Justifying Religion as the "better story" 

 

As we already know, Life of Pi strives to promotes believe in a "God" and also has many elements that embrace a religious plurism. However, what about the concept that Life of Pi uses its fiction tale as an aims to not only make you want to believe, but also justifying the concept and purpose of religion and pose it as the “better story.” As Pi puts its: "The world isn’t just the way it is. It is how we understand it, no?” (Chapter 99). What Pi is refering to is the way in which we interpret reality is our faith. This means that the believe in something, which is beyond the seen helps us deal with fear and ultimately helps us find a “better story.”

 

Everything about life is a story and we can choose, for the most part, our own story. Martel’s points out that the story that is more imaginative is the "better story", by clearly showing the ending. However, the reader is still given the choice whether Pi’s life is real-life fiction or imaginative fiction. The reader is given the somae choce as the two Japanese men, both receive two vrisions of the same story, the japanese men chose the vrision with the tiger, it is then up to the reader to make there decision. Pi feels that God prefers the better story as well as he responds to the officers, “And so it goes with God.”

 

Additionally, I want to explore how this motif of religious belief becoming the better story has been expressed in similar fictional stories. Specifically focusing in The Chronicles of Narnia series and how depicts a similar circumstance of justifying religion. A brief overview of The Chronicles of Narnia series of novels by CS Lewis, there are seven books all with different ideas and atmospheres, there is an over lap in with some characters appearing in multiple books and the series has been adapted into three films (2005, 2008, 2010).

 

It has been reasoned that there is a religious theme to the series, and as well animals are personified in great detail. There are many visual aspects that are paralleled in “The life of PI”. Richard parker is the big cat that Pi’s life is in balance with, where the Chronicles of Narnia has Aslan, the ruler and caretaker of the land. Where The Chronicles of Narnia is typically referred to as having solely Christian undertones, perhaps it can aid us in the view of The Life of Pi. “Does the narrowing of religious themes to a single faith lessen their impact – or heighten them through an increased focus that avoids some of the theological ambiguity found in a text such as Life of Pi?” Source (35)

                                   

The stories allow for the audience to reach a clear understanding and permit the reader to embrace it hole heartedly. Some times the truth is too much and overwhelming, even if the same message is reached at the end.  By choosing the story version the reader can come to terms with their feelings and feel confident that they are making the correct choice. When animals are added to the story it adds an air of fantasy.  When Pi lands on a boat with a handful of animals that attack and kill each other and he survives alone with a tiger it is seen as a miracle, but when all the characters are human and the same situations of death and killing arises it is seen as horrific. People want to believe they are better then animals and do not want to harsh truth that is seen with the second version.

 

 The book, Life of Pi, leaves the reader with the task of deciding what story to believe is the truth or the better story, as many religious use stories to covey their messages the same is used here. The story leverages the use of animals, story telling, and fiction to suspend one from disbelief and attempt to justify religion by proposing it as a “better story".