Life After Pi Religion Essay

A year later, God was again introduced to Pi in the form of Allah. Pi describes Islam as "a beautiful religion of brotherhood and devotion"(Martel).Pi says:"They didn't know I was practicing Hindu,Christian, and Muslim"(Martel).At the age of 16, the pandit, the priest and the imam showed up at his house and demanded that he choose one religion as in it is against Indian custom to follow more than one religion. He became overwhelmed and blurted out:"Gandi said all religions are the same"(Martel). Pi uses his rational intellect to the fullest extent. When he tells the Japanese investigators that many things are hard to believe:"Love is hard to believe,ask any lover.Life is hard to believe,ask any scientist. God hard to believe,ask any believer"(Martel). Just because it's hard to believe doesn't mean it's an illusion. Pi believes in things that he cannot see nor prove. In one instance of the novel, Pi gives a distinction between atheist and agnostics. The definition of an atheist is to only believe that "there is nothing" out there, other than their perception

Without it, no species would survive.”(Martel, 2011, p. 41). For him to deal with trauma and the struggle, he chose madness and formed a story that would keep him sane. Pi gives the Japanese a choice, similar to himself. He chose to believe the story that gave him comfort rather than the one that would have caused him pain. Pi’s faith and fear of God had also kept him alive, the island gave him faith of survival but his fear led him to cover the murder he committed. Pi failed to realize the two stories he told by fit together flawlessly. He is also irritated when asked to tell the story with the humans, this ultimately indicates he was not ready to consider the darker side which is more plausible. Everyone has different approach of coping through life changing events, the subconscious mind determines the creates stories that are created. The subconscious picks the story that gives an individual comfort and strength to survive, even though the story might not be true. Some choose to believe is fantastical stories, other believe only what is plausible. Ultimately, when an individual is dealing with trauma it is hard to differentiate between reality and illusion. It is the comforting story that helps to cope with loss and

Throughout the entire novel the author gives us characteristics about Pi, he is the protagonist and, for most of the novel the narrator. In the chapters that frame the story and tell us everything that has happened they portray Pi as a shy, graying, middle-aged boy, whom tells the author about his early childhood and the shipwreck that changed his life, and gave him a new friendship with someone whom you would never believe a human could become friends with. This novel makes everyone question the truth which makes us wonder if Pi’s story is accurate and makes us wonder what pieces we should believe. Pi emphasizes the importance of choosing the better story which makes

Once Pi has finished telling both of his stories, he asks which one the men prefer to believe, since neither of them make a difference (317). They both reply that the story with the animals makes for a much more interesting story (317) and then reference that story in their official report (319). Each person decides what they believe and that decides what becomes truth to them. To every individual what is true can be completely different based on their thoughts and

Pi’s narration also supports the theme of the importance of storytelling. As the only evidence of the story, people have no choice but to believe what he tells them, however wild it seems because while he might lack evidence, they don’t have any at all. When Pi is recalling his story to the Japanese in charge of the sinking, he tells them two stories, one with animals and one with people. One version, although it may be factually true, does nothing to reveals the emotions and masked memories that should not resurface. By creating the animals Pi blocks his mind from

1. Firstly, part three of the novel presents the reader with a change in the form of the narrative. Up until chapter ninety-six, as we’ve seen, the novel has consisted of two types of narrative: first person from the point of view of the author, and Pi’s first-person account, which is constructed by the author. Now, the exchanges between Pi, Mr. Okamoto, and Mr. Chiba are entirely dialogue. The new form of narrative is a third-person transcription, which lacks rich detail, potential illusion, and over exaggeration. As an audience, we perceive this as solid, factual information. But, Pi is also preparing to retell another version of his survival story. We now have to decide what story—one, both, or none, is the true story.

When writing, authors focus on what they wish for their audience to gain from the story, what they want the readers to learn from the actions and thoughts of the narrator. In The Life of Pi Yann Martel uses Pi and his experiences whether the audience believes Pi’s grand story of his survival or not, to impart upon them the relativity of truth. In the beginning this is shown threw Pi’s explorations with different religions already guiding the reader to consider what truth means with his thoughts on the different religions. It is later explored in Pi’s telling of what occurred to him while shipwrecked to the officials and their reactions to his tale. Especially once it becomes clear that the few differences between the stories were the lack of animals in one. Pi asks the officials which story they prefer; the officials can choose to believe whichever story they prefer, and that version becomes the truth to them.

