Faith in Yann Martel's Life of Pie Essay Sample

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 zebra, orangutan, hyena, and a tiger. Eventually, the tiger, Richard Parker, dispatches the rest of the animals, and Pi is left alone to try and survive in the middle of the pacific ocean. Just like Pi, most humans long for a greater understanding of our world, however, time and time again Pi’s experience shows the reader that faith alone can be extremely powerful and lead to deeper insights into our world rather than 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 experiences backlash from what 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 is able to conclude that to Pi, the ultimate goal of religion is to love God. Pi brings out the similarities in each religion showing how there is no one way to love god but in fact multiple ways that are shown to people through their faith.

As the story skips ahead, In chapter 90 during Pi’s time on the boat, the line between reality and fantasy blurs as he begins to go blind and imagines Richard Parker is talking to him. His loss of vision causes him to start hallucinating and he “fell 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. His loss of faith in survival has taken its toll on him as he begins to slowly die.

As Pi begins to fall asleep for eternity he realizes something is off about Richard Parker’s voice and believes someone else must be out there. 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 a voice proves that he only 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 proving that his faith is strong enough to keep him alive.

When Pi finally reaches land two Japanese inspectors 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 uses this in comparison to God of which no human can ever know what he actually is, only having faith that he exists and protects them. Once again the author makes it clear that the truth lies with faith rather than the pursuit of knowledge.

Pi’s experiences shine a new light on the idea of 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 end result leading the reader to choose which story they believe is the true story. The faith in Pi’s storytelling is what allows us to access the deeper truth of his experience and discover the true nature of his beliefs.