Thinking back to childhood, children sat in a circle around their teacher to listen to stories, fables, and fairy tales. These narratives distanced children from reality and hid them from the ugliness of mankind, while at the same time teaching morals and values. Furthermore, many of these stories subtly disguised true human nature in characters with such innocence that children were never aware of humankind's capabilities. These stories provided guidance to children with dreams for the future. They provided meaning and one of the most important feelings; Hope. Ultimately, the stories provided them with faith and good lessons to carry with them throughout their lives and perhaps even to teach their children. Similarly, storytelling has been lumped together with religion since stories are one of the most important parts in understanding and practicing a religion. These aspects of storytelling and religion are explored in a novel written by Yann Martel, Life of Pi. Life of Pi is the story of a teenage Indian boy named Piscine, or Pi, who becomes stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean after a shipwreck. . As he incredibly manages to survive against the rebellious forces of nature and the loneliness he feels, Pi experiences growth as a person, from a child to a young adult. In addition to exploring the true nature of humankind, Life of Pi explores the deeper meanings of fiction and narratives, as well as the conceptual components of truth within them. Religion and the act of telling stories both play a vital role in Life of Pi as they give the protagonist meaning, direction, purpose, and other essential virtues in life. In the novel, narrative essentially fulfills the same purpose as religion, conferring these virtues. Many people in society get worse...middle of paper...wouldn't have survived without him. As children, our parents and teachers read to us, tell us stories, tell us fairy tales and more fairy tales. This is done to teach children the morals of human behavior. There is always a lesson in a story, that's why stories are told. There's always something to take away from that story. In religion it is more or less the same thing. Stories are told to answer previously unanswered questions and for spiritual fulfillment. Both the narrative act and religion provide, so to speak, food for the imagination. They also provide people with meaning, direction, purpose, hope, faith, and guidance, as shown in Life of Pi. Storytelling and religion allow you to use your imagination and believe in something better, something different from reality, and give faith and hope. Works Cited Martel, Yann. Life of Pi. New York: Harcourt, 2001. Print.