Quote 4
I was giving up. I would have given up – if a voice hadn't made itself heard in my heart. The voice said, "I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine. The amazing will be seen every day. I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen." (2.53.5)
Each day Pi survives is a miracle. We watch as Pi's daily routine of survival takes on the quality of spiritual exercises like prayer or fasting. His feasts, especially turtle blood, become sacramental. The everyday – at least if you're on a lifeboat for 227 days – is miraculous.
Quote 5
"Praise be to Allah, Lord of All Worlds, the Compassionate, the Merciful, Ruler of Judgment Day!" I muttered. To Richard Parker I shouted, "Stop your trembling! This is miracle. This is an outbreak of divinity. This is...this is..." I could not find what it was, this thing so vast and fantastic. (2.85.6)
Lightning has just struck the ocean. It is fantastic. One infinite thing – the sky – has come in contact with the seemingly infinite ocean. Earlier, Pi describes (see Themes: Religion 1.16.48) the way the divine in humans seeks the divine in nature. He gets giddy about the connection between the spiritual force within him touching the spiritual force of God, which is expressed in animals, trees, or a handful of earth. We're not sure Richard Parker is as amused.
[Pi:] "The arrogance of you big-city folk! You grant your metropolises all the animals of Eden, buy you deny my hamlet the merest Bengal tiger!"
[Mr. Okamoto:] "Mr. Patel, please calm down."
[Pi:] "If you stumble at mere believability, what are you living for? Isn't love hard to believe?"
[Mr. Okamoto:] "Mr. Patel – "
[Pi:] "Don't you bully me with your politeness! Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?" (3.99.109-113)
Pi loves to argue with Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba (well, mainly with Mr. Okamoto). Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba doubt Pi's story, which really insults Pi. In response, Pi asserts one of the guiding principles of his life. The most beautiful and important experiences are "hard to believe," but that doesn't mean they're illusions. Love and God are hard to believe. The existence of human beings also seems like a miracle. Whether or not Mr. Okamoto and Mr. Chiba agree with the rest of what Pi says, Pi's own existence – at this point – is a miracle.