Pi's Beliefs

The Life of Pi is a book filled with many fantasy adventures that will have an excellent impact on what you may or not believe in. This novel was published in 2001 by author Yann Martel. Yann Martel is a writer who is trying to make sense of life, just like any other human being trying to deal with everyday obstacles. In this book we see that the protagonist, Piscine Molitor also known as Pi takes us through an adventure that will question our faith in religion. Pi is not pleased by only following his ancestors’ beliefs; he believes that there is much more to religion. In The life of Pi we see that Pi argues amongst his family in what he wants to believe in. His father is not at all religious and Pi has taken up religion as a hobby. Now Pi is a Hindu, Muslim and a Christian and he undergoes a tragedy, a shipwreck with his family on voyage to Canada from India. As he goes through this process it puts his faith to the test. At the time of this voyage he is a teenager exploring different beliefs and he sees nothing wrong with believing in three different religions. We can argue that there is a war between religion and science. Pi on the other hand does not argue with those of other beliefs, he calls the atheists his brethrens as well. “It was my first clue that atheist are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry

“I have a story to make you believe in God” (Martel ix). However, the interpretation of “God” is very fluid. There are hundreds of religions throughout the world, each of which has thousands of followers. The four main ones however, are Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. All but one, Buddhism, focus on one or more God(s). In Yann Martel’s book, Life of Pi, Pi breaks the social norm and follows all four religions as opposed to one. Throughout the novel, Pi follows Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, while subconsciously practicing Buddhism.

Pi feels it is okay to practice all three religions because they all have one goal or purpose which is the belief in God. Since each story he has heard is different, it does not take away from the main moral. This ties in with the imagination aspect because no matter how a story is told, the end result is the same. An example of this is when he is confronted and surrounded by the Priest, Pandit, and Imam. His response as to why he was practicing Hindu, Christian and Muslim faiths was, “Bapu Gandhi said, ‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love God.”(Page 76) Believing in all three religions is something Pi feels is important to him because he is just trying to love and pray to God in as many ways as possible. Although the stories are interesting, it doesn’t really matter how you got to the ending if the purpose of the story is the equal. The important of Pi’s imagination is triggered by this and has later gone into great effect. The religions he practices represent hat behind every reason, everyone has their own way of saying it, whether it be fiction or non-fiction.

The violent outbreak of Richard Parker, along with his silent departure at the end of the novel, portrays how futile it is to try to change a wild animal into a civilized being. Richard Parker seems, at first, to have experienced a spiritual breakthrough and transformation after Pi’s attempt to training. Even in the end, Pi’s ability to survive such a journey with a beastly killer seems evidence enough that Pi trained the tiger. Pi’s main goal, along with survival, is to establish a level of equality between himself

Throughout the novel, Pi’s thoughts reveal and internal struggle between his desire to live and his own beliefs to what is morally right. Pi grows up on varying religious viewpoints because he studies different religions. His religious diversity forms a moral standard of “dignity not …depravity” (Martel 71). He values dignity and character over corruption of morals initially because he sees

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

The three religions that Pi excessed were: Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. As for Hinduism goes Pi was born into it, for this reason this young man knows the religion very well.   In chapter 16 it is evident that Pi Patel,is a Hindu and practices Hinduism because the religion as a hole has values and morals, and because of the elements of Karma along a larger universe that is”aware” of all things. At the age of fourteen ,Pi was introduces to Christianity on the trip to Munnar, in a church by a priest. While resting in the church Pi observes the priest, then decides to meet the priest the next day to have tea.

In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, there is a strong theme of religion throughout the novel. Pi loves God and will do anything to grow closer to Him. He joins three other religions because he does not want to be limited to one faith and one way to praise God. After learning about the other faiths from their religious leaders, he decides to join them. He goes against his family’s wishes by joining these other faiths. During the novel, Pi’s faith in God is tested when he is lost at sea, but he uses his faith as comfort during those dark days. Pi uses his knowledge of prayer to help him. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, Pi uses his knowledge of the Hindu faith, the Catholic faith, and Muslim faith to cope with the harsh reality of being lost at sea.

