Critic Roland Barthes said, "Literature is a question minus the answer." Life of Pi is good literature because it raises a question and lets you decide the answer for yourself. Life of Pi raises the important question of truth, and almost everthing in the story relates back to truth. From the way Yann Martel structured the book to the content of the book, everything relates to the truth.
Martel even kind of structured the book to seem like a lie. She sets it up so the reader thinks the story is real or nonfiction. The way she switches between the narrator and Pi almost confuses the reader and goes back to the central question of truth. Even the author's notes are misleading. They are fictional, but they seem real. The book leads back to that question without even looking at the plot. In Life of Pi, Pi practices several religions. Which religion is the truth? The book leaves that question open, which makes one even question the truth in religion. To Pi, the truth in religion doesn't even matter as long as one has faith in the religion or religions they choose.
Life of Pi is a unique book because it elaborates on this plot of Pi being stuck on a boat with animals in the middle of the ocean, but near the end of the book, the reader finds that this story is possibly untrue. The new story isn't introduced until the 99th chapter, so the reader doesn't really know if the first 98 chapters are true. Pi tells the reporters the story that he was actually on the boat with people. After Pi tells the reporters both versions of what happened, he tells them to choose which one they like best because there is no evidence of either. So, which version of the story is true? Are either of the stories even true? These questions are also left open in the end. The book makes the reader question the truth every step of the way. The reader keeps reading to find out the truth, but in the end, the questions are still unanswered. According to Pi, the true story is irrelevent, which questions the relevence of truth in general. Pi feels that both stories were tragic and painful, so it doesn't really matter which one is true.
Martel leaves many questions unanswered in Life of Pi, including the question of the relevence of truth. The structure of the story and the plot leave loose ends that are never tied together. The reader may never know the relevence of religion or the true story. Martel lets the readers decide the truth for themselves, but in the end, does the truth even matter?
Good response!
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