>>476874435How could this story make you believe in God? He survived 200 whatever days at sea. Thats all that matters, and no one can prove one way or another whether or not there were animals or people on board his boat. The author is saying that you can believe one of two things, the harsh sad story of an boatwreck in which a cook kills and eats an injured survivor, kills a boys mom, and then is killed and eaten by the boy. Or you can believe the fantastical story of the taming of a tiger, with whales jumping over the boat and mystical islands that eat people at night. The second story is much more interesting, and makes for a better tale though probably not true. This is what the author is saying, if you believe in the story with the tiger, you believe in God. We are born, live our lives and die. Thats all that matters, but it is up to us to decided which "story" we believe, one with or one without God the latter likely being much more tragic.
p.s. I forgot to throw in there, note the lack of any dead bodies of animals and no animal feces in the boat just saying