Life of Pi is Yann Martel’s most popular book. A story of a boy alone in the Pacific ocean for 227 days with nothing but his thoughts, god, and a 450 pound Bengal tiger; Martel conveys that it is not about the journey, it is how one interprets it. Though plot events seem outlandish and random out of context Martel’s ability to write allows the reader to believe every second. An exciting and engaging read, Life of Pi is a tribute to the power of story.

Life of Pi is a fictional story. Like many of Martel’s other books, it pushes the bounds of believability with exotic and interesting ideas that grab hold of the reader. For example, the book We Ate the Children Last. It is a book that examines the dangers of science and medicine through the storyline that a new digestive system transplant from pigs causes people to eat trash and have other, more gruesome appetites. Many of Martel’s book examine important elements of life both traditional and new by exaggerating them through extravagant but fascinating circumstances. This key element of Martel’s books is what provides for their uniqueness and success.

Life of Pi follows the life of a deeply religious Indian boy, Piscine “Pi” Patel. Growing up he is taunted by classmates and gets into trouble for not only practicing Hindu, but Christianity and Islam as well. When his family decides to move to Canada, with many of their zoo animals, their boat sinks and Pi finds himself on a lifeboat in the middle of the ocean with a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. From there the story just gets wackier with fish that fly into the boat and carnivorous seaweed.

The message that Martel shows, it’s about what you take from the journey, is very well illustrated in the last few chapters of the book. When Pi is asked to tell a more reasonable account of his story, he gives them just that. It substitutes the animals for real people, his mother being the orangutan and himself the tiger. Therefor, the reader must regard one as an allegory and the other the true events. The cohabitation of a starving man and tiger seem fanciful, but the reader wants to believe the story the read for hours about. It is obvious that it does not matter which story, it is the story’s message that is important. Just like all religions are allegories that help us get closer to the supernatural, whether it is the figure called “God” or “Allah” or any other. Every story has its purpose.

Martel focuses upon the relations between Pi and the tiger, or Pi and his anger, throughout the book. By putting them on a boat, Martel sets a stage in which Pi must deal with the uncontrollable beast, external or internal, coaxing a great character development in Pi. He learns to be self reliant, a quality essential to growing up, one which everyone experiences. Pi also has doubts about god, another thing that troubles many when faced with problems.

Pi’s journey has many lessons about life. Though somewhat farcical, Pi’s response to his troubles should be noted. Whatever the true story, it is what one gets from it, the same as what one takes from religion. The Life of Pi is a tremendous story of struggle and faith.