One great difficulty in dealing with trauma is that there is at its root a contradiction. Dwelling on the trauma is often debilitating but we cannot ignore or erase it. One way of dealing with trauma is to tell ourselves a story that captures the essence of the trauma but strengthens us. At its essence the life of Pi delves into how we deal with trauma and illustrates one way that we may handle severe trauma. Do I choose to concentrate on the horror, the loss, the anger? Or do I choose to concentrate on my own resourcefulness, ability to overcome hardships, the lessons that I learned? Do I concentrate on the loss of loved ones, and the void that was left in my life, or do I concentrate on the good memories I had with them, the lessons they taught me?
I highly recommend both the book or the movie.
