How Does Yann Martel Use Religion In Life Of Pi

In Life of Pi, his long journey and ardent will to stay alive can alone discribe pi’s transformation from a confused and sheltered boy, into a young man who is now mentally broke but somehow uses his psychological experience to strengthen himself. Pi’s spirituality and religion pushes the reader to shift its perspective.

Religion not only incorporates into Pi's daily life, but also determines his life or death. Religion helps Pi to survive the storm. When Pi's ship sank, his family was buried in the sea; religion became the only faith that supported him to survive. 227 days after he was drifting, only one bengal tiger accompanied him. But faith in religion keep him persisted and alive. At the end of the 227 days of rafting with a bengal tiger, he always said to others: "I have a story that will convince you of God," God helped. He, as if by chance, was God's arrangement, as if from the very beginning. Among all, he is the only one who believes in three regions. From immigrating to Canada with all families, to the sinking of the boat, he became the only one who is alive.

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.

In the book Life of Pi the author Yann Martel wrote about a young boy named Pi Patel surviving on a lifeboat by himself. Throughout the entire book Pi was very close to religion and in the end his religions were the main reason he had survived. At the start of the book Yann Martel introduces three religions, Islam, Christianity, and Hinduism. There are three main points that aided in Pi’s survival. One being that Pi was open to religions and started to follow the Islamic faith. The second reason is that Islam believed that one should pray five times a day, and Pi did exactly this. The last reason is that the religion

People often choose to believe in a higher power to find meaning in life and because of life experiences that lead them to God. Pi’s experiences as a child meeting Father Martin on vacation and the Muslim baker attract Pi to the love and devotion demonstrated by these people of different faiths. Pi’s faith and belief in God only strengthened when he was lost at sea, he knew that he must have meaning in life if God kept him alive through

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

“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.

Though Richard Parker proves vital for survival, he also reflects Pi’s character and helps further develop it throughout the novel. When first introduced, Pi was a teenaged boy curious in many different belief systems and also vegetarian. However, his experience with this tiger aboard a lifeboat after a shipwreck leads to necessary changes in Pi’s lifestyle and these dramatic changes in way of life are characterized through the tiger itself. For example, Richard Parker instinctively tears at animals and eats them in a barbaric manner in means of survival. Though Pi is disgusted by his animal-like behavior, he later resorts to the same methods of eating, “noisy, frantic, unchewing wolfing-down…exactly the way Richard Parker ate” for his own survival (Martel 225). As a previous vegetarian, Pi is not comfortable with the idea of killing animals to eat them but realizes “it is simple and brutal: a person can get used to anything, even to killing” (Martel 185). He even, later, uses human flesh from a passenger that Richard Parker killed for means of survival and food. He also kills birds by “[breaking] its neck [and] leveraging [their] heads backwards”, a harsh and violent murder (Martel 231). Pi’s ability to adapt to a more vicious yet necessary way of life reveals his inner animal

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

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.

Beliefs are the things in life that create us as humans. They shape our opinions and how we react to situations. In the book Life of Pi, Piscine Patel must face a long and treacherous journey on a lifeboat with a Bengal Tiger, Hyena, orangutan, and a zebra after a shipping boat he and his family were on sank. There are many beliefs Pi developed in India that influenced his actions taken on the boat. The three beliefs that are revealed on the lifeboat were Pi’s ideas that god influences situations, his belief that all life is sacred and his knowledge that animals are dangerous creatures.

As Pi grows up he is surrounded by Hindu culture and beliefs from his mother, as it is the “most common religion in the Indian subcontinent”(Carnagie,et al 239). “Hinduism is a South Asian religion based on traditions that emerged around 1500 BCE”(Carnagie,et al 239). Hinduism’s followers are called Hindus. “In India, Hinduism is called Sanatana Dharma, which means “eternal religion” or Vaidika Dharma, which means “religion of the Vedas,” a set of Hindu scriptures or holy writings”(Carnagie,et al 239). Hinduism “is the world’s third largest religion following, Christianity and Islam”(Carnagie,et al 239), which are the other two religions in the novel.

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’’

In the words of Gandhi, “The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different”. In the story Life of Pi, Pi Patel personally experiences different aspects of four religions including Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. The author, Yann Martel promotes the concept of believing in more than one religion by exemplifying the diversities within each faith.