Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Late afternoons to early evenings: Prayers. Sunset: prayers. Night: Prayers.” (211). While on the raft Pi praying as often as he did helped him keep faith in his survival and his life. If he was not constantly thinking of God and keeping God close to him, Richard Parker would have replaced God and Pi most likely would have ended up committing suicide. In him having faith in God and his survival, it gave him an extra push and more determination to survive for 227 days alone in the pacific on a life boat.

The way Pi acts throughout his journey suggests that having faith is one of the most important practises to learn as it can give an individual hope. Pi has a strong connection to all his practising faiths: Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. Society is set to have many unspoken rules that we must abide by to

Bengali polymath, Rabindranath Tagore, once said “you can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” In the novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the protagonist, Pi, faces many challenges at sea while being accompanied by a tiger by the name of Richard Parker. This tiger, though a nuisance, proves to be essential in the role of Pi’s survival. Throughout the story, Richard Parker symbolizes survival, a reflection of Pi, and a being of God.

Pi’s dedication to all three religions: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, built a stronger bond between God and himself. It gave him character and strength as God was alongside him throughout the entire journey. The bond he shared with God also helped him keep his sanity and maintain his will to live.

At the beginning of the novel, Pi’s story is described as “a story that will make you believe in God.” Writer himself Yann Martel was going thru his writers crisis, traveling world looking for a good story to write something about. Martel found a man who told his story. His man named Piscine Molitor Patel who is a practicing follower of three religions: Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. For this reason, extremely mature boy must constantly fight the lack of tolerance and understanding in his surroundings. While in the case of adult people the lack of a specific decision on the faith can be perceived as humiliating, but Pi is fully justified because of his young age. His desire is to find the road to the creator will be seriously tested during

Yann Martel establishes in the beginning of Life of Pi in the author’s note that the claim to the heart of the novel in this story will “make you believe in God.” Since God is an identity that exists in a fiction or non-fiction realm, the audience is led to believe that the story to be told is true, opening the reader to the idea that belief in anything can be belief in God. Pi makes sense of his life through the expressions of Hinduism, Christianity and Muslim, “That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression.” (Pg.68) This emphasizes Pi’s dedication and devotion to his religions and God. Martel is opening up to Pi’s story to convince the reader to find faith in Pi’s words.

On its surface, Martel’s Life of Pi proceeds as a far-fetched yet not completely unbelievable tale about a young Indian boy named Pi who survives after two hundred twenty-seven days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It is an uplifting and entertaining story, with a few themes about companionship and survival sprinkled throughout. The ending, however, reveals a second story – a more realistic and dark account replacing the animals from the beginning with crude human counterparts. Suddenly, Life of Pi becomes more than an inspiring tale and transforms into a point to be made about rationality, faith, and how storytelling correlates the two. The point of the book is not for the reader to decide which

In the beginning of the Life of Pi, Yann Martel establishes his theme of truth being relative through the main character, Pi. When Pi was confronted about worshiping three different religions, he says,

"Bapu Gandhi said, 'All religions are true.' I just want to love God"(87). Pi indicates that he does not see any disparity between the three religions. Although each religion has it's own unique religious uniform, Pi looks beyond it to see the bigger picture. In this picture Pi sees that loving God is front and center in all three of his religious practices. Whether it includes a prayer rug, dancing or silently praising God in the sanctuary, Pi understands that the importance is all centered on the act of worshiping God. In this we can understand why Pi wants to consider different components in his belief system. These different components allow Pi to have an expanded horizon in which he can more clearly determine his actions. In turn, these factors aid Pi in determining the defense of his religious choices. This comes with a result of a behavior based on belief. While Pi wanted to have the choice to practice three religions, the people around him did not believe in it nor understand it. Often people see religion as a stable foundation to exhibit what a person's character or personality is making it obvious that Pi's choice to stand on three

Amazing things have been accomplished in the name of God. In the Life of Pi, sixteen-year old Pi survived seven months on a lifeboat with only his faith in God to guide him. Pi had always been a big believer in God. In fact, he practiced three religions, claiming that, “All religions are true.” (ch.23 pg.69). Even while stranded on a lifeboat, Pi found a way to believe and pray. This unwavering devotion was what led Pi to land and civilization after seven long months at sea.

At the age of fourteen Pi was introduced to three religions, christianity, hinduism and islam. He was on a trip with his parents in Munnar when he met a Christian priest along with other religious leaders. In these religions they preach that god is the main influence of life. Pi listened and learned in these religions, buying a bible and prayer rug that he read and used daily. This influenced his belief that God impacts all life events because it was what he read,

Through Pi’s many triumphs and struggles, it is made clear that a close relationship with God can bring strength and hope to deplorable situations. When Pi was a young boy, he began extensively reading about and researching different religions and their beliefs. This child’s interest in multiple faiths began to develop when he noticed that all of their potent narratives have the capability to add meaning and truth to life. One afternoon, while in conversation with his

1. Marvelous body of Richard Parker as both an image of God and a sign

It is difficult to talk about the Life of Pi text without making a reference to faith, and the same goes with explaining Pi’s survival. Pi’s belief in pluralism and acceptance of the three religions, Hinduism, Christianity and Islam aid his future and is a crucial part of his survival at sea. His faith in knowing “so long as god is with me, I will not die” gives him the mental strength and will power to survive his ordeal. Even in the middle of the ocean, Pi practices all his religious rituals such as ‘‘solitary masses without consecrated Communion Hosts’’

Martel compares aspects of each faith to provide connection between all of them, enforcing the practicality of multiple faiths. Pi ultimately is able to tolerate each religion by selecting the desirable aspects of each one. For example, Pi values Hinduism as his primary practice of religion especially their God known as Krishna. Pi finds “[Krishna’s] divinity utterly compelling” and believes Krishna to be the most celestial god to believe in (Martel 56). He was raised knowing the superiority of such a god and that god only. However, when Pi learns more about Christianity, he learns to accept their god as a supreme being as well. At first, Pi