Siddhartha tells the story of a man searching for peace; Life of Pi captivates the life of a boy trying to comprehend the world around him.
Both protagonists, Siddhartha and Piscine Patel, use a type of “guess-and-check” system while venturing through the world. Throughout his lifetime, Siddhartha is a Brahmin, Samana, businessman, and ferryman. Meanwhile Piscine as a young boy tries to follow three different religions at the same time. Looking at the world through different perspectives taught both Siddhartha and Pi how to live and understand life.In both works, Siddhartha and Pi are engulfed in emotion.
For example, in the chapter By the River in Siddhartha, the author states, “He felt he had thoroughly tasted and ejected a portion of sorrow, a portion of misery during those past times, that he had consumed them up to a point of despair and death…this moment of complete hopelessness and despair…ready to commit suicide. ” (Page 98) Through the years Siddhartha spent as a wealthy business man, he filled himself up with greed, sadness, and misery to the point in which he was ready to kill himself.Likewise, Pi is constantly frightened and troubled; at times he screamed at the sky saying he was ready to die. Pi is not only afraid of the death cruelty around him, but of himself as well.
Therefore, he uses his imagination to make a horrific situation better. After watching Life of Pi and reading Siddhartha, I began to think more about my religion and what it preaches. Since my parents have the most influence on my faith and actions, these works taught me how other cultures view and accept the world.For example, both works demonstrate that the journey to a destination teaches the most, not reaching the destination itself. Siddhartha once says to Govinda, “You, O worthy one, are perhaps indeed a seeker, for in striving towards your goal, you do not see many things that are under your nose. ” (Page 140) Similarly while Pi is lost at sea, he begins to accept the circumstances he is in and copes by using his imagination.
He does not try to sail to a particular place; instead, he lets the boat float. While drifting through the world, Pi and Siddhartha learned the importance of their faith.
