The two officials are very skeptical of Pi’s entire story and try to refute it by questioning simple details, such as whether or not bananas float. Pi becomes frustrated with the two men and yells at them, saying that they are incredibly ignorant of how many animals escape and are lost from zoos all the time.

The three men finally come to an understanding when the two interviewers explain that they simply need a second story, something more believable. Pi supplies this alternative version of his journey, that aboard the lifeboat with him were his mother, the French cook from the ship, and a crewman. The crewman had a badly broken leg and the cook insisted on amputating it, gaining the cooperation of both Pi and Pi’s mother. After the amputation, the crewman died a slow and painful death. Then the cook revealed that the only reason he amputated the leg was to use it for bait. Pi’s mother, outraged and sickened by the act, railed against the cook, especially when he began to eat the crewman, which Pi insists neither he nor his mother took part in. Pi’s mother and the cook quarreled, but they eventually became relatively civil shipmates. The turning point came when a turtle escaped capture and the cook hit Pi. Pi’s mother then became violent toward the cook and directed Pi to leave the lifeboat for a raft that was tethered to the lifeboat. Pi watched as the cook decapitated his mother and threw the severed head to Pi on the raft. In the end, Pi stabbed the cook to death.

The officials observe that Pi’s first story is much like his second, only with animals—the zebra is the crewman, the hyena is the French cook, Orange Juice is Pi’s mother, and the tiger is Pi himself. The two men decide, and are advised by Pi, that there is no way to tell which story is true, that they will have to take Pi’s word for it.