Essay about Fiction Fused With Reality

Religion is “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods” (Dictionary). In society, many people follow the ethics of certain religions in order to make decisions about their life. The author Yann Martel uses Piscine Molitor Patel in the novel Life of Pi to send a message to readers about using ambiguity to create a theme about morality through the use of religion as spiritual beliefs can stabilize and nourish one in times of hardship. The use of religion, story-telling and science compared to religion resulted in ambiguity and therefore illustrated the theme of the importance of morality.

Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a story of a boy named Pi Patel. In the beginning of the story, Pi tells us how he is named after a swimming pool named the Piscine Molitor. His parent’s friend whom he calls “Mamaji” was a swimmer and tells Pi’s parents how that was the most elegant pool he has ever swam in therefore becoming his namesake. Piscine’s family was Hindu but as he explores more religions, he says he wants to practice two more, such as Christianity and Islam. Throughout the book, he is a very religious person.

“You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself” This statement frequently goes through Pi’s journey on the boat in Life of Pi. The quote, written by Swami Vivekananda, refers to Pi since he questions if God is with him through his journey. Pi ends up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with a tiger as company, and his three religions that he believes in. Each religion has it’ own way to help Pi on his journey to salvation and his discovery of himself. In Life of Pi, Martel utilizes the connection between Pi’s religions and their colors to illustrate how they help him on his journey and ultimately provide salvation, and also by giving the reader a link to today’s society with religion.

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

“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.

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

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.

“To travel is to take a journey into yourself” (Logothethis 1). We are the heroes of our own lives and are given the opportunities to make decisions that will shape our own personal stories. Life of Pi is a beautiful novel which fits Joseph Campbell’s Monomyth (Hero’s Journey) archetype, a pattern which has been used to structure stories for generations from all around the world. Piscine Molitor Patel (Pi), the protagonist of the novel, finds himself shaping his life, knowing that each mistake puts his survival at stake. Yann Martel has written a breathtaking story about the voyage and erudition of Pi. He uses the Monomyth archetype to show the measures one would take to survive, even if it requires putting their religion

The Life of Pi: The Will To Survive When a story consistently rides the line between reality and fiction, it is safe to assume that a life at sea can be taxing on one’s physical and mental state; The Life of Pi is a story that does just that. In The Life of Pi, Piscine, who is the main character, uses religion, knowledge, animal bonds, and sheer willpower he has gained in life up until the point of being cast at sea to persevere through the mental and physical agony that he endures. Of all the variables the enable Pi to survive, religion is the main key that contributes to both Pi’s sanity and character development throughout the entire story. Regardless of Pi’s conflict with wanting to practice three religions he wants to practice, one thing

Research Essay: Life of Pi Topic 1 In the novel Life of Pi, the main character Pi, used Christianity to describe his adventurous life, with the opinions of his atheist father also how animals tied it together. Pi describes multiple situations in his life, this essay reiterates those for example purposes. In this essay important quotes or phrases from the book along with other sources that are deemed necessary to connect with the reader will be used. These will help readers more understand the connection between Christianity, including how Pi used his religions.

Religion was a very important aspect in Piscine Molitor Patel’s (Pi) life. When the story begins, Yann Martel (The Author) meets a man that says he will tell him a story that will make him believe in God (“Martel”). This started off the story by establishing that religion was going to be a major theme in the book. Pi followed three different religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Muslim.

The origin of Pi’s considerably unwavering faith in Life of Pi is his conversation with Father Martin in the church near Pondicherry Zoo. Through the author’s use of simplicity in dialogue, we learn why Pi becomes so committed to religion despite the many inconsistencies of the Christian bible in comparison to other religions.

Piscine personifies human traits and emotions to Richard Parker during their journey and the author makes clear how Richard Parker provides the vital companionship and living presence that the humanistic Pi so desperately yearns for in his time of tribulation and loneliness. Richard Parker also serves as a constant, looming, and deadly obstacle albeit a conquerable one that ensures that Pi always stay on his guard. This bizarre yet symbiotic function of Richard Parker’s character and its relationship with Pi serves to illuminate the rapidly eroding barrier between the human character – Pi Patel, and the animalistic character – Richard Parker. Martel makes clear that it is ironic that despite the ever-present danger Richard Parker poses to Pi’s very survival, he is the one thing that allows Pie to escape complete madness and ultimately death alone at sea. Yet by attaching human characteristics to Richard Parker, Pi also opens up the door for the negative effects of such actions.

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

The Life of Pi is a novel written by Yann Martel, that involves a young teen named Pi in survival after suffering a tragic ship accident. The novel starts out with mostly the author’s thoughts and ideas. The first part of the book excluding the author’s page mainly describes Pi’s thoughts, beliefs, life, and the events that take place before the tragic accident he is involved in. Pi has a brother named Ravi and an uncle called Francis. Pi is remarkably connected and interested in religion and zoology. Pi and his family soon move to Pondicherry in India, where they buy a zoo. Soon as they move, Pi discusses his feelings on living in a zoo. After moving to the zoo, Pi starts to get involved in a lot of religion. Talks about religion are