Hey look, a human! And hey! Is that a....tiger?

In Life of Pi, author Yann Martel presents the readers with Pi, a sensitive, intelligent, and thoughtful young man who is thrown into the most impossible of situations. When reading the novel in a time of religious turmoil and rejection, it’s especially interesting to bear witness to Pi’s unwavering devoutness for several religions. His beliefs give the illusion that he is a young man who does not get cut by the rough edges in the world. After he becomes lost at sea, however, Pi changes in his essence; he is still reflective and bright, but he becomes a raw human being, filled with fear and driven by instinct. He is no longer a naïve, idealist but instead a realist struggling for survival. Pi represents many levels of humanity, from his strong faith to his curious nature to his fighting instinct. Pi’s faith and strength are put to the test on the boat and his true humanity is revealed. He is not only a thoughtful philosopher but also a tactful fighter. His faith and thought turn toward his innate human

Throughout the novel, Pi’s faith in religion and his focus on different types of beliefs stay with him as he perseveres through his adventure. While he is still in Pondicherry, Pi has already firmly discovered his diverse religious convictions. He believes in beautiful combination of Hinduism, Christianity, and Islam, practicing each despite objections from his faith leaders and parents. This type of faith makes Pi seem idealistic and, to a certain extent, naïve. Once on the boat, though, Pi needs his faith to give him hope of survival, though he admits that by the time he arrives in Mexico, he almost had lost faith that God was protecting him. He also develops two other important faiths outside of religion on the boat—faith in himself and faith in Richard Parker. Upon deciding to try to “train” Richard Parker, Pi has to bring himself to believe that he can safely and effectively train the tiger, despite the danger. Later, while he prepares to leave the killer island, Pi also chooses to take Richard Parker with him on the boat, even though leaving him would remove him from any danger from the animal. He has to have faith that he can control and coexist with Richard Parker. Once he is exposed to the mortal danger on the boat, Pi is pushed to question his faith in God and to open his mind to other kinds of faith that can also help him survive.

Whether in mortal danger or not, it is obvious that Pi is a thoughtful and bright person. Before he is stranded on the boat, however, Pi’s thoughts are consumed by religion and animals—simplistic subjects. Once on the boat, his reflections change to something very different, how to survive. His first challenge comes when he has to retrieve the emergency supplies from the lower deck of the life boat without being lunch for Richard Parker. Later, after he decides that his best chance of survival is to train the tiger, he must use his knowledge to devise a plan to gain control of it. Pi’s new brilliance for survival outdoes itself when he is on the killer island. He perceptively notices the irregular behavior of the animals around the island and in a truly impressive moment of clarity, he deduces the danger on the island, in that it can, in essence, eat things. On the boat, Pi has to use his intelligence, once used to ponder the universe, just to survive. While Pi, from the narrator perspective, reflects on his fear, he uses his intellect as a survival tool while at sea. He morphs his idealistic intellect into a tool for survival in the face of danger.

When the reader first meets Pi in Pondicherry, he is a young man with a thirst for understanding animals, religion, and the connectedness of the world. He has obvious gifts of intelligence and unbreakable faith too an idealistic instead. When he is thrown onto the lifeboat and into his voyage, Pi’s priorities change and his new priority becomes survival. His gifts change from talents that feed his idealism into tools that keep him alive and fighting. He becomes a raw young man who realizes and fights against the difficulties of his situation. His human essence is bared and he becomes a man and a survivor. (732)