Richard Parker Religion

One tiger, one boy, one boat, and three religions. The Life of Pi is a book about a tiger named Richard Parker and a boy named Piscine, who goes by Pi and believes in three religions. The two acquaintances unwillingly journey across the Pacific Ocean from India to the coast of Mexico in 227 days. After selling the zoo back in India, the Patel family was headed for Canada when misfortune took place and left Pi, a sixteen-year-old boy, with no family and a few animals. Through the incredibly long trip, Pi and Richard Parker channel their inner-survival mode and test themselves in the face of adversity. To help stay sane throughout the excessively long boat ride, Piscine prays and practices several other religious devotions to those he believes

McGlynn sees this as an allegory: “the sea here stands for the unknown, the lifeboat the confined safety of the known, while the animals are various virtues…[Richard Parker] symbolizes a dark and seemingly intractable threat, one that exists beyond reason, that operates on pure instinct alone.” Richard Parker is similar to the old testament God, although in this case, Pi does not feel like he has done anything wrong, until he has killed the fish. When a flying fish attack took place, due to hunger, Pi became non-vegetarian and broke his morals by killing the fish. To kill the fish with a hatchet took several attempts because Piscine could not bring himself to kill so viciously, so after several minutes of debating, Pi made the smart decision to eat and not starve. He killed the fish by wrapping it in a blanket and bending the fish until he felt no struggling and flopping. After he heard the snap in the bones, Pi started to cry. He “wept heartily over this poor little deceased soul. It was the first sentient being I had ever killed. I was now a killer. I was now as guilty as Cain. I was sixteen years old, a harmless boy, bookish and religious, and now I had blood on my hands.” Pi felt guilty for the death of the fish, saying, “I never forgot to include this fish in my prayers” (Martel 183). The killing, that was caused by Pi, was very difficult for him

His daily routine included prayer five times a day: sunrise, mid-morning, late afternoon, sunset, and night. “I practised religious rituals that I adapted to the circumstances – solitary Masses without priests or consecrated Communion Hosts, darshans without murtis, and pujas with turtle meat for prasad, acts of devotion to Allah not knowing where Mecca was and getting my Arabic wrong.” Although he was in a predicament, Pi still found a way to show his faith to all the religions. This speaks volumes for Pi because he never stopped believing in faith; since he never gave up on his higher powers, they did not give up on him. “They brought me comfort, that is certain. But it was hard, oh, it was hard. Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love-but sometimes it was so hard to love” (Martel 208). Although it was hard, he made it. He never stopped believing, he questioned, but never stopped. The duo suffered; with no fat and bad nutrition, the two were weak and in bad shape. Pi was faced with major tragedy when going blind (so he thought) due to poor hygiene. He started to see mainly black, and then eventually all black, besides one small crack. This was very depressing for Pi, and his emotional well-being took a huge blow. By this point Pi was ready for death. He saw no hope for living life, especially now that he could not see, but yet he still keep true to his religious devotions.