of my own failure to link the details to a metaphorical image. Not all authors choose to bring out or clarify their symbolism, but it seems as though Martel does give us some clues:
It is true that adversity and adversaries can give us a reason to to keep fighting, just as love and contentment will do. So the tiger, Richard Parker, does serve as a force in Pi's survival, even as he threatens it. There is something else the tiger possibly represents, that being the inner fears, distrust, doubts, etc. we all face within ourselves that Pi is facing in this adventure. Up until this journey, he had a pretty stable, loving, and protected place in the world. Between India and Canada, the two grounded worlds, Pi floats on the sea of transition.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology