Life Of Pi Religion Essay

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

Piscine Montair Patel was a firm believer in God through Hinduism beliefs. As he begins to grow up and experience new things, Pi stumbles upon Christianity when visiting a church at age fourteen. The Father there explains to Pi about the story of Christ to which he listens in with horror. Despite his negative reaction to the story, Pi grows fascinated with the religion and asks to be become a Christian. That wasn’t all though. At the age of fifteen, he happen to come across a Muslim bread baker, Mr. Kumar, who intrigued him when Pi saw him do his daily prayers in the midst of the conversation. This would then lead to his conversion of Islam, along with his Hindus and Christian beliefs. Even though Pi is satisfied

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

Pi is raised as a Hindu, which is the majority religion of India. Hinduism is the oldest religion, and is often referred to as a way of life or a family of religions. Hindus believe in a constant cycle of birth, death and rebirth, which is governed by Karma, stating that good actions will prove beneficial for an individual and vice versa (BBC Hinduism). In the novel, Pi is born in India as a Hindu, and he practices this religion throughout his journey. “But religion is more than rite and ritual. There is what the rite and ritual stand for” (Martel 48). From a Hindu point of view, this quote exemplifies the main beliefs of

As explained in the book, Pi follows three different religions; Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. Pi is extremely interested in all three religions and tries to find himself through religion. Although, he does not understand why he can’t follow all three religions. “But he can’t be a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim. It’s impossible. He must choose.” (76) This thread represents that he dedicates himself to the things he believes in and will fight for what he believes in. Even when his family disagreed with his decision of following all three religions, he still fought for what he believed.

Martel describes Pi as a gentle boy with many curiosities and a great interest in variety, especially multiple religions, those of which are Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, and shares that the adult Pi studies cosmogony, any theory concerning the coming into existence or origin of the universe, or about how reality came to be. Pi’s

Pi’s dedication to all three religions: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity, built a stronger bond between God and himself. It gave him character and strength as God was alongside him throughout the entire journey. The bond he shared with God also helped him keep his sanity and maintain his will to live.

He came from a household who only followed the religion of Hinduism. Pi was really interested in Religions and desired in to finding out who god was in order to strengthen his relationship with him. In order to fulfill his desires, he chose to learn about Christianity and Islam. It takes lots of time and determination to follow just one religion, but Piscine’s devotion let him follow all three religions at the same time. While practicing the other two religions, Pi’s parents found out and were not pleased. His parents tried to bait him into “refusing the call” and to remain faithful to only one religion, Hinduism. Pi’s parents decided to take their son to meet mentors. They met with a pundit, a priest and an imam to talk about Pi’s faith. “He can’t be a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim. It’s impossible. He must choose” the Pundit explained. Regardless of the negativity everywhere, he still insisted in following what he believed in. Pi mentioned all that he really wanted to do is become closer to god. He used a very fascinating way when regarding those three religions, where he took the ups from each and used them in his daily life. This really shows Piscine’s dedication on what he believes

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

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’

On a philosophical level, Life of Pi is about Pi Patel’s relationship with religion. Pi is raised Hindu but chooses to practice Catholicism and Islam as well. The book opens by telling us that Pi’s is “a story that will make you believe in God” (Martell 2012 x). Pi is devout in his beliefs about three religions, and about nature and goodness. Like Wordsworth and Coleridge, Pi’s faith is strong but separate from traditional organized religion. Pi’s beliefs are similar to Coleridge’s "one life" (mentioned in The Eolian Harp (24-25), a belief that all beings are connected spiritually through God. This is seen as Pi considers the

Due to Pi’s devotion to all of his faiths, particularly Hinduism, not only changed how he thought about his current situation, but also changed how he would think about every single situation after in Martel’s Life of Pi.

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.