Life Of Pi Religion Essay

Among the many themes in Yann Martel's novel Life of Pi, religion is one of the most important. The first part of the story revolves around Pi's childhood and religious beliefs. In the first chapter, it is made apparent that Pi has suffered greatly, and found solace in religious studies and zoology. Later, the readers learn that he also enjoyed swimming and that he lived in a zoo as a child. Then the story of Pi's name is brought to light; he was originally named after a swimming pool in France. He was bullied at school for his name, prompting him to change it to simply "Pi Patel". The book then documents his relationship with Mr. Kumar, "the first avowed atheist I ever met" (Martel 25). Next, Martel tells of how Pi's father considered man to be "the most dangerous

The next page and a half are spent on sloths. Martel's reasons for including this can be explained by the later comparison of how "sloths reminded me of God" (Martel 5). The sloths are another way of describing Pi's opinion of God. In chapter four, Martel describes in great, almost excessive, detail Pi's childhood in the Pondicherry Zoo and how "They were no Swiss clocks, but the lions could be counted upon to roar their heads off between five thirty and six every morning. Breakfast was punctuated by the shrieks and cries of howler monkeys, hill mynahs and Moluccan cockatoos." (Martel 14) This beautiful but seemingly unnecessary description might have more purpose than one might think, as it is later revealed that zoos are compared to religion. This description of Pi's childhood memories create a positive view of religion for the reader. Lastly, Martel uses some instances of almost lyrical writing to further illustrate the religious theme. One such example can be seen in chapter 22 when Martel describes "an atheist's last words: "White, white! L-L-Love! My God!"--and the deathbed leap of faith. Whereas