The Power Of Belief In Martel's Life Of Pi

To lead a pleasant and long-lasting life a person must find their source of a higher power, the higher power is used for guidance and to form morals along life’s course. As one is growing and their ethics are forming, reason finds its place along one’s life. As reason comes to the surface a person must learn how to grasp and understand both concepts to be able to use them in important decisions. In Life of Pi the protagonist, Pi Patel, endures a series of tragic events, but it does not dawn on him that he must be cautious with every decision he makes. Instead of realizing the extremity of his situation, Pi uses his mind and creates a story to mask the madness of what is really happening. He uses this story to hide true feelings, he also tries to get closer with the higher powers he believes in, hoping they will lead him to land safely. Both faith and reason are very powerful aspects in Martel’s novel, while telling Pi’s story, he leads the readers to believe all humans must find a balance between the two and when to let faith or reason overstep the boundaries.

The following quote, "So tell me, since it makes no factual difference to you and you can't prove the question either way, which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals? That's an interesting question... The story with animals Yes. The story with the animals is the better story. Thank you. And so it goes with God.” (317) proves that Pi had created this story of Richard Parker so he could believe God or his Faith lead him through the journey and although he is making unethical decisions throughout the novel, he wants to shove his guilt to the side to continue his