Pi Religion Symbolism

Pi embraces three vastly different religions. He is a Hindu, yet he believes in God. He is a Muslim, yet he disregards one of the pillars of Islam (the Shahada, largely regarded as the most important pillar of the ancient religion, requires Muslims to accept Allah as their one and only deity), and he believes in the millions of Hindu gods. He is a Christian, yet he is also a follower of their biggest rival religion-- Islam. These three religions should not coexist peacefully, yet young Patel is able to observe all three with acceptance and with little internal strife. Pi actually sees these three religions as one and the same. He notes this fact when he says, “the Hindu...are indeed hairless Christians, just as Muslims...are bearded Hindus …show more content…
Perhaps this is where Pi’s lofty intelligence and willingness to accept multiple beliefs without bounds shows most. One of the best instances of symbolistic cohesion (symbolic cohesion) between these three religions is the moment in which Pi and his family are approached by the three wise men (each from their respective religion), and the three men mirror each other’s actions when they protest Pi’s tri-acceptance. This is symbolism because it closely represents how the three religions have a common goal and how they are more alike than they wish to think. Their immediate revulsion to doing the same action also closely represents the resentment that explodes when any of the religions clash because they want the same thing--think about the Holy Wars and Crusades (the battle for the holy city) . When Pi finds himself stranded in the middle of the ocean with only a tiger for companionship, he does not ask God or Allah for help, instead he faced his problems with reason and reality (although he does stay strong in his faith). He clearly finds solace in these three religions once he is saved. This can be seen in Martel’s description of Patel’s

Show More

Related Documents: Pi Religion Symbolism

Life Of Pi Rhetorical Analysis