Life Of Pi

The Life of Pi is a story about the life of a young Indian man named Piscine Patel, whose short name is Pi. Pi has an incredible sense of religion. He was born faithful to Hinduism, and later discovered Christianity, and then Islam. On my visual, I have the word "Allah", which means "God" in Arabic to represent Islam. I have a picture of Vishnu, a god in the Hindu religion, and a picture of the crucifix, which is a sculpture by Michelangelo and has become a strong symbol of modern day Christianity. These are the religions which Pi takes on simultaneously. I feel that Pi makes most of his decisions based on these three religions, which modern day scientists have noticed are amazingly similar to one another. Being taught by his father, who was an Indian zoo keeper, Pi also has an extraordinary knowledge about animals.

"I know zoos are no longer in people's good graces. Religion faces the same problem. Certain illusions about freedom plague them both." Pi says this because many people think zoos deprive noble creatures from their wild habitats, forcing them to live in a boring, artificial habitat. Pi disagrees to this statement. While the animals in the zoo are being imprisoned in a boring world, they are provided with food, shelter, and protection from predators and natural threats to their survival, while in the wild, these animals face starvation, competition with other animals, predators, and other harsh factors. Pi says that the cages in the zoo are just like the religions of mankind. People who are "free" to believe in whatever they wish are actually forced to face reality the way it is, just as an animal would have to fend for itself in the wild. Religion creates a version of reality which is more gentle than reality itself, giving more ease to its believer.

'I can well imagine an atheist's last words: "White, white! L-L-Love! My God!"--and the deathbed