Life Of Pi Religion Essay

Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam, Oh My!

In Yann Martel’s story, Life of Pi, Martel presents the main character as a boy who acts willingly to retain his faith no matter what gets thrown into his path. Piscine Molitor Patel’s faith endures tests not only in his struggle on sea, but throughout his entire journey of life. Pi’s belief in three religions sustains him with enough hope to endure his journey as he makes clear that one faith cannot stand sufficient alone.

The loyalty Pi shows towards three controversial religions cause problems to emerge when his teachers find out about his involvement in each one of these. Demanded to choose only one religion, Pi responds by saying “Bapu Gandhi said, ‘All religions are true.’ I just want to love

God…” (Pg. 69) He believes that all three religions have the same thing in common: The love for God, indicating that Pi believes that all religions interconnect with each other in some way. Pi preserves his faith in times of need, never losing hope. When chaos makes its way into Pi’s voyage to Canada, Pi finds himself stuck in a most likely unwinnable situation stranded at sea. Discovering valuable items held under the tarpaulin, Pi begins listing all the supplies found on the lifeboat. At the end of the list, he says “One God.” (Pg. 146) This example expands on the idea of how Pi believes all religions connect to each other.
Later on in the novel, Pi remembers an ancient Hindu story in which the sage Markandeya falls out of Lord Vishnu’s mouth allowing Markandeya to see the entire universe. “I saw my suffering for what it was, finite and insignificant, and I was still. My suffering did not fit anywhere, I realized. And I could not accept this. It was all right.” (Pg. 177) Pi sees how meaningless his sufferings are compared to what happens in the Hindu story. He uses Hinduism in this part of the novel to give him hope of survival.
Pi uses Christianity to keep perseverance when times seem to look hopeless. Pi remembers the story of Christ where society crucified and he realizes that even the son of God suffered which makes him feel less worried about his situation. “The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart.” (Pg. 209) Pi conceals his burdens with his faith. He believes that God keeps him alive no matter how much suffering he experiences at times because he was able to survive for so long with the limited amount of supplies he receives.
Islams show compassion and kindness towards animals because they believe that Allah, the God of Muslims, created all animals.

Through Islamic beliefs, Pi is able to find companionship with Richard Parker, a Royal Bengal tiger. Richard Parker displays that Pi does not stand alone in the position he finds himself in. Instead of going completely insane having nobody human present, Pi’s mind always remains occupied finding means of survival not only for himself, but for Richard Parker as well.

When Pi finally returns back to society after times of struggle, interviewers question his journey on sea. After hearing Pi’s story, the interviewers say, “I’m sorry to say it so bluntly...you don’t really expect us to believe you...These things don’t exist.” (Pg. 294) Pi responds back to this by saying that the interviewers have never seen anything like it before, which makes such a remarkable detail unrealistic. They choose to believe in factuality than considering the possibility of such story.

Pi’s openness in his religions lead him to find equality in three different religions. The variety of religions show evidently throughout his journey and have changed throughout the entire novel. He starts off as a loyal believer wanting to find a way to love God, to a boy whose faith hinders, losing hope, and finally to a survivor who evolves his faith more stronger than ever before. Without these multiple religions, he’d have lost hope and possibly have changed the outcome of his

journey.