Prior to the sinking of the Tsimtsum Pi Patel, the protagonist, deals with criticism from the “holy men” because they have different perceptions of the others religions which is influenced by their knowledge. To explain Pi is a devoted follower of 3 different religions: Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. In India it is common to be hinduist, so naturally he was brought up that way. Then one day during a visit to a tea plantation he falls upon the story of Jesus christ and is perplexed by god’s sacrifice. Unable to rationalise God’s actions he spends 3 days learning more about god and his world. Consequently he too becomes a christian with the help of his new friend in church. Hardly a year later while walking near the zoo he meets Mr. kumar who prays in front of Pi. The way a muslim prays touches Pi deeply to see that level of devotion. ‘Quick, necessary, physical, muttered, striking’

Again, within this story illusion leads to God. Chapter 94 brings to attention the fact that that this story is being told through an intermediary. “We must give things a meaningful shape.” Brings to attention again that through story telling, life is given shape and can be believed in with the most extraordinary details by believing in God. (pg.341-343) By not ending the book after Pi’s story ends, Martel is again questioning the audience to believe or not believe the story. The remaining five chapters of the book, the dialog Pi has with the two men from Japan ends. Truth is juxtaposed to reality in order to encompass God. “So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?' Mr. Okamoto: 'That's an interesting question?' Mr. Chiba: 'The story with animals.' Mr. Okamoto: 'Yes. The story with animals is the better

Storytelling is a form of human expression; when something cannot be said outright, storytelling is often utilized. This is due to the fact that, it is interactive, it calls for an imagination and it tells the story the author really wants to tell. Pi uses storytelling to mask the realism of his condition, in other words, to sugar coat what is actually happens to him. Through storytelling he is able to pick and choose exactly what he wants to accept and change what troubles him so that he can remain both faithful and fearless. Throughout his entire order, Pi never accepted anything at its face value; he always added a twist to make himself feel better. “In both stories the ship sinks…which story do you prefer.” (Martel, 352). Pi asks the two detectives which story they believe since it makes no difference; they both liked the one with the animals. It goes to show humans choose to believe the beautiful, but absurd, story they all reject the nasty reality. Accepting the reality makes an event all the more real. It explains why Pi chooses to turn everything into a story; through it he chooses what he wants to accept and what he doesn’t. Storytelling allows you to take away and add to an experience the way you choose to. It gives its

In “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings”, a mysterious old man with wings is found in a village. The family that has found him place him in a chicken coop, where crowds soon flock to so that they may pay a fee to see him. In the Life of Pi, Piscine recounts to a writer the story about his childhood experience of being stranded in the ocean. He claims to have been accompanied on a lifeboat by zoo animals, most notably a tiger named Richard Parker. In “A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings” and in Life of Pi religion takes the role of a fantasy invented to satisfy the desire for a more satisfying reality.

Pi’s recollection of the Tsimtsum ship sinking horrifies the Japanese Investigators (175). Pi then asks the investigators, of the two variations of the story, which story they prefer. Pi hopes to see them truly reflect on the reasoning for their decision. When they both agree on the animal story as being their preference, Pi responds, “Thank you. And so it goes with God” (179). This, at first, is difficult to interpret. Pi lives his life as a believer of multiple religions. To Pi, the varying stories of religion all differ, but at their cores, they are the same. To Pi, God can be explained through both the Bible, and The Qur’an. Just as his story can be told with animals or with people. No one can prove one to be truer than the other, but, in the case of religion, both “stories” begin and end the same, and that is with loving

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.

In chapter one, two themes stand out as ones that seem to be included throughout the novel; fighting to live and religion. Towards the end of the chapter, the narrator speaks of extensive injuries, including anemia, dark urine, and leg swelling. These, along with the others mentioned seem to be a sign that Pi had to survive a very difficult situation. He would have had to fight hard to live through that situation, so he must have a strong will to live. Religion seems to play a large role in the Pi’s life, based on the first chapter. He studied religion in post-secondary, and mentions that he has odd religious practices. For someone to study religion, it must be a large part of their life. Also, if he has been through a life-threatening situation,

Life of Pi essay Faith plays a significant role in Shaping Pi’s personality. He maneuvers back and forth from Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. The point I am trying to prove is that Pi can worship many different religions and not have to deal with all the laws that they all require. Pi has faith for all of the religions. He realizes that they are all based around the same foundation.