Why does the author include Patel's education and background

The narrative point of view of this story is a bit odd. It starts out with the author narrating to readers from the first person perspective. Then, with Pi's permission, the narrator begins narrating the story from Pi's perspective. It's still a first person narration, but readers are aware of the shift because Martel told us he was doing that. At the beginning of the book, Pi/Martel gives readers a lot of information about Pi's education, views on religion, and a host of other topics. In my opinion, this does two main things. First, all of this narration about Pi from Pi's perspective helps to establish Pi's narrative voice. Readers get to have a "feel" for the character before he is thrown in to a harrowing situation onboard a life boat with a tiger. Second, the background grounds Pi's character in reality. Readers understand that Pi is a fairly normal kid that isn't prone to overly exaggerating things. He also proves himself a critical thinker. All of this serves to make readers believe that Pi is telling the truth, and that is of critical importance once he is on the boat.