Pi's Life Questions

Who knew that being stranded in a boat with a tiger in the middle of the ocean could have such a huge philosophical impact on someone? Well actually, now that I think about it, it TOTALLY makes sense.

For me at least, and not to get too preachy, I find that experiences which could technically make you doubt there is a God (huge tragedies, obstacles in life) actually do the opposite and make you closer to Him (or closer to a cosmic force, whatever you want to call it).

Living in a world where there are so many different types of beliefs and cultures, so many differing points of view and religions (which is great! It's awesome that we live in a society where people feel safe enough to express their own beliefs) it might take some people a bit of time to figure out what they personally believe in.

Obviously, we're all entitled to go through phases of doubt - doubt of a God, doubt of chance, doubt of oneself. Just like Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he asks God to "take this cup" from him, talking about the burden of his impending crucifixion and when he calls out "God, why have you forsaken me?" while on the cross, we see that even the Son of God doubted his own Father's existence. (YES! All my Sunday School days have FINALLY paid off!)

And just like Yann Martel said, we must all go through our own Garden of Gethsemane, our own night of anguish and sorrow, of dread and burden. But we can't give up there, because once you get through the worst of that, you will resurrect, be born again. Maybe not in the literal way (I mean of course unless you happen to be God's son, that's cool then) but at least in an emotional way. You get a brand new perspective and a new lease on life. You become a stronger person, knowing that you made it through so much and came out okay.

Just to have faith in something is by itself, an incredible thing. To have blind faith in something you can't prove no matter how hard you try (even for atheists, you can't prove everything in science) says a lot. Which is why I don't necessarily agree with what Pi says about agnostics. Though they don't believe in anything and simply doubt everything, that's an incredibly personal choice and what one believes should be respected even if you yourself don't agree.

But his words seem to be a base of what the rest of the book is about - doubt and then rebirth. When you're almost at the point of giving up, and then being saved. Of having to faith to believing there must have been something to help you stay alive. If you're on a boat, you have no choice BUT to believe in something because if you don't believe in anything, you will die. At least if you have faith in something, you have hope that you will live which could actually be the one thing that lets you survive. Hope and faith are very powerful things.

"For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible."

- Stuart Chase