I have now come to the point where I can no longer skirt the issue. I have had so much to say about Life of Pi up until this point that I could tuck this in the back of my mind and spew out everything else but. The time has come, my friends, for me to take the plunge and plumb the depths in which the greatest social commentary of this novel lies: religion. Oh how carefully I have avoided this until now. Pourquoi? Parce-que discussing a theme so vast, so ancient, and so boundless in it's manifestations as religion is asking for trouble. Indeed, humanity's great (and yet so minuscule) history is pock-marked by the troubles of religion. And that is not in anyway meant to sound as if I believe that religion is the cause of, or is to blame for the world's trials and tribulations, if you'll excuse the expression, but we can not deny the profound and most penetrating influence of humans' religion (and lack thereof) on our existence. Unfortunately for the atheists of the world, religion, in this most general sense, affects every aspect of human life: social, cultural, philosophical, economical, political, psychological and ecumenical.
Most normal human beings would be lucky to be able to recite that sentence with appropriate diction much less begin to dissect these fundamental aspects of humanity in terms of their religion. However, there is hope for my apologia! Fear not!
Humanity is so indescribably blessed by the existence of Individuals. More to the point, I am blessed with one in particular: Pi Patel.
...to be continued
I found this to be a struggle of mine as well- that is not delving into the religious debate that also pervades many conflicts in my novel; mainly the conflict between the various groups in India; Hindus, Muslims, etc. It is no wonder that this is such a pervading theme in Canadian-lit when every one of us has come from a different part of the globe to create Canadian identity amongst its citizens. Just as multiculturalism can define Canada, perhaps the nature of religion and its multi faceted existence also defines and separates us as individuals in this fair nation. Something to consider....
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