The “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel  is a grueling story of a teenage boy’s journey, both religious and survival. He is the son of a zookeeper, so he has developed a love and curiosity for animals. On top of that, he was born into a strict religious household that practices Hinduism, except he also liked to explore other religions such as Christianity and Islam. His family was not fond of this but Pi didn’t care. During a trip to Canada by ship a storm rolled in, causing the ship to sink. This is where Pi’s journey begins, as he is trapped, by himself, on a small lifeboat with no food or water and four zoo animals. After a long journey he reaches land. The island reached towards the end of the story is a representation of heaven.

Religions can be very different but have some sort of parallel. One of the ideas that overlap between the religions Pi believes in is Purgatory. This idea is a physical state after death that happens before going to heaven. It is a state of suffering in order to expiate sins to become cleansed or purified. In the story, the beginning of purgatory can be seen after the sinking of the ship and once Pi gets aboard the lifeboat. On the lifeboat Pi goes through a taxing journey where he goes through a lot of suffering. Towards the end of the lifeboat journey he “had so little strength [he] could barely stand,” he was enduring the suffering (Martel 241). He had also become very depleted, “[his] skin was burnt. [his] shriveled muscles ached. [his] limbs, especially [his] feet, were swollen and a constant source of pain” (Martel 241). The continuous pain shows the purgatory suffering while he tried to reach heaven or in this case land. Once the purgatory journey and suffering is over and purification is complete, heaven can be reached. This is when Pi sees an island in the distance and he knew his suffering was over.

Heaven can look different to everyone, but it is a place where things flourish. It is a place of peace and beauty. People that are free of sin are able to reach heaven. In this story Pi becomes free of sin while on the lifeboat and then he is able to reach heaven which is the island. When he arrives on the island he looks around to see “the leaves were brilliantly green, a green so bright and emerald,” he was stunned by the sight (Martel 256-257). Not only was the island beautiful, it provided many resources for Pi to renourish himself. He had all the resources he needed and more than he expected. While he explored the island he found “an abundance of food and water and so much space,” which he used to get into good health (Martel 273). On top of those resources he had “fishing gear and solar stills,” providing access to even more resources (Martel 304). The island resembled heaven with its enchanting beauty and unlimited resources. It was the place of healing that Pi reached after he became pure through the purgatory. 

However, with all of this being said, towards the end of the story Pi does something that many don’t understand. With some long thought and after realization set in, Pi decided to leave the island or heaven. Why would Pi do such a thing? He had all the resources he could ever need and it was an absolute stunning island. Why would Pi leave? Well, Pi was not ready to enter heaven, he wasn’t done with the challenge he had been given. He wants to continue to fight and not settle for heaven just yet. Now this poses a real question, with endless resources and unseen beauty, why do some people not rush to go to heaven?