Richard Parker, the tiger, is a symbol of Pi himself. Pi directly correlates himself with Richard Parker. If Richard Parker “give[s] up” (121) then Pi is giving up. When swimming toward the life boat Richard Parker “look[s] small and helpless” (121) much like Pi actually is. Next to the tiger, zebra, and hyena Pi is small and feeble; he has no way to defend himself against the other animals. Pi egging Richard Parker on, toward the boat; “keep[ing him] swimming” (122) shows Pi’s resilience for survival; determined for Richard Parker to survive, which is actually his determination to survive. It is often mistaken in the novel as to whether Pi is speaking of himself or of Richard Parker because they could be the same being.

As explained in the book, Pi follows three different religions; Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Pi is extremely interested in all three religions and tries to find himself through religion. Although, he does not understand why he can’t follow all three religions. “But he can’t be a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim. It’s impossible. He must choose.” (76) This thread represents that he dedicates himself to the things he believes in and will fight for what he believes in. Even when his family disagreed with his decision of following all three religions, he still fought for what he believed.

It reflects the secularization thesis. When it mention these three religions, it is telling us that in modern world, there are many ways of life. It's not just one way, there are many ways, even in religion, there is the element of choice. Also mentioned Pi's father is an Atheist whom married a Hindu wife, suggesting that cross-religious marriage is acceptable. Pi chose to follow all three of them which in pre-modern age, wasn't allowed. It emphasized the feature of modern age and indicated the secularization thesis works in Asia as well, because Pi is an Indian. This movie is also religious when it comes to showing our connection with the nomos, a religious feature suggested by sociologist Berger. Nomos is our sense of universe, it helps individuals make sense of his life and recognize his identity. Pi used nomos to help him make sense of his life and identity. His reflection image on the water of his loved ones helped him remember his identity, who he is. And the challenges he got when being alone, like starvation, dehydration, hungry tiger, and a carnivorous island can all be seen as Anomie, the separation from the norms and collectivity of society. It gave him motivation to get back to society as soon as possible because nothing works for human if we are disconnected to the society. The nomos he found, his thoughts for the loved ones, kept him awake and a sense of comfort during his experience of

Abi Muthupalaniappan (52/B) Nguyen/Cucinelli Block ¾ Sept. 17, 2017 Life of Pi Fully Developed & Supported Paragraph Francis Adirubasamy first displays Pi's story to the author as "a story to make you believe in God," promptly presenting religion as a pivotal topic. Pi is brought up in a common, culturally Hindu family, however as a kid he becomes a more devoutly and more passionate Hindu and then also converts to Christianity and Islam. He practices all of these religions at once, despite the protests of his three religious leaders, who each assert that their religion contains the whole and exclusive truth. Instead of dwelling on conflicting views, Pi concentrates on the stories of his distinctive beliefs and their diverse pathways to God. In fact,

In the film, Pi's parents are concerned to find that he is practicing Hinduism, Christianity, & Islam all directly. Pi's father orders him to work for a dance class to take his mind off of things, & of the dancers catches his eye. He follows her & her friends day after class & is caught off guard when he angrily faces/stands up to him. Pi manages to smooth things over & takes her on a tour of his family's zoo. The finally form a relationship, making Pi's move to Canada much

The evident motif of religion plays a major factor in Pi’s life; however the author chooses not to focus on one religion specifically but instead enforces a glorification of more religions. Martel creates a main character who is a curious young boy who decides to learn about Christianity, Hinduism and Islam all at once. Even though Pi is primarily

(62), Pi, Pi thinks this one day after talking to Mr. Kumar. B. This quote shows the religious part of Pi. After learning about the Muslim faith he notices how everything is related to each other. This is important to the story because religion is what kept him alive on the