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Trivia from IMDb: "As in the novel, the name of the Japanese ship is Tsimtsum. Tsimtsum is in fact a Hebrew word used by the 16th-century Kabbalist Isaac Luria to denote God's "contraction" of Himself from the world at Creation. In the novel, the adult Pi mentions doing a college thesis on Luria's theories about creation. In the movie, he simply mentions teaching a course on Kabbalah and does not specifically reference Luria."
I'm assuming that "'contraction' of Himself from the world at Creation" is a phrase meaning God withdrew and became laissez faire or hands off.
There's a lot of depth and details behind the story. Richard Parker, the name of the Tiger, was the name of a shipwrecked sailor from Poe's 1838 novel, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, who was cannibalized by the 3 other survivors.
THEN, now get this, in 1884, after the sinking of the yacht Mignonette, the cabin boy named Richard Parker, was eaten by his three surviving shipmates for food.
How could I not mention the fact that Richard Parker was the father of Peter Parker, aka Spiderman.
Last but not least (of several other Peter Parkers), the English playwright, Owen Thomas, in 2010 presented a play titled "Richard Parker", which is a dark comedy dealing with coincidence.
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The Nut:
At the beginning of the movie, Pi tells the writer that his story will make him believe in God. [spoiler]Then at the end he asks the writer which story he liked best, the one with the animals or the one with the people in the boat that he told to the Japanese investigators. The writer responds, the one with the animals, to which Pi says, "And so it goes with God", (smiles).[/spoiler]
