Faith In Yann Martel's Life Of Pi

C.S. Lewis once described faith as “the art of holding onto things your reason has once accepted, in spite of your changing moods.” This concept of faith is repeatedly tested throughout Yann Martel’s novel, The Life of Pi, which follows the life of Piscine Patel, or Pi for short. The book begins by following Pi’s diverse experiences in his hometown of Pondicherry, India, and later delves into his arduous journey of being stranded at sea for 227-days alongside an adult Bengal tiger. From his time in Pondicherry to the end of his seemingly ceaseless time at sea, he is faced with many troublesome dilemmas and life-threatening situations, all of which try the vitality of his faith and his will to live. Through the story of Pi’s life, Martel shows
Throughout the 227 days that Pi is stranded at sea, he repeatedly turns to his deep faith in God to comfort him and help him get through the journey. He says, “So long as God is with me, I will not die”(148). Most of Pi’s time in the lifeboat is spent performing rituals and prayers to keep himself busy, which is one of the pivotal reasons he had the motivation to make it to Mexico where he was rescued. However, as Pi nears the middle of his journey, he periodically starts to doubt the imperative belief that God is with him. Throughout these spells of ambiguity he tries to remind himself of his faith in any way he can, but concludes that, “God's hat was always unravelling. God's pants were falling apart. God's cat was a constant danger. God's ark was a jail. God's wide acres were slowly killing me. God's ear didn't seem to be listening. Despair was a heavy blackness that let no light in or out. It was a hell beyond expression”(209). Doubting his faith takes a large toll on Pi’s optimistic outlook on survival. The foreboding thoughts, which he had pushed away, come through once again and tell him to give up; However each time this doubting mindset catches him off guard, something else reminds him that he needs to hold onto his faith to continue on. Pi says, “The blackness would stir and eventually go away, and God would remain, a shining point of light in my heart. I would go on loving”(209). By doubting God, Pi begins to lose his will to live, which is detrimental to his chances for survival; however Pi’s faith always finds a way to push through to him, and right when he starts believing in God again, his despair evaporates, and his hope returns. If it was not for the strong belief that God was with him throughout his adversities, the doubts in his mind would have taken over before he could have made it back to