"I practised religious rituals that I adapted to the circumstances – solitary Masses without priests or consecrated Communion Hosts, darshans without murtis, and pujas with turtle meat for prasad, acts of devotion to Allah not knowing where Mecca was and getting my Arabic wrong. They brought me comfort, that is certain. But it was hard, oh, it was hard. Faith in God is an opening up, a letting go, a deep trust, a free act of love – but sometimes it was so hard to love. Sometimes my heart was sinking so fast with anger, desolation and weariness, I was afraid it would sink to the very bottom of the Pacific and I would not be able to lift it back up" (231).
This part of chapters 56-77 is important because Pi has had many bad things happen to him starting with the sinking of the boat and his family being dead. It is tough being in such a hard and frustrating situation and because of that Pi comes close to losing hope. He however uses his faith to keep him going and along the way he realizes that it brings him comfort. Although it seems like this is a never ending journey to him, its his religious practices and the comfort it gives that contributes to the fact that he keeps going.
