Dealing With Multiple Realities: An Analysis of "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel.

In the novel "Life of Pi", Yann Martel dichotomizes the perceptual realities, and psychological realities of Piscine Monitor Patel. Martel is insistent in not "sacrifice[ing] our imagination on the altar of crude reality"(Pi); and to do this, he sets forth in making us wonder whether we are reading an imaginative fiction, or a real life story. Written as a factual account, we are constantly reminded that Pi is alive and doing well in …

…in the ability for opposites to co-exist. This started at a young age, with his exploration of religion; and was his one tool for his survival through his journeys, both physical and spiritual. "Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer"(Pi 330). We live our lives everyday, with "hard to believe"(Pi 330). Pi has just learnt to accept it.