Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret., which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Puberty
Friendship, Fitting In, and Social Pressure
Religion
Family Conflict
Summary
Analysis
Later in the evening, Mom brushes out Margaret’s hair and smiles at her as they wait for Nancy’s father. Margaret feels like she and her parents are all in on some secret—though her parents don’t know Margaret’s secret. Fortunately, they don’t say Margaret looks sweet. Finally, Mr. Wheeler pulls up outside. He’s annoyed that the Four PTS’s insist on squeezing into the back. Janie got her hair cut without telling the other girls. The cut makes her look like an elf and, for a moment, Margaret considers getting the same cut. But then she decides she’s been growing her hair too long to chop it off.
For Margaret, the party is all the more exciting and anxiety-inducing because of her stuffed bra. It’s impossible to tell whether her parents have noticed—if they have, it’s a mark of how much they respect Margaret’s autonomy that they’re not saying anything about it. The girls’ behavior also confirms that the party is, for them, more about spending time together than anything else.
Themes
Mrs. Fishbein opens the door when the girls arrive. Nancy introduces Margaret to Mrs. Fishbein in a different voice than usual, and Mrs. Fishbein sends the girls downstairs. The furniture in the house is modern. The furniture at Nancy’s house is colorful, while at Margaret’s house there isn’t much furniture—Mom is still picking stuff out. Most of the other kids are already downstairs. Laura looks lovely in a pink dress, and most of the boys are wearing sport jackets and ties. Philip Leroy is the first to take off his tie and jacket and soon, all the other boys copy him.
Margaret’s willingness to concede that Laura looks beautiful shows that Margaret isn’t totally sold on being mean to Laura, while Philip setting the example of ditching his tie and jacket for the other boys situates him as their ringleader.
Themes
The girls stick to one side of the room and the boys stay on the other side. Soon, Mrs. Fishbein brings down sandwiches. Margaret, Janie, Nancy, and Gretchen choose a table as Mrs. Fishbein heads back upstairs. Before long, the boys start shooting mustard onto the ceiling with straws. When Mrs. Fishbein comes down next, she gives the kids a dirty look and tells them to behave. She says that the girls certainly haven’t done anything.
The party might feel like a fancy, adult affair to Margaret, but that doesn’t change the fact that that she and her classmates are still children—particularly as evidenced by shooting mustard onto the ceiling. It’s also possible to see the separation of the sexes as being part of their youth; the kids aren’t yet comfortable spending time as a mixed-gender group.
Themes
Then, after Mrs. Fishbein serves dessert and heads back upstairs, Freddy mocks Nancy for being so good. Nancy shouts at him and Freddy grabs her. Nancy spins away—but Freddy keeps ahold of her pocket and pulls it right out of her dress. Nancy screams and runs to tell Mrs. Fishbein. Mrs. Fishbein threatens to call everyone’s parents if they don’t straighten up and then leaves the kids alone again.
This exchange between Freddy and Nancy shows how fraught the relationship between the boys and the girls can be. Readers know that the Four PTS’s are already curious about the opposite sex; they’re certainly not the only ones in their class. But in practice, actually being around boys and interacting with them is still uncomfortable.
Themes
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Norman suggests they play a game. He first suggests Guess Who, which is played by turning off the lights, lining up girls and boys on either side of the room, and then letting the boys try to guess which girl is who by touching them—only above the neck. Gretchen refuses and Margaret is glad; her cotton balls aren’t far below her neck. Norman suggests Spin the Bottle next and pulls out a green bottle. He spins first and kisses Janie on the cheek. Janie spins next and kisses Jay on the cheek. Margaret is pleased she’ll only have to kiss a boy on the cheek. Gretchen can barely bring herself to kiss Philip Leroy, and Philip kisses Laura.
Suggesting Guess Who shows that the boys are just as interested in the girls’ changing bodies as the girls are in the boys’. The boys might seem totally foreign and unknowable to the girls, but they’re going through many of the same changes emotionally. Ultimately deciding on Spin the Bottle allows the kids a relatively low-stakes way to experiment with their burgeoning sexualities (even if it’s only low-stakes physically, rather than emotionally).
Themes
Jay insists the game is silly; they should play Two Minutes in the Closet instead. They’ll each get a number and take turns calling numbers. Those two people will go into the small bathroom for two minutes and “well, you know.” Norman writes out numbers on small pieces of paper. The boys draw odd numbers and the girls draw even numbers. Margaret is number 12, and she’s excited. She wishes she’d practiced like Nancy—she doesn’t know what to do with a boy.
For Margaret, this new game represents another opportunity to figure out how she feels about boys—and how it feels to experiment sexually with them (the “well, you know” seems to refer to kissing). It’s also interesting to note that Margaret sees Nancy as more experienced just because Nancy has been kissing her pillow. For all readers know, Nancy could be just as nervous and excited as Margaret.
Themes
Norman goes first and calls for number 16. Gretchen leaps up. They go into the bathroom—but return a few seconds later. Norman insists that the rules only stipulate that you can’t stay any longer than two minutes, but it’s fine to come out before the time’s up. Gretchen ends up with Freddy, and then Freddy goes in with Laura. Everyone giggles. When Freddy and Laura come out of the bathroom, Laura and Freddy are both bright red—this seems funny for a girl like Laura, who already has experience with boys. Laura calls Philip’s number. When they return from the bathroom, Philip is smiling but Laura isn’t. Nancy gives Margaret a look, and Margaret is too busy studying Laura to hear Philip call her number.
The full two minutes spent in the bathroom would allow for more kissing—but Norman implies here that he’s just as nervous as his classmates by insisting that a couple doesn’t have to spend the whole two minutes in there. This gives the kids a bit more control over their experiences. However, Laura’s face when she comes out of the bathroom is a bit sinister. Margaret accepts the rumor that Laura is promiscuous, but Laura’s reaction suggests not just that she’s inexperienced like her classmates; it also seems possible that Philip did something Laura wasn’t comfortable with.
Themes
Philip calls for number 12 again and Margaret stands up. In a trance, she walks to the bathroom. Philip follows her in, closes the door, and says hi. Margaret giggles and Philip notes that he can’t kiss her if she’s giggling; her mouth will be open then. Margaret stops laughing as Philip tells her to stand still. Then, Philip leans forward and kisses her quickly, twice. He leaves the bathroom and Margaret follows him out. She wants to call Philip’s number, but instead she calls number nine and gets Norman Fishbein. She asks him to kiss her quickly on the cheek, and he complies. Later, Nancy suggests that fate brought Margaret and Philip together. They discuss whether Philip is a good kisser and if they both still like him—they do.
Even if Margaret doesn’t like Philip all that much, it’s still exciting when she gets to kiss him. Her reaction suggests that she wants to kiss him because she’s excited and because it’s something all the other girls seem to want, not because she actually has feelings for him. And though Margaret doesn’t care for Norman, it’s also a sign that perhaps he’s not so bad when he does exactly what Margaret asks him to (unlike, perhaps, Philip when he was in the bathroom with Laura).
Themes
