Yaan Martel
Spirituality in the Author
Yaan Martel had a very interesting life, and its not surprising he was able to write such a deep and spiritual piece. Martel was born in Spain to his two French Canadian parents. His parents possessed a very deep wanderlust that they apparently passed on to Martel as he became his own person. Yaan Martel was raised and grew up in Costa Rica, France, Mexico, and Canada. He went to high school in Port Hope Ontario. As an adult, Martel has spent time in Iran, Turkey and India. He studied philosophy at Trent University. Following his graduation Martel spent 13 months in India feeding his curiosity by visiting mosques, churches, temples and zoos. He was also always deeply interested in religion and spent two years reading religious texts and castaway stories to prepare Life of Pi. He now lives in Saskatoon Canada.
Yaan Martel had a very interesting life, and its not surprising he was able to write such a deep and spiritual piece. Martel was born in Spain to his two French Canadian parents. His parents possessed a very deep wanderlust that they apparently passed on to Martel as he became his own person. Yaan Martel was raised and grew up in Costa Rica, France, Mexico, and Canada. He went to high school in Port Hope Ontario. As an adult, Martel has spent time in Iran, Turkey and India. He studied philosophy at Trent University. Following his graduation Martel spent 13 months in India feeding his curiosity by visiting mosques, churches, temples and zoos. He was also always deeply interested in religion and spent two years reading religious texts and castaway stories to prepare Life of Pi. He now lives in Saskatoon Canada.
Pi (Piscine) Patel
Spirituality in the protagonist
In the novel, spirituality represents itself in the everyday. Ordinary, everyday activities claim a level of spiritual intensity. The protagonist often describes how the animals engage their surroundings with an almost yogic discipline. Pi also grows up with an obsession with religion. A large part of the novel is about faith and religion because it played such a large part in the main character's life. Of course, this is not to say spirituality is just fun and games. Intense suffering and duress actually bring out the protagonist's spiritual insights. In fact, if it weren't for the protagonist's suffering, spirituality might have a more limited role in the novel.
In the novel, spirituality represents itself in the everyday. Ordinary, everyday activities claim a level of spiritual intensity. The protagonist often describes how the animals engage their surroundings with an almost yogic discipline. Pi also grows up with an obsession with religion. A large part of the novel is about faith and religion because it played such a large part in the main character's life. Of course, this is not to say spirituality is just fun and games. Intense suffering and duress actually bring out the protagonist's spiritual insights. In fact, if it weren't for the protagonist's suffering, spirituality might have a more limited role in the novel.
Quotes from thr novel
"I am not one given to projecting human traits and emotions onto animals, but many a time during that month in Brazil, looking up at sloths in repose, I felt I was in the presence of upside-down yogis deep in meditation or hermits deep in prayer, wise beings whose intense imaginative lives were beyond the reach of my scientific probing." (1.1.7)
This quote is a demonstration of the pay that Pi is always thinking about the world around him and searching for meaning in things. Pi often sees a deep spirituality in the animal world. Even though science leads Pi to these discoveries, it doesn't quite explain them. Pi needs religion and imagination to guide him into the spiritual lives of other beings.
"A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day. "(1.16.1)
Pi Patel embraces all aspects of the world. For some, a germ of religious exaltation would mean conversion to a particular religion. For Pi, such a germ means multiple religions and an all-encompassing faith. He can't get enough of faith, so he adds one religion after another.
Throughout his journey, Pi practices religious rituals — "solitary Masses without priests or consecrated Communion hosts, darshans without murtis, and pujas with turtle meat for prasad, acts of devotion for Allah not knowing where Mecca was and getting my Arabic wrong." But these provide a stay against despair and loneliness and his grief for his lost family. The worst enemy is fear. Without faith Pi's survival on the raft would have been impossible. It was his deep spirituality that kept him sane and kept him alive.