Authors note-This is my response to the book Life of Pi that we read in class. I combined the two prompts of all life is a story and there are no facts; all we do is based on belief. I chose both of them together because I think they share a similar theme.

How many times in a normal conversation would you say that you make up a story or tell a lie? This happens all of the time and we know it's only human. When you read a book or hear a story that is placed in the category of fiction it is really based on one thing; interpretation. The interpretation translates into important parts of real life, but life is nothing but another story considered Truth.

For most people religion is a huge part of life, and the religion you have or chose generally says a lot about you or your lifestyle. Pi's life in Life of Pi is greatly impacted by religion as he practices 3 religions; Christianity, Hinduism, and Muslimism. In the story Pi contemplates the thought of agnosticism, and disagrees with it because he believes it lacks faith and imagination that should be present in the stories told through the practice of religion. That shows just how much religion is stories. Some people may disagree, but in religion nothing is proven, it's all stories meant to be interpreted into something greater so the stories are just based on your belief.

Besides the stories of religion; Life of Pi is a story within a story. What you get out of the stories is all based on how you take it and what you believe. It was a little bit of a shock to find out that the Authors note was all made up. Why was it such a shock for it to be made up when after all it is a fiction book? It is a shock, because when someone tells you something like it is a fact, most people will believe it. Richard Parker, the tiger Pi sees throughout his journey, is just a figment of his imagination turned into another story.

Because everything is a story, what makes your life is what you choose to believe. How you choose to separate your beliefs from your doubts is part of what makes you, you. Stories are your whole life and that is why your interpretation and reaction to them is so important.

Is it Worth it?

Have you ever gotten caught up in so much pressure and felt like you needed to escape, to just go to another place for a little bit? If you have had this thought drugs could've possibly come into your mind as a solution. Even though they aren't a good choice many people fall into the trap of the addiction to drugs. Although when you take drugs you get a little chance to forget your problems, but once you come back to reality the pain is much greater and people want the happy place they go to back, which is part of why drugs become so addictive.


Pi's behavior is showing that he really isn't enjoying life right now and he feels it getting worse and worse for him, so he just wants to go into a different state of mind, leave the boat for a little bit, just forget about his problems. The trance he puts himself in when he uses the wet rag to put over his eyes gives him a way to do that and he goes to a place in his mind where all of his problems just go away. This is like a drug to him. It takes away his problems for a little bit, but the pain of having them back, thrown in your face once again, when you come back to reality creates great pain.

with pain comes equal pleasure. Therefore using drugs is not worth it, because in the end the pain will make up for the pleasure you got leaving no point in doing it in the first place. Pi's behavior is showing that he is starting to give up and loose hope. He tries to just forget about his problems and go to another place by using his trance. That is giving him the same effect that drugs would be and he would probably just be better off without it.