Life of Pi Religion and Essay

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It is a mixture of the Hindu and Christian ideals as Pi sees them, and he incorporates both worldviews.

For Pi, one belief system is not enough. Everything that is kept separate or alone is necessarily incomplete. It is very important to him that one has beliefs and faith, both of which Pi understood to require imagination. He shows this in his disdain of agnostics, seeing their inability to imagine whether there is or isn't a God or gods as a failing, and a basic lack of identity. He makes this even more explicit when he recounts how his immersion in the Hindu religion began in his infancy, and states that "religion is more than rite and ritual. There is what the rite and ritual stand for" (Martel 48). For him, what they stand for is a way of thinking and viewing the world that does not exclude other viewpoints, but that patiently imagines life from many angles. During his trip in the lifeboat, it is this ability to see things from another's perspective that allows him to reach an understanding with Richard Parker and survive.

It is Pi's ability to see multiple truths from widely varied perspectives that enables him not only to survive, but to lead the successful and spiritually fulfilling life it is very evident he has. In many ways, he learned this from growing up as the son of a zookeeper and working with the many animals. His father lists the many dangers of the various animals, which teaches Pi to respect them, but he comes to an even greater understanding of them as well. This can also be seen as a mixture of Christian and Hindu influences.

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It is more of a Hindu concept to believe that animals are equivalent -- at least largely -- to people. His Hindu father, however, instills only fear in Pi about the animals dangers. The Christian concepts of compassion and of a hidden purpose for even the most seemingly useless, dangerous, and/or disgusting creatures. Pi shows his transition towards this type of thinking and away from the pure negativity of his father in his early comments about suffering:

"When you've suffered a great deal in life, each additional pain is both unbearable and trifling. My life is like a memento mori painting from European art: there is always a grinning skull at my side to remind me of the folly of human ambition. I mock this skull. I look at it and I say, 'You've got the wrong fellow...I don't believe in death. Move on!'" (Martel 5).

Pi has moved past the negative traditions and feelings of his past without abandoning his long held beliefs. Instead, he is able to incorporate new beliefs and concepts into his identity and his sense of the world. This is what makes Pi a success, and watching him as he retells and relives his journey of discovery makes for a very enjoyable and maybe even life altering reading experience......

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