Life of Pi

Pi continues to struggle with clerical interpretations of religion as well as his own family’s perception of Pi’s spiritual affinities. Pi opines on small-minded defenders of religion who constantly polemicize about incorrect practice without self-introspection or human empathy. He describes the clerical relationship to God as defined by “depravity” and anger (71). His discomfort with narrow-mindedness and what he perceives as spiritual depravity forces him to visit Hindu temples during the busiest hours to avoid reproach from orthodox Brahmins. Similarly, his father is embarrassed when Pi says he prays out of love for God, while his mother tries to divert Pi’s attention away from religion to books such as Robinson Crusoe, or the works of Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, and R.K. Narayan.

One day, during a conversation between his father and mother on how Pi’s religious zeal contradicts their image as a modern Indian family, Pi’s father comments on Indira Gandhi’s State of Emergency. Pi’s father struggles to reconcile his notion of progress and modernity with the harsh repression of the Indira Gandhi government. Pi’s father is greatly affected by this political turmoil and the dictatorial turn in India. The crackdown on constitutional freedoms compromises the family’s financial security, eventually forcing them to relocate to Canada.