What to Believe In the novel Life of Pi

Jeff Ramos English101 Mr. Adams 11-21-2012 What to Believe In the novel Life of Pi, Yann Martel uses the protagonist Pi to demonstrate how faith, ritual and ones will to tolerate save one from the barbaric and carnivorous reality. Pi Patel, lover of faith and mixed gods and their beliefs loses his family after a shipwreck and drifts on the Pacific Ocean with the zebra, hyena, orangutan and tiger named Richard Parker, each struggling in their ingest way to survive. In the end, Pi presents cardinal different stories and leaves it up to the reader to steady down which transformation is ultimately received.Personally, I would deliberate the animal allegory was made up by Pi because the human news report was too much for him to endure. But how do we define the true? Is something true plain because it is believable? Is something mistaken because it seems unrealistic? The lexicon defines truth as 1) the true or actual state of a bet 2) conformity with fact or reality 3) a ver ified or certain(p) fact, proposition, principle or the like. The relativity of truth is not emphasized as a major theme until the lastly character reference of the novel, when Pi recaps the entire story to the officials from the exaltation company who be questioning him.Pi lets them drive the transformation they prefer, and for them that version becomes truth. In this world, deal believe the version of truth that they be most comfortable with. People would sort of believe a colorful version of a story, over the gruesome expound of the story that actually happened. For example, as Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba were interviewing Pi, he asks them So tell me, since it makes no real difference to you and you preservet farm the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the expose story, the story with the animals or the story without animals? Mr. Chiba the story with the animals.Mr. Okomoto Yes. The story with animals is the split up story. (317). After hearing the two versions of Pis horrendous account, the interviewers agree the story with the animals is the better story, however never do they say they believe it is true. As earthly concern we tend to speak up that something is imitation nevertheless because it is unbelievable or we just oasist had an opportunity to experience a certain situation yet. For example, when Pi is describing the atheists and agnostics last words he says I dope well imagine an atheists last words white, white? L-L-Love My beau ideal and the deathbed leap of faith.Whereas the agnostic, if he stays true to his reasonable self, if he stays see to dry, yeast less factuality, might find out to explain the warm light clean him by saying, possibly a f-f-falling oxygenation of the b-b-brain, and, to the rattling end, lack imagination and miss the better story. (64). This shows how the agnostic did not believe in god because he felt that it was untrue and unbelievable. Yet when he or she experiences it, th ey surely would become a believer. Pi seems to be bothered by the agnostic and their determination to doubt, to lack belief in anything. other quote from Life of Pi shows that exclusively because Mr. Chiba and Mr.Okomoto have never actually witnessed a floating banana they automatically believed that it is untrue and believe it would sink. Bananas dont float. Yes they do. They are to heavy. No they are not. Here, try for yourself. I have two bananas right here. Theyre in. And? They are floating. What did I tell you? (292-293). done experience Pi knows that bananas float. Once Pi proves to the interviewers that indeed bananas do float, they believe. How do we define what to believe? The theory of knowledge can guide us in conclusiveness making what to believe, what to ignore, what to question, and what we dont know.It is different from assumptions, rumors and myths. Which version do you believe? Do you think Pi, as a young boy, comes up with the fantastical tale to cope with the unlovely truth? Or, is it somehow not the storey to decide what actually happened? Maybe the stunner of the first story outweighs the believability of the game? Martel spends so much time evolution the first story, and not much on the second. While it might seem only unlikely, the details are all redact into the first story. Ultimately, in Life of Pi, Martel leaves the decision of what to believe up to you.