The Life of Pi

As school continues to slowly progress through its monotony like a river filled with molasses, I found time to ponder the human existence. It was an experience that started back in January (or was it December? I can't remember) and has led me on a fruitful journey up until this past week. Of course, such an experience could only come from a book, for I know of no other medium that could examine such an issue so in depthly and prolifically. That book is Yann Martel's, The Life of Pi.

First off, I know that Hollywood has stolen this great work and has attempted to string some lights and flashy special effects to it in hopes of making it more appealing. To that, my literary heart breaks because the novel itself is far more appealing and beautiful than anything Hollywood can shop together in their studios. This may just be the purest in me (actually, it is), but The Life of Pi is a stunning work that gently draws the reader into a young boy's life and then refuses to release its grasp until the very end.

At its essence, the story is about the life of Piscine Molitor Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry where his father owns a zoo. When his family decides to move to Canada, they set out on a voyage that ends in a horrific and unexplained sinking of the ship, leaving Pi stranded on a lifeboat with only one other companion: a full grown Bengal Tiger. From the opening pages of the novel, the reader gets a sense that Pi is a boy who's thoughts consume him more than anything else. He often makes deep spiritual connections with the zoo animals his father has and the world and ideologies around him. It must be stated now because it's practically unavoidable, but this novel will force you to think (and to think critically at that). At one of the more amusing parts of the novel, Pi becomes a Christian, Hindu, and Muslim all at the same time due to his curiosity of each religion. He doesn't understand the contradiction that these three pose to each other, but rather, views them as all parts of a unified God.

 If anything, this work is intending to explore the existence of God and the multifarious religions and worldviews that saturate this world. Pi attempts to synthesize these parts into something he can understand which is what makes the novel so fascinating. He isn't a boy searching for one Utopian religion or something to unify the world, but just trying to figure out his own life.

It's interesting that I chose two works to read that so closely compliment, yet contradict, each other. I'm of course referring to Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, where the novella seems to be a very nihilistic and naturalistic look at life. The Old Man who plays the protagonist in Hemingway's work, views the events occurring around him as "just happening", because the universe is indifferent to man and on the whole, cares not for his existence. As for Pi and his boat, there is a reason and harmony to why he is in his situation. He looks for a God and tries to understand Him. It's a journey that reflects our own lives so clearly that the reader can't help but see a small part of him in Pi.

There is far more to the work than just spirituality if that's what the reader's tentative of. Though the philosophy is one that is filled with spiritual notions, there are plenty of other characters and moments that examine other outlooks on life. There is something in this novel for everyone from the apathetic Christian to the devout Atheist, and is still worth investing in.

-- Zach