Life Of Pi Religion Essay

Piscine Molitor Patel, Life of Pi’s protagonist, grows up in his father’s zoo, located in Pondicherry, India. Throughout his years in India, Pi gleans more information about the animals he is surrounded by than the average person would. Compared to the average human, Pi also knows more about religious than others would. Pi is raised with Hinduism as a result of his family’s religious practices, but when the family travels to Munnar on vacation, Pi is exposed to Christianity. At first, Pi is hesitant to approach the priest of the Christian church in Munnar, however his curiosity pushes him to confront the priest. Father Martin tells Pi the story of Jesus Christ and the main Christian teachings. Pi is confused as he compares the Christian God to Brahman, the Hindu God. Then, Pi goes on to learn and practice the religion of Islam.

Throughout Part One of Life of Pi, Martel frequently switches point of views. The majority of the text is told from Pi’s perspective, but between every two or three chapters the story will switch to a fictional author’s point of view, the one who sought Pi and asked him to share his life story. When Pi’s perspective is in focus (within Part One), he is for the most part sharing stories about his childhood up until the point at which he is on the boat leaving India for Canada. When the “author’s” point of view is brought to light, he shares insight on how Pi is as an adult, years after his ordeal on the Pacific. Martel’s use of this structure allows the reader to make inferences and see that the rocky road ahead of sixteen year old Pi has a happy ending, while also creating a smooth transition