Power of Religion in Yann Martel's Life of Pi

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Recommended: Analysis of religion in life of Pi

In the words of Gandhi, “The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different”. In the story Life of Pi, Pi Patel personally experiences different aspects of four religions including Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. The author, Yann Martel promotes the concept of believing in more than one religion by exemplifying the diversities within each faith.

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 Hindu, he has insight on the conception of religion being “more than [just] rite and ritual” (Martel 48). Pi’s insight on religion opens his mind to more options than just sticking to one. Unlike the traditional standards of Pi’s society, he chooses to explore different religions in his community. His exploration helps him realizes “we are all born…in limbo- without religion, until some figure introduces us to God…” (Martel 47). Pi is recognizing the idea that religion is a life-style choice people make by deciding the morals of which they will live their life. Along with Pi’s understanding of structured life through religion, he discovers the freedom of being able to celebrate different religions at the same time. While reflecting on his religious background, being raised Hindu, he finds importance in “not [clinging]!” or focusing “upon fundamentalism and literalism!” (Martel 49). Pi thinks religion is meaningful because of the followers who believe in it. Without belief, religion is nothing, so fai...

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...love found in each one. This objective is majorly important to Pi because of his desire to find “a relationship with God [that is] personal and loving” (Martel 61). In conclusion, Martel creates Pi with such ambitious characteristics and describes all of the religions in such a manner because he wants to emphasize the importance of each religion and how they balance with each other.

A religious person spends their life constructing morals specific to their religion. In Pi’s situation, he focuses on the beauty of more than just one religion to expand his mind and his lifestyle. Therefore, Martel creates a character with such a unique personality to compare and contrast different forms of faith in order to convey a message to readers of the beauty of religious diversity.

Works Cited

Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.

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