Good question! First, set aside the question of whether the island was real or not. All we have is the story Pi tells his listeners, and us. They doubt it at times—doubt if it is factual—but the core points are these: Pi is telling a story that is deeply important to him, and a story about an experience that changed his life. He went through deprivation, and he was already a deeply religious person. He was primed for hallucinations, visions, and so on. The island might be such a vision. It might not. It doesn't matter for the symbolic meaning. As a symbol, the island represents nature that should be nurturing. It is a beautiful oasis, a refuge—or it should be. Can you imagine what you'd want to see more than a lush island when you're at sea? Then to have it be this unnatural thing that would eat you…wow. That's an intense betrayal, the dark version of Eden. That's the symbolic meaning.
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