In the words of Gandhi, “The essence of all religions is one. It's just that their approaches are different." In the story Life of Pi, Pi Patel personally experiences different aspects of four religions including Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. The author, Yann Martel, promotes the concept of believing in more than one religion by exemplifying the diversity within each faith. The obvious motif of religion plays a major factor in Pi's life; however the author chooses not to focus on a specific religion but instead imposes a glorification of multiple religions. Martel creates a main character who is a curious young boy who decides to learn about Christianity, Hinduism and Islam at the same time. Even though Pi is primarily Hindu, he has insight into the conception of religion as “more than [mere] rite and ritual” (Martel 48). Pi's insight into religion opens his mind to more options than limiting himself to just one. Unlike the traditional standards of Pi's society, he chooses to explore different religions in his community. His exploration helps him realize that "we are all born...in limbo, without religion, until some figure introduces us to God..." (Martel 47). Pi is acknowledging the idea that religion is a lifestyle choice that people make by deciding the morals by which they will live their lives. Along with understanding life structured through religion, Pi discovers the freedom of being able to celebrate different religions at the same time. As he reflects on his religious background, having grown up Hindu, he finds it important to “not [cling]!” or focusing “on fundamentalism and literalism!” (Hammer 49). Pi thinks that religion is meaningful because of the followers who believe in it. Without faith, religion is nothing, so make... the center of the card... the love found in everyone. This goal is extremely important to Pi because of his desire to find “a relationship with God [that is] personal and loving” (Martel 61). In conclusion, Martel creates Pi with such ambitious characteristics and describes all religions this way because he wants to highlight the importance of each religion and how they balance each other. A religious person spends their life building morals specific to their religion. . In Pi's situation, he focuses on the beauty of more than just one religion to expand his mind and lifestyle. Therefore, Martel creates a character with such a unique personality to compare and contrast different forms of faith in order to convey to readers a message about the beauty of religious diversity. Works Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.