In anthropomorphism, people project human traits onto animals. In zoomorphism (that is one sassy word), animals treat another species like their own. Examples include: a dog who sees its owner's leg as a sexual partner, wolves raising abandoned children, and dolphins swimming with a castaway in the ocean. Certainly Richard Parker living with Pi on the boat counts as a surprising zoomorphic arrangement. But there's also the oddity of Pi's spiritual life: Pi the Hindu, Pi the Muslim, and Pi the Christian all inhabit one spiritual being. These strange bedfellows don't just tolerate one another – they achieve harmony.