Life Of Pi: Which Story Is Better

4 Pages 1010 Words

Life of Pi: Which story is better?
By: Fatima J

Life of Pi, by Yaan Martel, is a novel set out to argue the case for imaginative fiction. He says that “people sacrifice … imagination on the altar of crude reality and … end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams” (page11). Martel questions whether fiction is believable and realistic. By providing two stories, the Japanese officials and the readers are faced with the question of deciding which of the two stories is better. The Japanese officials end up choosing the first story, simply because it is the “better story”, or in Pi’s words the “story that goes with god” (page 352). What makes the first story the better story are the animals, especially Richard Parker who accompanied Pi throughout his journey to Mexico and simply just his survival story at sea. The first story is more interesting because shows how Pi remains faithful and practises his three religions all throughout the story.
The presence Richard Parker on the lifeboat makes the story interesting because it is very bizarre and uncommon for a human being to survive two hundred and seventy-seven days on the same lifeboat with a tiger. However, Pi manages to do so, but only with the help of Richard Parker himself. He is Pi’s salvation, as he keeps him going and makes him stick to reality. Pi tells us that “If [he] had the will to live, it was thanks to Richard Parker” (page 182). Richard Parker shields Pi from experiencing complete isolation and helps him to keep on going. This is also shown when Pi says, “Truly I do love you, Richard Parker. If I didn’t have you now, I don’t know what I would do. I don’t think I would make it. No, I wouldn’t. I would die of hopelessness” (page 262). Caring for him becomes an integral part of Pi's daily schedule, and prevents him from succumbing to boredom. Also, as Pi kept on providing food to himself and Richard Parker, he was kept busy f...