Life of Pi
Life of Pi: Why Faith and Reason Are Not Mutually Exclusive
Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee, puts two schools of thought in direct competition: the objective sciences and religion.
Before you continue reading, please understand that the next several paragraphs contain major spoilers that are necessary for analysis.
The movie begins with a grown Indian man named Pi who uses his childhood stories to try to convince an atheist into believing in God. Pi describes the time he and his family needed to move from India to Canada via a Japanese freighter. The freighter was shipwrecked and teenage Pi, along with some zoo animals, were the only ones to get on a life boat and survive. On the boat, Pi witnessed a hyena kill a zebra and then an orangutan. But a tiger jumped out and killed the hyena, leaving Pi alone with the tiger.
Older Pi discusses how he and the tiger began to develop a relationship which helped them to miraculously survive a 227 day long journey out in the middle of the Atlantic. Both of them were able to live alongside each other and survive through completely unbelievable means.
First, Pi began to realize the tiger had a soul, almost as if it were a person he could depend on emotionally. Then, Pi found morale by finding ways to connect and live with the tiger. The audience can only believe this was how Pi survived only if they have “faith” in these stories.
When Pi eventually reached the shores of Mexico, Japanese men from the freighter corporation asked him how he survived. Pi told them he overcame death because of his emotional tie with the tiger. The tiger allowed him to grow as a person, and by doing so, allowed him to continue living. The men were in absolute disbelief. They couldn’t believe an animal kept a boy alive for such a long time. They instead asked for the “truth.”
Pi then personified the hyena, the orangutan, and the zebra. They represented a human chef, sailor, and mother. In the story, the chef killed the sailor and then the
Life of Pi, directed by Ang Lee, puts two schools of thought in direct competition: the objective sciences and religion.
Before you continue reading, please understand that the next several paragraphs contain major spoilers that are necessary for analysis.
The movie begins with a grown Indian man named Pi who uses his childhood stories to try to convince an atheist into believing in God. Pi describes the time he and his family needed to move from India to Canada via a Japanese freighter. The freighter was shipwrecked and teenage Pi, along with some zoo animals, were the only ones to get on a life boat and survive. On the boat, Pi witnessed a hyena kill a zebra and then an orangutan. But a tiger jumped out and killed the hyena, leaving Pi alone with the tiger.
Older Pi discusses how he and the tiger began to develop a relationship which helped them to miraculously survive a 227 day long journey out in the middle of the Atlantic. Both of them were able to live alongside each other and survive through completely unbelievable means.
First, Pi began to realize the tiger had a soul, almost as if it were a person he could depend on emotionally. Then, Pi found morale by finding ways to connect and live with the tiger. The audience can only believe this was how Pi survived only if they have “faith” in these stories.
When Pi eventually reached the shores of Mexico, Japanese men from the freighter corporation asked him how he survived. Pi told them he overcame death because of his emotional tie with the tiger. The tiger allowed him to grow as a person, and by doing so, allowed him to continue living. The men were in absolute disbelief. They couldn’t believe an animal kept a boy alive for such a long time. They instead asked for the “truth.”
Pi then personified the hyena, the orangutan, and the zebra. They represented a human chef, sailor, and mother. In the story, the chef killed the sailor and then the