George W. Bush once said, “I think you can judge by someone's actions a kind of stability and sense of purpose perhaps created by strong religious roots. I mean, there's a certain patience, a certain discipline, I think, that religion helps you achieve” (“Religion”). This quote means that religion can influence people in their attitudes in daily life and help them achieve success in life. The novel Life of Pi by Yann Martel portrays the importance of religion and helps the protagonist of the story, Piscine Molitor Patel or Pi, survive during 227 days of hardship and suffering at sea after a shipwreck. He encounters so many afflictions at sea, and time after time, his faith is tested. Pi is able to survive because he is able to create a deep relationship with God. Furthermore, Pi's eternal hope and faith in God allow him to survive all trials. Therefore, religion plays an important role in helping Pi overcome all his sufferings and finally be saved, although it is undeniable that reason or science also plays its role. By establishing a close relationship with God, Pi is able to endure his difficult moments at sea. Relationship means “the way two people or two groups feel about and behave toward each other” (“Relationship”). Pi is left alone with Richard Parker, an adult Royal Bengal tiger in the tarpaulin. The presence of the tiger is seen as a symbolic presence and figure of God. At a certain point in the story, in India, his father teaches Pi to fear tigers. This means that Pi should fear God. At sea, even if he moves away from the tarpaulin and stays in the raft, he still ties his raft to the tarpaulin where Richard Parker is. This is because Pi knows he has…half the card…and once said, “Religion is a matter of the heart. No physical discomfort can justify abandoning one's religion” (“Religion”). Works Cited “Faith”. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English. 7th ed. Oxford: OxfordUP, 2005. 527. Print.Good News Bible: with deuterocanonical/Apocryphal books. [Mumbai]: St. Pauls, 2001.Print."Hope." Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English. 7th ed. Oxford: OxfordUP, 2005. 720. Print.Martel, Yann. Life of Pi: A Novel. Edinburgh: Canongate, 2008. Print."Prayer Secret No. 1: Your Personal Relationship with God." Bible-Knowledge.com. nd Web.23 March 2011."Relationship: definition from the Longman English dictionary online." Longman English Dictionary Online. nd Web. March 23, 2011. "Religious Quotes - BrainyQuote." Famous Quotes on BrainyQuote. nd Web. March 23. 2011.