Atheism In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

743 Words2 Pages

Pi’s story minorly changed my perspective about God and/or Religion. Pi’s idea that atheism is an opposite of religion on a spectrum rather than merely a lack of religion is a unique concept. Throughout the story there are moments where it is clear why Mr. Adirubasamy would claim that this story “will make you believe in god” (Martel X). In an essence, the story is a large symbol, each element representing their real world equivalent, and as the story progresses, the true story begins to unravel. On page 209, Pi shouts into the sky “‘THIS IS GOD’S HAT!’... ‘THIS IS GOD’S ATTIRE!’... ‘THIS IS GOD’S CAT’... THIS IS GOD’S ARK!’... ‘THESE ARE GOD’S WIDE ACRES!’”, all referring to his belongings.In the first story Pi represents many things, such as God. Because Richard Parker is essentially Pi, it is similar in that Pi keeps the tiger alive by feeding him. …show more content…

Throughout the elaborate plot, there are hints of how the first story symbolizes the second. “What were those words he used that struck me? Ah, yes: ‘dry, yeastless factuality’, ‘the better story’.” (Martel 63) These phrases clearly mean the two stories. This is also why Pi dislikes agnostics, they believe in the “dry, yeastless factuality” while Atheists and Religious people go for the better story. “I know what you want. You want a story that won’t surprise you. That will confirm what you already know. That won’t make you see higher or further or differently. You want a flat story. An immobile story. You want dry, yeastless factuality.” (Martel 302) This quote at the end of the book demonstrates the importance of that

Show More
Related

  • Use of Literary Devices in Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stranded for 227 days at sea in a lifeboat, with no one else except an adult Bengal tiger. This is exactly what the main character Pi, in "The Life of Pi" went through. "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel is a story about a boy named Piscine Molitor Patel, an Indian boy who survives more than seven months floating on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean, with no one else but a 450-pound tiger (Cooper). Yann Martel was born on June 25, 1963, in Salamanca, Spain. His parents, Emile Martel and Nicole Perron, were both born in Canada. He spent his childhood in several different countries, including France, Mexico, the United States, Canada, and Costa Rica. As an adult, he lived in many other places but one of them was India, which may be where he got inspiration for writing “Life of Pi”. Yann Martel uses the literary elements similes and foreshadowing, to express the theme that believing in religion can give you the faith to want to survive.

    Read More

  • Life Of Pi Vs Big Fish Analysis

    313 Words  | 1 Pages

    Storytelling is a way of expressing one’s imagination through fanciful adventures and serve a variety of purposes. One important reason is to capture a special moment and endure it but mostly because it unites us and of course entertains us. In Yann Martel’s Life of Pi, and Tim Burton’s The Big Fish, storytelling is seen as more important than the truth. Throughout the novel Life of Pi, and the film The Big Fish, it can be argued that the truth is intertwined with the lies in each story to form a new kind of truth. An example of this would be when Pi retells his story to the two Japanese men in a way in which he makes the animals human and introduces a different version of the truth. Both the film and movie also share a unique way of story telling because what they both share is a common moral “quest” which involves the main character, who is usually the hero, must overcome challenges in order to achieve a goal or reward at the end.

    Read More

  • Life Of Pi And A Prayer For Owen Meany Analysis

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    Martel introduces multiple implicit symbols throughout his novel that, though are able to be interpreted in multiple ways depending on one’s perspective, highlight the importance of religion. When confronted with the ferocity of tiger aboard his lifeboat, Pi must flee to his raft handcrafted with remnants of life jackets and oars gathered from the boat. This raft may be symbolically interpreted as a representation of his faith throughout his journey. After a dauntless attempt at training Richard Parker in order to “carve out” his territory, Pi is knocked off the lifeboat into shark infested waters with a great blow: “I swam for the raft in frantic strokes... I reached the raft, let out all the rope and sat with my arms wrapped around my knees and my head down, trying to put out the fire of fear that was blazing within me. I stayed on the raft for the rest of the day and the whole night” (Martel 228). Like the raft, Pi’s faith, constructed of portions of three separate religions, trails diligently behind his survival needs and instincts –symbolized by Richard Parker and the...

