The story follows Piscine Molitor Patel, known as Pi, a young Indian boy who survives a shipwreck while emigrating to Canada with his family. Stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean, Pi is left with only a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker for company. The novel weaves a tale of survival, faith, and the boundaries between reality and imagination, as Pi confronts his deepest fears and beliefs during his 227-day ordeal at sea.