Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Religion: In the story, the narrator has this to say about agnosticism: "To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation." Agnosticism, in the religious sense, refers to the belief that knowledge of the existence of a god or gods is impossible. This belief allows people to answer one of the big questions - is there a god? - with the wonderfully noncommittal, "I don't know." On one hand, I think there are quite a few people in America who subscribe to this view, and yet on the other hand, I can see how this belief system seems like straddling the fence, aka covering your ass. And of course, Martel's view that doubt merely incapacitates a person is valid as well.

Madness: "All living things contain a measure of madness that moves them in a strange, sometimes inexplicable ways. This madness can be saving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it, no species would survive." Rejoice in the madness, and recognize that the path to insanity is short.

Death: "Oncoming death is terrible enough, but worse still is oncoming death with time to spare, time in which all the happiness that was yours and all the happiness that might have been yours becomes clear to you." Something about this idea really sticks with me. I would think that the second part is what must cause the most pain for someone on the edge of death. The happiness we have had is what, to my mind, would make death easier. If we have lived a good life, and we remember it, we can better accept our death. But the thought of everything we are losing out on because of death, that's the rub. It is the loss of the future rather than the past which pains.

The concept of death is brought up in this story in an entirely different way as well. Pi survives a boat wreck and is forced into a terrifying, physically and mentally exhausting, increasingly dangerous situation. Pi was always drawn out of his despair, however, by thinking of his family, not the memory of, but rather "of how they were spared this terrible agony." Would it have been better for Pi if he had died in the wreck? Was Pi's survival actually a curse?

Life: "A castaway's worst mistake is to hope too much and do too little." Castaway can be replaced with the nicely generic person. I immediately thought of religious people, and this wonderful joke about the lottery I was recently told.

"So this guy is really wanting to win the lottery. Every single day, he prays to God, PLEASE let me win the lottery, God. PLEASE. I'll give you half the money. Shoot, I'll give you MOST of the money! I just want to pay off my debt, maybe move into a new house, you know. Please God, let me win. And he prays like this daily, sometimes multiple times a day, for weeks....then months....Month after month the man is praying to win the lottery, still no results. The man was starting to lose faith, but he kept faithful. A year went by, 2 years...3 years went by and the man was still praying, but by not he was very frustrated. He prayed to God and said "Lord! I thought you said whatever we ask in your name would be granted to us! Why haven't I won the lottery!?"

And God thundered back...


"Buy a ticket."

The quote and the joke = absolutely perfect. People hope and pray and wish and do nothing. How does that help?

An excellent read.

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