    Read More

  • Religion In Yann Martel's The Life Of Pi

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Pi turns to God and says aloud, “‘Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die.’” (Martel, 148). Instead of giving up, he used a miracle that God gives him and turns it into a routine. His belief of God watching over him gave him a lot of motivation Pi explains his struggles when he says “You might think I lost all hope at one point. I did. And as a result, I perked up and felt much better. We see it in sports all the time don’t we?” (Martel 134). At this moment, Pi decides to disregard Richard Parker and focus on his thirst. He thinks back to how when Jesus was crucified, that his only complaint was thirst. This gave Pi a reason to help himself by letting go of his worrying. As he slowly becomes more depressed, Pi comes to the realization that “God’s hat was always unraveling. God’s pants were falling apart. God’s cat was a constant danger. God’s ark was a jail. God’s wide acres were slowly killing me. God’s ear didn’t seem to be listening.” (Martel, 209). Whenever Pi starts to upset about his situation, he yells about how everything symbolizes God. Although sometimes it did not help, Pi says that he will continue to hope and love

    Read More

  • Yann Martel's Life of Pi

    357 Words  | 1 Pages

    Religion is and always has been a sensitive topic. Some choose to acknowledge that there is a God and some choose to deny this fact to the death. For those who deny the presence of a higher being, “Life of Pi” will most likely change your thought process concerning this issue. Yann Martel’s, “Life of Pi”, is a compelling story that shows the importance of obtaining religion and faith. Piscine (Pi) Patel is both the protagonist and the narrator of Martell’s religious eye-opener who undergoes a chain effect of unbelievable catastrophes. Each of these catastrophic events leaving him religiously stronger because he knows that in order to endure what he has endured, there has got to be a God somewhere.

    Read More

  • The Better Story in Life of Pi by Yann Martel

    1775 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...h up their session, Pi asks them, “‘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?’” The factual or provable existence of God is not necessarily relevant to whether someone should believe in Him. This requirement of proof for belief is typical of the agnostic, whose sole belief is that he or she cannot believe either way because there is no proof either way. However, life is a story, and in real life, there must be a story to tell. When it comes to Life of Pi, there is hardly any difference between life and story, so how could the novel not mimic life, being the story of a life itself? A life perhaps embellished to become better, just as readers must embellish their own lives in favor of the better story.

    Read More

  • Zoomorphism In Life Of Pi

    1024 Words  | 3 Pages

    At the start of novel, and when Pi is a child, he is extremely religious. He devotes his life to loving God, and even practices three religions to do so. He practices Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity. His explanation for practicing all three is that according to Bapu Gandhi, “‘All religions are true’”(69). Pi explains that he practices all three religions because, “[he] just wants to love God”(69). Pi’s major religious values and faith in God continue to shape his life daily, until the shipwreck leaves him stranded on the Pacific, with a tiger for 227 days. Although Pi still remains religious and continues to praise God most days, the shipwreck does change Pi’s religious morals. Richard Parker is the factor that begins this change in Pi, because Pi knows that in order to survive he will have to fish to provide for Richard Parker if he wants to avoid being eaten himself. Fishing, however goes against the religious practice of Hinduism, which requires vegetarianism. Also, killing animals goes against Pi’s whole religious morals to not hurt another living being. Pi says the idea of killing a fish, and of “beating a soft living head with a hammer [is] simply too much”(183). It goes against everything he believes in. So, he decides to instead cover to fish’s head and break its neck (183). He explains that, “he [gives] up a number of times.

    Read More

  • A Freudian Examination of Yann Martel’s Life of Pi

    2074 Words  | 5 Pages

    ... The collection of information given towards the end of the story when Pi is expressing his experience to the investigators ends up being key to understanding how it has a connection to Freud’s idea of psychoanalysis. When Pi reveals an alternate story of the events that unraveled and led him to the Mexican beach, it brings his story to a halt. The reader has to decide for themselves which story to believe. When looking at both stories, it is easy to match up the connections on the characters being switched.

    Read More

  • Spiritual Discovery In Life Of Pi

    1354 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pi is a young man from India, who, like any other teenager growing up, is at something of a crossroads, trying to discover a grand purpose and meaning to life. Through his family and everyday life, Pi is exposed to four different religions during his childhood: Hinduism, Catholicism, Islam, and to an extent, Atheism. After being exposed to the three religions and his father urging him towards Atheism and rational though, Pi comes to the conclusion that he, “just wants to love God”, showing the audience that Pi derives his understanding of the world through God, and his idea of God through each religion. However, Pi’s complacent views of the world are challenged during his meeting with Richard Parker. In this scene, Pi seeks to discover Richard Parker’s soul, believing God will allow him to form a spiritual connection with the tiger. The connection begins to form, as close up shots of both Pi’s and the tiger’s eyes

    Read More

  • The Power of Imagination in Life of Pi, by Yann Martel

    818 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...the other because you find It more interesting, more intriguing. Just like this Pi told his story using his imagination, it allowed a more beautiful story. After all Yann Martel did say “Lack imagination and miss the better story.”

