The recent atrocities in Paris precipitated by a group of Muslim terrorists led me to brood on the role of religion in human civilization. We believe in religion so that we may lead a pious life and make the world better through love and charity. No religion would instruct us to hate and kill others simply because their religious beliefs are different from ours.

Yet, history shows us that humans have persecuted and killed each other over religious creeds. During the Dark Ages, the Catholic Church executed countless people under the excuse of eliminating heathens and witches. During the Crusade, too, Christians and Muslims massacred each other over religious differences.

The terrorists in Paris were self-righteous and resentful. They must have thought they were absolutely right and all others were wrong. But stubborn self-righteousness and blind resentment can be dangerous and cause people to kill one another without hesitation or remorse. Experts tell us terrorists believe they will be rewarded in heaven for killing Allah’s enemies. If it is true, this is not religion. This is terrorism.

A few days ago, I watched the movie “Life of Pi” on TV one more time. To me, it was like a modern day version of E. M. Forster’s “A Passage to India,” only the other way around, for the former depicts a voyage from India to the West. While “A Passage to India” portrays the complex relationship between the colonizer and the colonized, “Life of Pi” touches upon an Indian boy’s painful realization of the meaning of his voyage to the West. When his father proudly announces their journey to Canada, saying, “We will sail like Columbus,” Pi retorts, “But Columbus sailed to find India.” To this thought-provoking, hilarious response, his father has no answer.

While watching “Life of Pi,” I came to realize that India is a suitable symbol of the cultural diversity we all need to embrace in order to make a better world. Ostensibly, India may seem to be Hindu country. In reality, India is a land where temples, mosques and churches abound, and where Hindus, Muslims and Christians peacefully coexist. This diversity extends to language as well; Indians speak languages of Indo-Aryan origin, Dravidian languages and other languages. At school, English is the official language.

Canada, too, is a land of diversity with various ethnic population and multinational enterprises. Canada’s new cabinet, which has people from truly diverse backgrounds including Canadians of Indian origin, is worth mentioning as well. Thus, it is highly symbolic that Pi, who seeks diversity, journeys from India to Canada.

Throughout the movie, “Life of Pi” emphasizes the importance of diversity. For example, Pi is a Hindu, a Catholic and a Muslim all rolled into one. He learns belief from Hinduism, love from Christianity and brotherhood from Islam. In the movie, Pi remarks, “Faith is a house with many rooms.” Why, then, do we stick to only one room? 

There are numerous other symbolic settings in the movie that celebrate diversity. “Life of Pi” is an account of a young Indian boy with a French name, who sails from India to Canada on a Japanese ship. Four countries and four ethnic backgrounds are involved in Pi’s journey to the West. Even the name Pi signifies never-ending, infinite possibilities in math.

Another anecdote on diversity is related to food. On the ship bound for Canada, the mean French chef refuses to give vegetarian food to Pi’s parents. He bluntly retorts that since cows eat only plants, Pi’s parents might as well eat beef with gravy. While the chef is a mean guy, refusing to respect culinary diversity, there is sarcasm in his remarks as well: “Why stick to only one thing? Ultimately, they are all the same, after all.”

After the ship is wrecked by a deadly storm, Pi is left stuck in a small boat with a ferocious tiger named Richard Parker. At first, he thinks of the tiger as a threat. Gradually, however, Pi realizes that the tiger is his companion on a perilous journey. Later he recollects, “The fierce tiger kept me alive.” He also realizes that he too has a beast inside himself.

Nothing is fixed and everything is blurry in the movie. For example, between Pi and the tiger, who is the hunter and who is the hunted? We cannot be sure. Even the tiger bears a human name, Richard Parker. When a clerk makes a mistake by switching the hunter’s name with the hunted, the movie deliberately allows the collapse of all boundaries and defies binary oppositions. Even Pi’s story may not be the absolute Truth because the absolute Truth can easily degenerate into a dogma.

While watching “Life of Pi,” I thought about the contemporary Korean society that is sharply divided into two antagonistic factions, each condemning the other as “pro-Japan” or “pro-North Korea.” Like Pi, we need to cross over boundaries and embrace ideological diversity. Only when we reconcile with and embrace diversity can we truly prosper and thrive in a rapidly globalizing world.    

By Kim Seong-kon

Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and the president of the Literature Translation Institute of Korea. ― Ed.