The Existence Of Doubt In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

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The question at hand is what makes a story believable? Also, how do we navigate our way through the doubts that beset our faith in something greater than the mundane trivial world? Faith is not the absence of doubt; faith is the belief that surpasses doubt. It is believing in what is unseen and impossible to prove; it is a matter of choice. Martel’s Life of Pi presents the reader with different versions of a tale of survival, and suggests that the reader choose which version to have faith in. We navigate our way through the doubts based on the dogma that we have chosen to adhere to, and embrace the logical conclusions of that choice. Some would argue that nature is proof of the existence of God. The majestic mountains, the flowing rivers, …show more content…

He is present in times of trouble, and uses people, places and things to benefit those He has chosen to help. Pi (Piscine Molitor Patel) is an unusual character because at the age of sixteen, he is committed to Christianity and Islam in addition to his native Hindu faith. Pi is the youngest son of Santosh and Gita Patel; Santosh manages the zoo in their town of Pondicherry. Pi’s parents are educated and somewhat refined, but they are not religious at all; Pi’s religious zeal surprises them as their older son Ravi, is a popular school jock. Pi is as different from him as can be. Santosh, the father, places some type of reverence to the animals he keeps but it is not religious. Santosh is distressed with the condition of the government in Pondicherry; he makes a decision to close the zoo and move his family to Canada. The family and the animals board the ship Tsimtsum, which sinks killing all the humans aboard except Pi. This is where his journey …show more content…

The episode of the flying fish is a miracle reminiscent of Jesus feeding the multitudes of the wedding party with five loaves of bread and two fish. Just at the right time luck + fate = God intervenes and feeds the tiger and the boy. After eating his full, Pi finds great difficulty and guilt over killing one of the flying fish to use as bait. He finally wraps the flying fish in a blanket and breaks its neck, weeping as he does so. Up until this incident, Pi had been a devout pacifist and a vegetarian. He feels that he has committed a great sin, but after the fish is dead Pi finds it easier to cut it up and use it for bait. “He hooks a three-foot-long dorado fish, fights it, and brings it into the boat. He admires the fish’s beautiful colors, and thanks Vishnu (a popular Hindu deity) for “taking the form of a fish” (Stratton-5). This dorado he offers to Richard Parker, and the tiger is pacified for the moment. Pi acknowledges the presence of God in that instant, as he prefers to believe that over mere

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