Faith in Yann Martel's Life of Pie Essay Example

Yann Martel’s Life of Pi provides a surprising tale told from the perspective of an intelligent young boy practicing multiple religions at once while living at a zoo. When his parents sell the zoo to go to Canada, the boat they’re traveling on sinks, and Pi is left alone on a lifeboat with a tiger named Richard Parker. Just like Pi, most humans long for a greater understanding of our world and work tirelessly to discover the true nature of the universe. However, time and time again Pi’s experience shows the reader that faith alone can be powerful enough to save him and can lead to deeper insights into our world rather than can through the pursuit of knowledge.

Throughout his life, Pi comes across many different cultures and religions, eventually sticking with Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. As a result of practicing multiple religions, Pi receives backlash from the priest, imam, and the pandit, who he calls “the three wise men”,  when they all meet in chapter 23: “He can’t be a Hindu, a Christian and a Muslim. It’s impossible”(69). With Pi’s way of life being infringed upon, he blurts out “I just want to love God”(69). Filled with embarrassment, the group falls silent and the reader can conclude that to Pi, the ultimate goal of religion is to become closer with God. Pi brings the three religions together and shows that his faith in God is what allows him to learn about him and helps him learn more about his place in the world.

In chapter 90 during Pi’s time on the boat, the line between reality and fantasy blurs as he begins to go blind. His loss of vision causes him to start hallucinating and he “[falls] asleep. Or, Rather, into a state of dying delirium”(248). The use of “dying delirium” makes it clear that Pi is becoming restless and is starting to imagine things. When he goes blind his loss of faith in survival has taken its toll on him as he begins to slowly die. This suggests that without his faith he doesn’t have enough power or strength to carry on, showing that his faith alone was keeping him alive.

As Pi starts to die and his hallucination of Richard Parker talking fades away, he realizes something is off about Richard Parker’s voice and believes someone else must be out there trying to talk to him. With hope filling his body Pi “roared to the elements with [his] last breath” screaming “‘MY NAME. . . IS PISCINE MOLITOR PATEL’”(249). The fact that he yelled to the elements rather than to a voice suggests that he has faith that someone or something is out there. The chance that someone else is out there, even if it’s small, gives him the strength to carry on, demonstrating how powerful his faith in others is.

When Pi finally reaches land two Japanese inspectors from the boat’s company attempt to talk with him to learn the truth behind why the boat sank. When Pi tells them his story the inspectors don’t believe him, prompting Pi to tell another, more gruesome story, one that replaces the animals with real humans. Pi asks which story they prefer, to which the inspectors reply, “the one with the animals . . . The story with the animals is the better story.” Pi in turn responds “Thank you. And so it goes with God”(317). Pi’s response makes it clear to the reader that the only way to tell which one is true is to have faith that one of them is true. He compares this to God and makes the connection that people only have faith that there is a God out there, similar to how there is no physical evidence to support Pi’s stories. Instead the reader must have faith that one of the stories actually happened to believe in one.

Pi’s experiences shine a new light on the line between faith and reality. He tells us two stories, one of which is harder to believe while the other is more difficult to accept. Both, however, lead to the same result, leading the reader to choose which story they believe is the true one. The lack of evidence to support either story allows the reader to choose which story they believe is the truth. The faith the reader has in Pi’s storytelling is what allows us to access the deeper truth of his experience and discover the true nature of his beliefs.