Life Of Pi: My Definition Of Religion

Yann Martel`s Life of Pi follows A journey of a young man and a Bengal tiger as they travel across the ocean in a lifeboat.Director Ang lee made many consider the book to be beautiful,but virually unflimable.Being needed to told on screen Ang lee discerned very adeptly,about Life of Pi ‘’if there is will there is a way’’.

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

“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.

Passage from the novel:"Piscine, can this be true?" asked the imam earnestly. "Hindus and Christians are idolaters. They have many gods." "And Muslims have many wives," responded the pandit. The priest looked askance at both of them. "Piscine," he nearly whispered, "there is salvation only in Jesus." "Balderdash! Christians know nothing about religion," said the pandit. "They strayed long ago from God's path," said the imam. "Where's God in your religion?" snapped the priest. "You don't have a single miracle to show for it. What kind of religion is that, without miracles?" "It isn't a circus with dead people jumping out of tombs all the time, that's what! We Muslims stick to the essential miracle of existence. Birds flying, rain falling, crops growing-these are miracles enough for us." "Feathers and rain are all very nice, but we like to know that God is truly with us." "Is that so? Well, a whole lot of good it did God to be with you-you tried to kill him! You banged him to a cross with great big nails. Is

"What Is Religion, Really? Religion. What is it? Some people say it’s not even important. Others don’t even know how to explain what religion is.

1. Marvelous body of Richard Parker as both an image of God and a sign

The course reviews what exactly religion is and interestingly, most of the religions considered, do not believe their religion is a religion but a belief or faith. Even those who practice

Theme of Religion After the start of this novel we see Pi's devotion to his three religions: Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. Pi trusts that through a higher force he has possessed the capacity to survive falling forty feet onto a lifeboat. His confidence increases and makes him and the theme of religion more grounded all in all starting here on. Pi now trusts that it is this higher force that is keeping him alive.

Everyone needs to believe in something, a moment without faith, our souls will be eternally lost. In the novel Life of Pi the theme concerns religion and the human faith in God as the notion of belief is argued as being preferable or even essential to faith. The novel investigates the nature of religious faith itself. The author scrutinizes the mind of the protagonist, Pi Patel, who is a devout follower of three very different religions and his choice to practice Christianity, Hinduism, and Muslim which creates a conflict among his family and even peers, who believe Pi would be better off practicing only one.

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,

In Yann Martel’s novel, Life of Pi, two narratives are presented to describe how Pi survived his journey on a life boat to Mexico. The difference between the truths of both stories is the difference between faith and reason. Both the author and Pi recognize the importance of trust and nature of truth in this novel has to do with a form of blind faith instead of doubt. “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transport” (Yann Martel, 28). The early religious influences from Pi’s childhood contribute to the formation of his story involving Richard Parker.

Life of Pi is an interesting film because of the way it portrays God and the Christian faith. After watching the film, I was encouraged by the Christian faith that Pi and I share. Christianity means a lot of things to a lot of people, which takes away from the “religion” itself. I don’t see my faith as religion at all. I see it as a relationship between my heavenly father and me.

The Pondicherry zoo provided Santosh Patel with many struggles, but it acted as “paradise on earth” (Martel 15) for Pi Patel. The opposite feelings experienced by father and son involving the zoo strongly relate to the world’s conflicting ideas regarding religion. For example, Pi believes there is freedom within zoos and openness within religion, while others believe that zoos are cruel because of their constriction and religion is restrictive and close minded. An important rule of religion is to only believe what you find truthful; therefore, Pi decides to associate the freedom of the zoo with the freedom of religion. This association resulted in the symbol of the Pondicherry zoo representing

“Catastrophic events, both personal and collective, raise the question of divine Providence. How can an infinitely good Creator allow the kind of evil that puts the divine goodness in doubt? The question has been faced since patristic times. Theories of predestination have been proposed. Spirituals have adored God in the mystery of divine Providence. There seems to be no other solution than hope in the midst of despair.” (Tavard pg707)

I’m taken this class because I want to have a broader idea about other religions. I hope this class will enlightened my mind, and I also hope it will allow me to dig deeper into what I believe. What the word religion means to me is to have faith in something we cannot see or understand, so the core of religion for me is having a strong faith in God.