Essay Essays (1935 words) - Films, Creative Works, Religion

Almis Mohamed Ms. Jessop ENG4U1-15 June 3, 2019 Night and Life of Pi Theme Comparison Religion is an abstract concept that can often push a person forward and motivate them to survive. However, during hardships or times of injustice, one's faith can either be strengthened or lost. Elie's struggles are communal, and his entire Jewish community is suffering, where Pi has individual struggles that he overcomes with what he thinks is help from God. In Night , traumatizing experiences make Elie lose his faith in his God, and he soon abandons his faith in his religion. Elie once used to be a pious Jew, but that changes throughout the story as he faces different challenges and sees inhumane acts committed, which leads him to question the existence of God. In Life of Pi , events that occur such as the rainstorm, makes Pi think that God is watching over him and giving him a helping hand as he faces these unfortunate events. Instead of questioning God's existence, Pi thinks of hardships as God testing his faith, and how strong he is spiritually. Religion is one of the main themes that is portrayed in each book, and is a factor which plays a key role in each of the protagonists development. Both books have various signs from God, which leads the protagonists to suffering, that then alters their belief in their religion. One topic that is shown in Night and Life of Pi , is that the protagonists take certain events as signs from God. One difference between Elie and Pi, are their reactions to events that happen in their stories. In Night , when the infants are being thrown into the fire, Elie interprets it as God abandoning them, and he sees no signs of God, because he believes that a true God would be giving justice towards the Jews. The Jewish community suffers from seeing these acts of injustice, and when Elie sees his community suffering, it lowers his belief in God. "I do not deny God's existence, but I doubt his absolute justice" (Wiesel, 42). Elie interprets this as God not caring for the Jews, therefore not helping or giving them the justice they deserve. This lowers his faith in his religion and he starts to question God's existence because he sees his community struggling and receiving no help. Similarly, when Elie's dad is ill and the life in his eyes are gone, Elie takes it as a sign that God is non-existent because he has shown no justice or mercy towards him. "I know I was no longer arguing with him, but with death itself, with death that he had already chosen" (Wiesel, 105). Elie thinks to himself that if God is real, he would not cause so much suffering without justice. Elie's dad is the only family he has left, so when God takes his dad's life away, he takes it as a sign that God no longer cares about him and has left him. His reaction to these events lead him to believe that God is not real, which makes him lose faith in his religion, and the communal suffering leads him to further question God's existence. In Life of Pi, Pi also experiences signs from God, but he interprets them differently. In Life of Pie , Pi suffers individually, which makes him interpret certain events as signs from God, rather than just coincidences. When the rainstorm hits, Pi takes it as a sign that God is testing him through this hardship. However, the rainstorm is also a sign of God's mercy because it provides Pi with clean drinking water for him and Richard Parker, as well as providing them with fish, helping Pi survive."You reach a point where you're at the bottom of hell, yet you have your arms crossed and a smile on your face, and you feel you're the luckiest person on earth. Why? Because at your feet you have a tiny dead fish" (Martel, 217). This shows that Pi even during times of suffering, is thankful for what God has given him. Pi thinks that God is going to help him through his journey by answering his prayers, which strengthens his faith