Believing in God can be a tricky thing. In Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi, the main character Piscine Molitor Patel truly loves God, so much so that he practices three different religions, Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam. (I feel like this sentence is super long and although you added commas, it sounds like and awkward run on.) With a main character that is so involved with religion, there is no surprise that some religious themes come out of the novel. For most of the story, Pi is stranded at sea trapped in a lifeboat with Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger. During his two-hundred and twenty-seven long struggle for survival, Pi comes across a variety of incredible and awe inspiring events that help to affirm his various religious beliefs. In
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Pi’s introduction to Islam is a different story, instead of being gradually persuaded over to Islam, Pi immediately falls in love with its sense of brotherhood and devotion. Due to these reasons, in Martel’s Life of Pi the author’s message is that all religions are different faces to the same cause of love shown through Pi’s decision to join both Christianity and Islam. Following the idea that all religions similarly relate to love, Christianity fits in that God has shown his love to mankind through sending his son to earth. This story of Christ is one of the main reasons that Pi begins practicing Christianity, even though he disagrees with it at first. While on a family vacation in Munnar, Pi notices a small church on a hilltop and goes to investigate. Inside, he finds a priest that eagerly tells him the story of Christ’s life and his sacrifice for humanity’s sins. At first, Pi does not understand why God would put his son through humiliation and death; this is evident when he says “This Son is a god who died in three hours, with moans, gasps and laments. Whit kind of a god is that?” (Martel 56). As Pi kept talking with Father Martin, …show more content…
Of the two principles that Pi loves about Islam, its devotion is the first. This devotion in Islam becomes very apparent when the baker Satish Kumar begins his daily prayers when with Pi. In the Islam faith, prayer is extremely important as it is the constant sign of ones devotion to Allah. Prayer is required multiple times a day on every day, and is deeply sacred. The importance of Muslim prayer is felt by Pi through the line “Immediately it felt like a deeply religious contract” (Martel 61). This deep devotion to one god is just a different expression of love, where believers constantly reaffirm their faith to Allah. This intense devotion shows a special kind of love that is very deep indeed. The other aspect of Islam that Pi loves is its sense of brotherhood. In Islam, everyone is just an equal person praying to God together. When Pi goes to visit Satish Kumar, they very quickly become friends and share in the religion together, with Mr. Kumar introducing Pi to Arabic and the Quran. This sense of equality is also seen when the author in the novel notices a picture of Mecca in Pi’s house. Mecca is a Muslim holy site where millions of Muslims pilgrimage to every year, and in Pi’s photo, it is shown that a mass of people, all dressed the same walking around the Ka’ba. This colossal event where everyone experiences the faith together is a
Pi’s introduction to Islam is a different story, instead of being gradually persuaded over to Islam, Pi immediately falls in love with its sense of brotherhood and devotion. Due to these reasons, in Martel’s Life of Pi the author’s message is that all religions are different faces to the same cause of love shown through Pi’s decision to join both Christianity and Islam. Following the idea that all religions similarly relate to love, Christianity fits in that God has shown his love to mankind through sending his son to earth. This story of Christ is one of the main reasons that Pi begins practicing Christianity, even though he disagrees with it at first. While on a family vacation in Munnar, Pi notices a small church on a hilltop and goes to investigate. Inside, he finds a priest that eagerly tells him the story of Christ’s life and his sacrifice for humanity’s sins. At first, Pi does not understand why God would put his son through humiliation and death; this is evident when he says “This Son is a god who died in three hours, with moans, gasps and laments. Whit kind of a god is that?” (Martel 56). As Pi kept talking with Father Martin, …show more content…
Of the two principles that Pi loves about Islam, its devotion is the first. This devotion in Islam becomes very apparent when the baker Satish Kumar begins his daily prayers when with Pi. In the Islam faith, prayer is extremely important as it is the constant sign of ones devotion to Allah. Prayer is required multiple times a day on every day, and is deeply sacred. The importance of Muslim prayer is felt by Pi through the line “Immediately it felt like a deeply religious contract” (Martel 61). This deep devotion to one god is just a different expression of love, where believers constantly reaffirm their faith to Allah. This intense devotion shows a special kind of love that is very deep indeed. The other aspect of Islam that Pi loves is its sense of brotherhood. In Islam, everyone is just an equal person praying to God together. When Pi goes to visit Satish Kumar, they very quickly become friends and share in the religion together, with Mr. Kumar introducing Pi to Arabic and the Quran. This sense of equality is also seen when the author in the novel notices a picture of Mecca in Pi’s house. Mecca is a Muslim holy site where millions of Muslims pilgrimage to every year, and in Pi’s photo, it is shown that a mass of people, all dressed the same walking around the Ka’ba. This colossal event where everyone experiences the faith together is a