Life Of Pi And Religion Essay

Being narrated by an older version of the main character, Life of Pi is a story about a man named Pi Patel. Most of the beginning of the novel includes all the history of his life; it introduces topics such as his major, the definition of his name, and his family. His majors are religion and Zoology, which comes back later in the book. It also gives the reader the interesting background of the meaning of his name, based off of a swimming pool. These larger topics and more were shared with the readers. A prominent part of all of this is the fact that it almost always comes back to animals.

Life of Pi is a thrilling novel by Yann Martel, telling the story of a two hundred and twenty-seven day journey on a lifeboat between a religious boy and an adult bengal tiger. After losing his family in a shipwreck, Pi Patel is stuck on a lifeboat with a 450 pound Richard Parker. Together, they sail aimlessly, using the boat’s limited resources to survive. Throughout the novel Pi uses God as a way to cope with the multiple tragedies and obstacles he faces. In times of great difficulty, humans can lose their morals and values in exchange for survival.

The belief in a higher power is one of the key components in the Life of Pi and in the lives of people all over the world. This belief in a higher power or God contributes to strife including conflict between different religions, religious extremists, and the relationship between government and religion.

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.

To begin with “The life of Pi” is a story on how a boy survived a sunken ship which was caused by a massive storm. After the storm he is placed on a raft with 4 different animals that includes zebra, tiger, orangutan, and hyena. In order to survive he would fish for his food something the Native Americans would do. The Native Americans would let their prisoner John Smith

When Yann Martel tells of Pi Patel’s life story after the shipwreck, he presents it in two distinctive ways: one being with animals, and one without. As a young boy, Pi began to develop a love of animals as a result of growing up on the lands of Pondicherry Zoo, his family zoo in India. He also finds that he has a deep passion for religion. Supposedly, Life of Pi will make one believe in God, as it did to Pi in these two stories.

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.

Marquez not only let us question the existence of angels, but he also let us question "What if the angels were real, and nothing like we expect them to be?'' When the doctor examines the old man, he was impressed by ''the logic of his wings,'' which ''seemed so natural on that completely human organism that he couldn't understand why other men didn't have them too.’’ Garcia Marquez presents him entirely ‘‘natural’’ through the uses of magical realism and no one questions the old man's existence or the reality of his wings. The old man is far too human and weak to match our cultural image of angels, heavenly messenger of God: powerful, perfect and

Pi is a teenager born in India and at the same time believing in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism, and his father runs a zoo, so from childhood Pi understand the habits of animals... Frankly speaking, the beginning of this story is not attractive, Mixed with a religious belief in a teenager's growth experience. But then the story officially entered into the "fantasy draft". Pi family moved to Canada, with their zoo animals on the ship, Pi's father wanted to bring them to a foreign country to sell a good price. But the zoo chief went through a shipwreck like a Titanic, except for Pi, all of whom were killed. Pi survived on the cover of the lifeboat, there was also a hyena, a broken zebra, a female orangutan, and an adult Bengal tiger "Richard Parker".

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.

The Japanese interviewers reinforce the reoccurring theme of faith and religion at the end of the novel when Pi is saved. Soon after Pi turns to God for comfort he washes up on a beach in Mexico. The people who found him took him to their village. He was later brought to the hospital by a police car, and that’s where his story ends. Two Japanese interviewers then introduced themselves to Pi, in hope to discover the mystery as to the sinking of the ship Tsimtsum, of which he was a passenger. The interrogation begins and Pi describes his journey. As soon as he reaches the end of his story, Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba discuss and comment in disbelief. After minutes of deliberation Mr. Okamoto replies with “Mr. Patel, we don’t believe your story” (324). They doubt

In his novel, Life of Pi, Yann Martel (2001) conveys a complex story of religious encounters that takes place within Pi’s unconscious mind. Faith is especially vital to Pi during the worst of times, as the three religions he has learned, Islam, Hinduism and Christianity, give Pi guidance during his traumatic journey. Throughout the course of the narrative, Pi is stranded in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. An essential portion of the novel is revealed to us when Pi finds himself yelling at the ocean, which represents God. This passage is significant because Pi begins to lose hope in surviving until he comes upon a free-floating island the next day.

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.

A person’s life is an accumulation of experiences; however these experiences solely do not define life without specific meanings behind them. In Yann Martel’s 2001 novel Life of Pi, the author chooses to reveal an alternative story at the end of the novel. This alternative option allows the readers to choose which story to believe. Thus, Martel effectively uses the better story as; a metaphor for religion, to expand the readers’ imagination, and to imply its significant effects. Through these concepts he demonstrates the true meaning behind dry yeastless facts, which requires a leap of faith from the reader.

In Yann Martel's novel Life of Pi, Pi goes through an evolving journey, in this venture over sea Pi entrusts Gods of three separate religions to protect him against the treacherous terrors he overcome on the sea; however, not one of his cultures are perfect. In fact, he hardly worships each of them in whole; he always praises the Gods that he recognizes to help him in his interminable perpetual journey.