Yann Martel’s wonderful novel Life
of Pi is first and foremost a gripping adventure, but it is also a unique
meditation on nature, theology, and the decision about what to believe.  The
first part of the novel introduces us to the main character, Pi Patel, his
early childhood, his family, his religious beliefs, and the fundamentals of
zoology.  Then the second, longer part tells the amazing story of his survival
from the sinking of boat traveling from India to Canada, spending months on a
lifeboat with a Bengal tiger. 

Pi is an unusual teenager, mainly
because he insists on being Hindu, Christian, and Moslem.  As he tells of his
religious belief, he explains his devotion to each religion and his insistence
that they are compatible with each other.  He also explains that he respects
atheism more than agnosticism, because an atheist at least makes a choice about
what to believe, while an agnostic clings to doubt, which provides no guidance
about what to do.  Pi Patel retains his comprehensive belief in multiple
religions into his adult life, as we see in the few chapters written from the
perspective of a visitor to Patel’s house much later when he has returned to
India.  These chapters by a different narrator help to reassure the reader that
Pi’s story has independent verification, and that the tale of his time on the
high seas is not a pure figment of his imagination.  If it were not for this,
we might dismiss the story as merely an amusing fantasy, but the other point of
view forces us to ask where the limits of truth within the fiction lie. 

In the second part of the novel,
Pi’s religious life plays little role, and the detailed description of his
spiritual life in the first half might appear to be mere background information
to deepen his character.  In this second part, Pi is adrift with several zoo
animals in a lifeboat after the ship he was traveling on with his family has
suddenly sunk.  The drama is purely about how he manages to survive through his
ingenuity and his knowledge of the psychology of dangerous animals.  Pi’s
amazing story is enthralling, and some readers may be impatient to get to this
part of the novel.  However, the link between the two parts of the book, which
gives it depth and coherence, is precisely the epistemological question of what
grounds our belief.  When, at the end of the novel, the reader is given the
some reason to directly doubt Pi’s account of his time at sea, Pi’s earlier
comments about agnosticism come to mind.  The possibility that Pi has
fabricated his story about the Bengal tiger raises the fascinating question of
whether the story has a symbolic meaning rather a literal truth.  It’s clear
that some of the animals within his story could stand for other people, but especially
thought provoking is what the floating paradise island populated by Mir cats
might symbolize.

Life of Pi is one of the
most imaginative novels written in recent years.  Martel has a great facility
with language, and the book is a real pleasure to read with its combination of
humor and adventure.  Jeff Woodman does an excellent job reading the unabridged
audiobook. 

© 2004 Christian Perring. All
rights reserved.

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