Sin and Survival in 'The Life of Pi'

Does God Pardon Us if We Have to Sin in Order to Survive?
In the novel The Life of Pi by Yann Martel, the author expresses a potent message, being that God pardons us if we have to sin in order to survive desperate circumstances. Pi Patel obtains a very conservative definition of the word “sin.” While living in India Pi was a child who possessed strong morals, believing that a sin is an evil act like killing a living thing and eating it. However, while on the lifeboat Pi cannot survive on his vegetarian diet and must therefore resort to killing and eating meat to sustain himself. Since starting to kill food, Pi woefully states, “Lord to think that I’m a strict vegetarian. To think that when I was a child I shuddered when I snapped open a banana because it sounded to me like the breaking of an animals neck. I descended to a level of savagery that I never imagined possible,” it is then obvious that Pi is disappointed in his new

sinful lifestyle (197). Fortunately, throughout the novel Martel expresses that in drastic circumstances God forgives sinning if it must be done as a last resort in order for one to survive.
Martel makes it evident that God allows killing for food when a vegetarian diet is not available. While trapped on the ocean Pi is starving and must therefore consume sea life to preserve himself. Although against his religious beliefs, Pi is able to catch, kill, and eat a Dorado. After catching the fish Pi chants, ““Thank you, Lord Vishnu, thank you!” I shouted “once you saved the world by taking the form of a fish. Now you have saved me by taking the form of a fish. Thank you, thank you!”” since Pi believes that the fish was a gift from God “killing it was no problem,” (185). Patel did not encounter guilt after consuming the fish since he found that God Himself transformed into the animal and sacrificed Himself for the boy to consume. At this moment Pi’s spiritual beliefs changed from thinking that a carnivore diet was sinful, to accepting that in extreme situations God pardons sinning and allows for people to commit certain acts, such as consuming meat, when there are no other options for survival.
After Pi’s initial realization that God excuses sins committed to assist a person in surviving extreme circumstances, the Hindu boy proceeded to regularly eat meat. Careful to maintain a balance of practicality and spirituality, Pi’s days on the lifeboat followed a regimen of praying before fishing. Martel reiterates the fact that the boy of a strict religion can maintain a love of spirituality while also taking practical measures to survive. This is because fish, and other small sea animals, are the only available and valuable forms of protein and nutrients. Pi learned that God excuses fishing after his experience with the Dorado, the boy then continued to fish after he prayed.
Although God has now demonstrated to Pi that he can break some of his religious values in order to survive desperate situations, there is one sin more dramatic then fishing, which left Pi with a sense of guilt.

Pi spoke in a guilty tone when recounting one of his stories of sea, “I will confess that I caught one of his arms with the gaff and used it for bait. I prayed for his soul every day,” by having Pi “confess” what he did to the sailor Martel provides the character with a guilty tone (256). After the incident with the Dorado, Pi understood that God forgives sins necessary towards survival. However, it is obvious that Pi has an internal struggle with guilt since he still feels the need to pray for the sailor years after cutting his arm. While on the lifeboat, there were some desperate situations in which a sin had to be committed in order for Pi Patel to survive, and although God proved that the boy’s actions in those times of stress where forgiven, the child still struggled to relieve his memories of certain dramatic

events.
Martel expresses that in perilous situations God forgives sins that must be done as a last resort in order for one to survive. Preceding the incident with the Dorado, Pi accepts fish as a blessing from God and changes his thought to allow him to fish for food without believing that he sinned. Pi is able to pray before he goes fishing and can accept that fact that he must neglect his vegetarian lifestyle to survive. However, some wrongdoings that the boy committed out of necessity left Pi with an intense sensation of guilt. Although Pi understands that God pardons his sins done for survival, Pi found it difficult to forgive himself and accept some of the extreme measures he took in his will to live.