Spiritual Discovery In Life Of Pi

It is said the a person’s process of discovery is shaped by their personality, culture, history and values, however the opposite is also true, someone’s personal, cultural, historical and social contexts and values, their personal aspects, can also be shaped by the discoveries they make, with discovery acting as the journey towards a change in one’s personal aspects. This is true of the film, “Life of Pi,” directed by Ang Lee and the illustration, “Self Help,” by Michael Leunig. The most striking features of the film is Pi’s faith to God and his connection with religion. His discovery and spirituality rely on each other, depicted as a gradual progression that spans his life, his childhood all the way to his time with Richard Parker on the life

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

This is clearly symbolic of a journey of self-discovery, the journey shown as the ascent up the bookshelf. The use of colour or rather, lack thereof reinforces the journey and process the figure in the image is undertaking. The use of black and white tells the audience that the figure has come from somewhere dark, the darkness on the floor symbolising the mentality of the figure before embarking on his journey of self-help and self-improvement. As the man climbs upwards towards the lighter portion of the image, he is achieving his goal of self-help, improving himself through his process of discovery. Similarly to “Life of Pi,” the journey depicted in the cartoon is the improvement one’s personal, cultural and social aspects, however, depicting a generic goal of self-improvement. However, while showing that spiritual discovery is journey to ‘self-help,’ a positive outcome isn’t what awaits ones’