After deciding to sell their zoo in India and move to Canada, Santosh and Gita Patel board a freighter with their sons and a few remaining animals. Tragedy strikes when a terrible storm sinks the ship, leaving the Patels ' teenage son, Pi (Suraj Sharma), as the only human survivor. However, Pi is not alone; a fearsome Bengal tiger has also found refuge aboard the lifeboat. As days turn into weeks and weeks drag into months, Pi and the tiger must learn to trust each other if both are to survive.
As a young adult Pi learns that he did not find religion but instead religion was brought to him when he tells the narrator as that “Nobody knows God until somebody introduces us” (12). This sets up three different times of identity crises for
…show more content…
This mentality is also paralleled when he reads one line over and over again while he is stranded “Good luck on your quest for survival and most importantly don’t lose hope” (209). His traumatizing journey has taught him one thing if anything- never lose hope. This life lesson transcends to his basic viewpoints in life as well, there is no harm in believing something different- as long as you feel good doing it- the only crime is to live without any beliefs, meaning living without motivation and thus not living at all and therefore taking life for granted. Pi’s next conflict arises when he traipses into a Church and is confused and off put to see the pictures of the crucified Jesus, prompting him to ask: Why would God wish that upon Himself? Why not leave death to the mortals? Why make dirty what is beautiful, spoil what is perfect?...This Son, on the other hand, who goes hungry, who suffers from thirst, who gets tired, who is sad, who is anxious, who is heckled and harassed, who has to put up with followers who don 't get it and opponents who don 't respect Him-what kind of a god is that?... This Son is a god who died in three hours, with moans, gasps and laments. What kind of a god is that? What is there to inspire in this Son? (63) These questions only intrigue him more into following the ways of such a human-like deity. He continues to have tea with Father Martin and eventually tells him that he wants to become
In Shakespeare’s, “The Tragedy of Hamlet”, the protagonist, Hamlet, is a highly intelligent and perceptive man. His life turns awry after the death of his father and Hamlet faces his greatest moral dilemma. Likewise, Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi” chronicles the life of a young Indian boy stranded on a boat with a Bengal tiger for 227 days with only his faith to keep him going. Both Piscine Patel and Prince Hamlet were deeply religious, however, their outlooks and philosophies on life were vastly different. Hamlet struggled to trust others, having only a true confidant in Horatio. Whilst Pi on the other hand, befriends everyone, even those who have opposing beliefs to him.
(62), Pi, Pi thinks this one day after talking to Mr. Kumar. B. This quote shows the religious part of Pi. After learning about the Muslim faith he notices how everything is related to each other. This is important to the story because religion is what kept him alive on the
In Life of Pi, his long journey and ardent will to stay alive can alone discribe pi’s transformation from a confused and sheltered boy, into a young man who is now mentally broke but somehow uses his psychological experience to strengthen himself. Pi’s spirituality and religion pushes the reader to shift its perspective.
Throughout the novel, Pi’s thoughts reveal and internal struggle between his desire to live and his own beliefs to what is morally right. Pi grows up on varying religious viewpoints because he studies different religions. His religious diversity forms a moral standard of “dignity not …depravity” (Martel 71). He values dignity and character over corruption of morals initially because he sees
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.
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
Pi’s belief system was an anchor for his thoughts and experiences and his faith in God prepared him for the Initiation stage of the Hero’s Journey.
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
Pi is stranded out at sea on a boat with his only company as a tiger, Richard Parker. Pi is scared for his life, very uncomfortable and isolated out on his boat with Richard Parker. “‘ And what of my extended family - birds, beasts, and reptiles? They too have drowned. Every single thing I value in life has been destroyed.
Firstly, Pi goes through a lot of struggles while lost at sea. He wars with himself on topics such as his views on religion and his decision
Discoveries may alter our appreciation of what it means to be human. Often, the world we live in will be transformed, leading to a broader understanding of the human disposition. In ‘Life of Pi’, the viewer is shown Pi’s journey of religion and faith, and how this leads to a spiritual discovery. In ‘The curious incident of the dog in the night-time’, the disorder of life is revealed the protagonist, Christopher. Pi’s exploration of his primal instincts is similar to Christopher’s discovery of identity.
Pi’s life is also changed, from a boy living in India, to a deeply religious man, this great pilgrimage for Pi changes him to who he is when he tells the author about his journey from India to Mexico.
Eventually, he realizes exactly what’s going on and what he must do to survive. “I had to stop hoping so much that a ship would rescue me. I should not count on outside help” (Martel 168). At this moment, Pi is completely abandoning the part of his personality that represents weakness and is starting to embrace his stronger side.
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