Essay on Life of Pi Storytelling and Religion

“It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes so profoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto our names.” This mighty quote, plummets out of the novel Life of Pi. Its idea of the story that Yann Martel tells in this novel is of a journey that makes the story sound realistic. It’s undoubtful that only a master storyteller, like Yann Martel himself, could write such dominant and lifting quotes. Martel gives us the novel Life of Pi, which is a coming of age story about a young boy who reaches maturity through tragic, but uplifting loss and miraculous survival. The story, Life of Pi, is reflected apron on a wild journey that comes with many adventures, tragics, some laughs, and also survival.

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.

The power of imagination can be described as invincible. With the use of imagination, one can reach undefined triumphs and create a new powerful world. In the book, Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, a blooming young boy named Pi Patel begins to develop a wondrous mind that expands his knowledge, true meaning of independence and value of life. His imagination is what allows him to cope and get through his suffering. The role of his imagination and stories are extremely significant in the sense that these telling are completely

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

“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.

Life of Pi, written by Yann Martel, is a novel about a young boy, Pi, trapped with a 450-pound Bengal tiger named Richard Parker who survive together in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. The central theme of the novel is Pi’s faith in God, which proves to be a crucial part of his survival during the extreme situation. In the book, How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas Foster, the author talks about the importance of literary elements such as symbols, geography, and stories to a literary piece. These elements are used in Life of Pi to develop its compelling story about growing up.

The Life of Pi is a book filled with many fantasy adventures that will have an excellent impact on what you may or not believe in. This novel was published in 2001 by author Yann Martel. Yann Martel is a writer who is trying to make sense of life, just like any other human being trying to deal with everyday obstacles. In this book we see that the protagonist, Piscine Molitor also known as Pi takes us through an adventure that will question our faith in religion. Pi is not pleased by only following his ancestors’ beliefs; he believes that there is much more to religion. In The life of Pi we see that Pi argues amongst his family in what he wants to believe in. His father is not at all religious and Pi has taken up religion as a hobby. Now Pi is a Hindu, Muslim and a Christian and he undergoes a tragedy, a shipwreck with his family on voyage to Canada from India. As he goes through this process it puts his faith to the test. At the time of this voyage he is a teenager exploring different beliefs and he sees nothing wrong with believing in three different religions. We can argue that there is a war between religion and science. Pi on the other hand does not argue with those of other beliefs, he calls the atheists his brethrens as well. “It was my first clue that atheist are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry

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.

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

Pi’s syncretism makes him appreciate all of animal life. He worships them and is even vegan due to being Hindu and Muslim. He also feels it is a sin to harm or kill a living being. In the beginning of the novel, Pi illustrates how he values animals. Even though most of the animals he associates with are in a zoo, he makes sure they are taken care of and content. There are very strict rules in the zoo, and what is strikingly unusual is a sign that reads, “Do you know which is the most dangerous animal in the zoo?” -- pointing to a small curtain (Martel 31). Behind that curtain is a mirror. The most dangerous animal in the zoo is not, in fact, an animal, but a human being. Aside from that, Pi’s syncretized faiths are essentially dualistic. They do not go together, but in some form or fashion, they make sense. To him, religion is more than rite and ritual; it is what they stand for (Martel 48). He is a Christian, a Hindu, and a Muslim, but he feels as though each part of him understands and plays a role in it. Each of them have an aspect of God but are

On its surface, Martel’s Life of Pi proceeds as a far-fetched yet not completely unbelievable tale about a young Indian boy named Pi who survives after two hundred twenty-seven days on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. It is an uplifting and entertaining story, with a few themes about companionship and survival sprinkled throughout. The ending, however, reveals a second story – a more realistic and dark account replacing the animals from the beginning with crude human counterparts. Suddenly, Life of Pi becomes more than an inspiring tale and transforms into a point to be made about rationality, faith, and how storytelling correlates the two. The point of the book is not for the reader to decide which

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.

Throughout time, humans have written books based on various genres in an effort to tell a story, whether it is fact or fiction. Storytelling is one of the most beautiful ways to express ideas, and creative thoughts, involving characters, settings, to create a plot. Life of Pi, by Yann Martel, cleverly incorporates ambiguity from the omission of information, and lack of resolution. These aspects in turn, create the ambiguity, which leaves the reader to interpret the text in anyway. The ambiguity formed develops the significance of Pi’s storytelling, to the author and the readers. The post-modern aspects in Life of Pi, leave many things open to interpretation based on Pi’s storytelling ability.

In his famous novel, Life of Pi, Yann Martel uses multiple voices to make the story have as much verisimilitude as possible. Just as other contemporary authors, he uses the effect of different narrative points to his advantage. In Life of Pi, Piscine Patel describes his struggle of living on a lifeboat while he learns to survive and uses his knowledge and love of God to give him hope. Yann Martel’s use of multiple voices works well to provide the reader with a better understanding of the story. Yann Martel’s first narrator gives the story a sense of verisimilitude and creates an illusion for readers to decode.

The evident motif of religion plays a major factor in Pi’s life; however the author chooses not to focus on one religion specifically but instead enforces a glorification of more religions. Martel creates a main character who is a curious young boy who decides to learn about Christianity, Hinduism and Islam all at once. Even though Pi is primarily