Life Of Pi Coming Of Age Analysis

Life of Pi written by Yann Martel, is a novel which tells a coming of age story. Pi, a very complex character who was wise beyond his years, witnessed a journey in which he lost everything and everyone who was important to him. For Pi to deal with the situation at hand, his religion, story telling and the real story which he told the Japanese people, served as a coping method for him.

Religion has played a vital role in Pi’s existence. On page 29, the author writes “…Darkness is the last thing that religion is. Religion is light,” (29), from the very beginning Pi thought very highly of religion. Although Pi believed in three religions, he still had something to believe in and put his faith in. He believed that religion would help him get through everything and anything. Then on page 53, the author writes, “But religion is more than rite and ritual” (53), Pi values religion and he

thinks it is more than just rituals. He believes it is a way to live life and he made it his goal to incorporate religion into his life. Then on page 59, the author writes, “I asked for another story, one that I might find more satisfying.”(59) Pi though of religion the way he thought about stories. Each religion came with a separate set of stories, and through those stories, Pi developed as a person.
But then when Pi was lost at sea, his religion kept him going and could have possibly saved him, “Jesus, Mary, Muhammed and Vishnu…” (107).

His religion helped him cope with the situation he was put into. It gave him stories to believe in, and it served as a distraction for him. Then on page 217 the author writes, “I wore these spots of shine and silver like tilaks, the marks of colour that we Hindus wear on our foreheads as symbols of true divine” (217). At this point in the novel, Pi had been through a lot. His ship got wrecked, he was dealing with a power struggle between him and Richard Parker, and lastly, he had witnessed situations which no one should have to go through alone. Instead of losing hope and giving up, Pi continued to believe in his faith and continued to thrive as a person. Although in his situation, adapting to rituals would be extremely difficult, Pi altered it in order for it to be easier for him, “I practised religious rituals that I adapted to the circumstance’s” (231) If it was not for his religion, Pi would not have been able to handle the ship getting

wrecked.