Why should we believe Pi?

Pi's story is the ultimate story of survival. His first story, found to be unbelievable, is of course Pi's version. His second story is more believable, but it is also filled with the brutal aspects of survival. In essence, Pi's story, the one he prefers to remember, enables him to go on and detaches him from the horrors of reality.

On another note, storytelling is a major theme throughout the novel. Pi’s story is a story. In Martel's semi-fictional “Author’s Note,” he draws the reader’s attention to the fact that Pi’s tale of survival at sea an unverified story, as is the novel itself. Martel also makes a special point of telling the reader that the author’s note, usually believed to be trustworthy, is an example of fiction.

This is not to say that Martel intends the reader to read Life of Pi through a lens of disbelief or uncertainty; rather, he emphasizes the nature of the book as a story to show that one can choose to believe in it anyway, just as one can choose to believe in God—because it is preferable to not believing, it is “the better story.”