    Read More

  • The Key Roles Of Religion In Pi's Hope For Survival

    722 Words  | 2 Pages

    First of all, religion is a key component in Pi’s survival because it leads Pi to believe that he has to coexist with other creatures and they are all one entity. When Pi struggles with the storm on the lifeboat, he has the opportunity to abandon Richard Parker, but he doesn’t: “I could see his head. He was struggling to stay at the surface of the water. ‘Jesus, Mary, Muhammad and Vishnu, how good to see you, Richard Parker! Don’t give up, please. Come to the lifeboat. Do you hear this whistle? TREEEEE! TREEEEE! TREEEEE! You heard, right. Swim! Swim!’” (Martel p.121). Although Richard Parker

    Read More

  • Religion And Religion In Life Of Pi By Yann Martel

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    The author left the reader thinking about how religion and faith can have an impact in our lives positively. Religion can affect our choices in life, and faith In the novel, Pi grows up to be a religious man, growing up in a place with diverse culture. He believes that “religion is about choosing the better story”. Therefore, he learns to worship three religion - Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam.

    Read More

  • Hinduism Life Of Pi

    752 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel, Pi doesn’t talk about Hinduism as much as Christianity. This could have challenged Pi whenever he was confronted with all three religions. In this novel, it is very well explained how people feel so much better about themselves with religion. “According to the Hindu religion, they believe that God isn’t far away. He is in their hearts and minds. They also believe that when one knows this, it gives them hope and courage” (Monastery). In the book, the connection would be that Pi felt hope and courage through his journey. Maybe, he wanted to impress God. Maybe, Pi wanted to make God proud so he could be welcomed into his arms on his last day. One of the main reasons Pi survived, was because he had faith the whole way. In Life of Pi, we don’t really know how Pi really felt on his 227 day journey. We could tell that nothing could stand in the way of him and his God.

    Read More

  • Life Of Pi Religious Allegory

    1775 Words  | 4 Pages

    Life of Pi written by Yann Martel uses many literary devices to present the different themes in the novel; and allegory, along with its many examples, is prevalent in this novel as the number one mechanism to demonstrate the character and theme growth. Through religious allegory, symbolism, and imagery, Yann Martel uses Pi and his voice to make readers question the real meaning behind Life of Pi. When he sees the orangutan, he is overjoyed. He compares her to the 'Virgin Mary.' Pi cries, “Oh blessed Great Mother, Pondicherry fertility goddess, provider of milk and love, wondrous arm spread of comfort, terror of ticks, picker-up of crying ones, are you to witness this tragedy too?”

    Read More

  • The Life of Pi Reflection

    1083 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Life of Pi by Yann Martel was a fascinating and exciting narrative that described the journey of a young boys life starting with the formation of his beliefs moving all the way through an adventure that changed his life forever. I found it extremely engaging on both a philosophical level and a psychological level as I saw Pi, a young boy, curious about life, discover both religion and go through an extremely traumatic experience. I found Pi's devotion to God to be an uplifting example that many people throughout the world should see. Although I do believe that Pi was confused about how to best love God, I admire his efforts and believe that his dedication is sincere. I also found the psychological aspect of Pi to be almost as fascinating as religion. I could see from the beginning that Pi was quite thoughtful and always tried to think before he acted. However, what I found even more fascinating than his pre-planning cognitive abilities was how he thought when he was under great stress. Perhaps the best example of how he coped with stress was towards the end of the book when he tells what may be the true story, and we can see that he may have represented everyone as an animal in order to deal with the situation. This provides valuable insight into Pi's mind and opens a whole new area of possibilities when considering how Pi thinks. This ending leaves how Pi thinks open to interpreting which adds a intriguing aspect to the book. Beyond the religious and theoretical aspects of the book, the adventure seen kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end. Every time it seemed Pi was about to die or give up hope, an astounding miracle would suddenly save him. I found the effect of these suspenseful moments to cause me to want to...

    Read More

More about Atheism In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

Open Document