Influence Of Religion In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

An in Depth Look at “Life of Pi”

The Life of Pi a quest with a strong influence of religion that is apparent throughout the story. “We are all born like Catholics, aren't we--in limbo without religion, until some figure introduces us to god” (Martel 58). Piscine Molitor Patel a young indian teen has a unique infatuation with religion. Yann Martel, the author of Life of Pi, Gave Pi or Piscine a very interesting life that is different from others. Piscines’ life is a constant struggle or quest.. In the book How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, the first chapter of Fosters’ novel “Every Trip Is a Quest (Except When It's Not)” The chapter is clearly visible within the Life of Pi. Including what Pi had: the problems endured

The japanese boat Tsimtsum in which the family takes to travel to Canada with all their animals unfortunately sinks. Pi is able to escape onto a life raft as for the rest of his family ends up not surviving the wreck. The big turning point in the story where Pi now has to find out a way to survive. A tiger named “Richard Parker”, a zebra, a hyena and an Orangutan named “Orange Juice” are all stuck on a lifeboat with Pi. Pi begins to start using the wisdom his dad had taught him through the years. Finally, all this wisdom he knew about animals and everything he had learned is getting used. Though the ship sank and he lost all his family he still kept hope and faith in his religion. It is a beginning of a new quest within the original quest of getting his family and animals to Canada. Despite the original quest the new quest is more substantial and it is to survive being stranded at sea with dangerous zoo animals. His love and care for animals comes to a sudden halt; He has to fight and survive like a animal. There is one moment in the story where all his developed instincts were challenged. He was met with a school of flying fish that would jump out of the water and into the lifeboat. He had wrapped one fish in a blanket and intended to kill it with a hatchet. He could not bring himself to kill this fish with a hatchet but ultimately can not go through with it. Pi ends up

After finding land and falling on the mexican shore, Pi is saved by a local Mexican community and taken to a nearby hospital. At this hospital everything in this story past the shipwreck is questioned by a couple of japanese Interviewers. Pi then tells an alternate story where he replaces the animals with living characters from the book. In this alternate story his mother is the orangutan “Orange juice” that eventually gets killed. The intensity in this part of the novel shows the emotion of Pi and everything he has endured through. This story carries and ordinary quest line up till this point when Yann Martel puts a twist on the