What Is Pi's Connection With Religion

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.

Faith will be a big part of Pi’syour survival. No matter what you believe in, you are going to be hoping and praying that you are watched over and protected. With faith even in the worst situations you will have something to turn to. Believing in your faith can keep you sane, which in any situation is a good thing. Martel writes from the now much older Pi’s perspective when he says, “I HAVE A STORY THAT WILL MAKE YOU BELIEVE IN GOD” (AUTHORS NOTE, VIII). This is important to my argument in which faith is going to be such a detrimental part of surviving because it shows that along his journey, Pi realized that God was guiding him on his way to

Firstly, Pi’s devotion for God was clear and he often seeks clarity from god. Throughout the novel, Pi’s love for God caused him to practice three major religion at the same time; breaking any barriers between Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. Pi believes all three religions are equally true and interconnective as “[Islam and Christianity] both claim Abraham as theirs. Muslims say the God of the Hebrews and Christians is the same as the God of the Muslims. They recognize David, Moses, and Jesus as prophets” (80, Martel). Pi was morally ambiguous, he did not know if one religion would bring him closer to God than another causing him to follow all three. When Pi was stuck on the life boat, he often called out for help from god as he feared death. As he was giving up, a voice inside of him spoke from his heart and said “I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen” (164). Pi was uncertain whether or not he was going to survive however, he hoped through praying, he would as his faith in God brought him comfort.

In this quotation Pi is showing us how he is slowly regaining hope and rediscovering himself. He is now realizing that he is not alone but he has his faith to help him survive and get through this very hard

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

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.

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.

Pi knows that science and research cannot fully explain the spiritual beauties he discovers throughout his life. He also knows that religion cannot substantiate scientific truth. Pi must understand the two subjects together in order to comprehend the complexity of the world.

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 openness about his faith, and life in general, because he is able to see things for more than what they actually are. For example when he is on the boat and the hyena is killing the orangutan, he doesn’t just see it as an animal killing another animal, but instead he sees it for much more. Pi emphasizes on the animals expression and emotion when the hyena is about to kill them. He also elaborates on how terrified they are and how he can relate considering he is cowering as far away as possible, which isn’t very far because they’re on a boat. Pi also is very open religiously, he sees that almost all religions have one single god but different views and rules. The way I see it is that he thinks that they’re all connected

Yann Martel establishes in the beginning of Life of Pi in the author’s note that the claim to the heart of the novel in this story will “make you believe in God.” Since God is an identity that exists in a fiction or non-fiction realm, the audience is led to believe that the story to be told is true, opening the reader to the idea that belief in anything can be belief in God. Pi makes sense of his life through the expressions of Hinduism, Christianity and Muslim, “That which sustains the universe beyond thought and language, and that which is at the core of us and struggles for expression.” (Pg.68) This emphasizes Pi’s dedication and devotion to his religions and God. Martel is opening up to Pi’s story to convince the reader to find faith in Pi’s words.

Pi knows his beliefs and strives to show others its strength. Throughout the book Pi develops in several ways, but his beliefs are the one thing that stay throughout his life. Pi deals with an immense amount of loss and through his faith became a stronger person. Pi, just like most people has central morals and changes through his

Pi survives emotionally, physically, and spiritually but there is still one more means of survival which is considered even more difficult to deal with than the rest- Mental survival. It is surprisingly easy to fail your mental health, especially in Pi’s current situation. Whether he is happy, healthy, and one with god or not, it would be easy to lose his grip on his own sanity; hence why it is considered so difficult. In both stories he experiences life-changing trauma like death, loss, and multiple life-threatening situations, but to hinder the setbacks of this trauma, he keeps himself busy, puts a hold on his feelings, and pushes himself to survive. For example, he refuses to let himself have too much pity for the zebra and he even forces

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’’

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