¿Es La Vida de Pi Magical Realism o no?

     Life of Pi is a work of magical realism and Richard Parker, along with all the other animals, did not factually exist with Pi on the boat.  In looking at Big Fish, a definite example of magical realism, one finds elements of the supernatural, elements of uncertainty and secrets, and elements of the common reality.  When comparing Life of Pi and Big Fish, one finds obvious similarities in those aspects of magical realism.  Therefore, it is safe to say Life of Pi is also magical realism.  Authors use magical realism to convey messages in a more creative way than the "boring" normal.  Martel uses magical realism in Life of Pi to enhance his message.  The entire novel portrays a message of looking through different perspectives to find bigger meaning in situations and to be open to all possibilities.  This message supports the main message Martel stresses - sticking with your beliefs.  Beliefs and values exist as people's way to assign meaning and purpose to their own lives.  They use their beliefs as guide lines to morals and perspective.  Pi believed in three religions, giving him more perspective.  He created the elaborate story of his adventure to instill in people's minds an argument of what to believe.  Through Pi, Martel attempted to test people's confidence in their beliefs.  Martel presents an idea of believing in what is improbable to add color and stimulation into lives.  Adversely, he also wanted those who didn't believe the story to be confident in their beliefs.  He continually stresses in the book that doubt, although necessary for short periods of time, is an atrocity in the long run.  Martel gives Pi as an example in that he did not give up on his belief that Richard Parker existed.  This shows that if we want to believe in something we think is beautiful, but not necessarily probable or even true, we should stick to it and support it unconditionally so that it may become a part of our reality.  People tend to want certainty, but we can't have certainty if we don't deliberately choose our own certainty.  In the end, we're going to live life through our own perspectives, how we choose to look at things.