Belief In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Belief is the foundation that sustains the themes and events in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi. In order for the readers to believe a sixteen year old boy can survive being cast away at sea for 227 days with a tiger the author provides the reader with Pi Patel—the epitome of belief. Pi represents belief because his life’s story is based on the belief of the reader. Throughout Life of Pi the reader is able to witness the effects stories have on Pi’s belief in respect to his survival. The reader is also given an opportunity to choose whether or not to believe in a story that shapes the existence of Pi. Without having the belief in his multiple faiths and the power of storytelling, Pi Patel would not have lived to share his story. Through Pi sharing his beliefs, the reader is enabled to believe in life and a story greater than life. Yann Martel establishes the importance of belief in regards to the story he shares with the reader in the authors note, claiming it is “a story that will make [the reader] believe in God” (xi). By doing so, Martel sets the infrastructure for the story and the way it will be received by the reader. Claiming to have a story that can make …show more content…
It is through his sharing of his introduction to Christianity that the reader is introduced to the concept of disbelief—a concept that Pi struggles with later on while at sea. Through this introduction of disbelief, Martel is able to parallel the impact of telling “another story” to the reader, proving it is the detail that affects the impact of a story (303). The detail of a story either makes it easier or harder to hear and believe, while effecting the impact and reality of a story. Just as Pi asked for another story to prove Christianity— a religion which at first fills him with disbelief, Pi is asked to provide another story, “one that reflects reality” and is a little more “flat”