I would argue that the mood of this first introductory
chapter is one of immense sadness and relief as Pi tells us how, on the one hand he is
overjoyed that he has survived and made it to Canada, but on the other hand how his
experiences still haunt him and leave his joy tinged with sadness that he finds
difficult to deal with. For example, note the following example of
this:
Richard
Parker has stayed with me. I've never forgoten him. Dare I say I miss him? I do. I miss
him. I still see him in my dreams. They are nightmares mostly, but nightmares tinged
with love. Such is the strangeness of the human heart. I still cannot understand how he
could abandon me so unceremoniously, without any sort of goodbye, without looking back
even once. That pain is like an axe that chops at my
heart.
Clearly, the pain that
Pi feels at his "abandonment" from Richard Parker introduces a sombre note to the first
chapter, that tempers the joy of his release with the pain of his experience at sea and
how that impacted him and even now continues to impact him in his life today, so long
after his traumatic experience.
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