Analysis

Because an author’s note is a traditional literary device—in which a book’s author briefly addresses his or her readers before proceeding to the main text—readers at first might believe that the “voice” of the note is Yann Martel’s. In fact, the narrator of the author’s note seems to have a background that is similar, if not identical, to Martel’s. However, as the novel continues, The Author becomes more and more of a character, intruding with both brief and lengthy passages to explain his ongoing relationship with Pi and his experience of listening to Pi’s story. Eventually, readers realize that The Author is a fictional character who is relating a fictional experience.

The Author’s Note adds an interesting element to the entire tone of the novel. First-person narrators, as a literary rule, are unreliable. Any person who is directly recounting his or her experiences will embellish, forget, lie, and misremember, and cannot be counted on for “truth.” The presence of The Author—who is telling the story as it was told to him, for the purpose of writing a novel—creates a layer of fallibility. It elevates the story to the level of a fairy tale or parable and allows the literary text to become whatever is needed to communicate both events and beliefs about philosophy, religion, adventure, entertainment, and miracles.