Tsimtsum Pi And Religion

The sinking of the Japanese cargo ship, Tsimtsum, was a catalyst for Pi’s next step on his journey of faith. Pi begins doubting his faith that would allow to stoop to such levels of savagery to survive. Martel uses this tipping point in the novel to show the concessions that must be made to survive and to continue on practicing his faith. For a short time proceeding the sinking of the Tsimtsum Pi was able to uphold his beliefs. Pi was given the choice to keep his faith and die or break his faith and survive. His decision to survive led to “[his descent] to a level of savagery [he] never imagined possible”(Martel 197). His deep rooted religious faith could support him spiritually but now save his life. Pi’s limitation began to divulge by reason …show more content…
By accomplishing each trail Pi strengthening his mind and he can then fully comprehend beyond his basic instinctive needs of survival. “Suddenly [Richard Parker’s] brute strength meant only moral weakness. It was nothing compared to the strength in [Pi’s] mind” (Martel 222). Pi left his adolescent mind to understand and break through the conformities of religion after facing physical difficulties such as Richard Parker’s brute strength in order to remain alive. Richard Parker’s natural instinct of survival is seen in the event of Pi’s near death when it seems there is an absence of God. “This was the terrible cost of Richard Parker. He gave me a life, my own, but at the expense of taking one… Something in me died then that has never come back to life” (Martel 255). Here, the reader sees Pi at one of his darkest moments. It seems there is an absence of God in this section of the novel, but Pi’s guilt for something he has no control shows otherwise. Pi’s immense guilt for an uncontrollable event shows the humanity in Pi and that God is actually found inside of him. Something changes in Pi and this signals his new understanding of both life and faith in a higher power. Boyagoda believes that “to do so is a leap of faith, which in turn is a leap towards God: the God brought into existence by the novel itself, a strange mishmash of religious notions and figures that …show more content…
The demand for the “real” story conveys the idea that man is focused on what he can see rather than what he can believe on faith. Pi shared his story to the Japanese reporters, Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba, however, his story is not received well with these men and they question the validity of his story. The reporters give Pi a fake politeness when questioning his story and he defends it by saying, “Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer”(Martel 297). He says this to bring to the attention of the reporters that just because something is hard to believe or difficult to understand does not mean it is not true. “Martel does not tell us how we could relearn faith in it. Nor does he dramatize how hard it is to find clear answers to such questions. He wishes to use a tale of survival to alert us to the likely benefits of faith in God” (Mishra). Through Pi’s journey, Martel alludes that man and society can’t survive without a series of beliefs which the reporters validate. The reporters asked for the real story to which Pi responds, “[The real story] 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). Pi knows what the