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
Margaret turns 12 on March eighth. She sniffs her armpits but still doesn’t smell—but since she’s 12 now, she figures she’d better use deodorant anyway. She uses Mom’s and heads for the kitchen. Margaret tells Mom she used her deodorant, but Mom laughs and promises to get Margaret her own. Margaret gets a 100-dollar savings bond and three new sweaters from Grandma, as well as a plane ticket to Florida. At school, Mr. Benedict shakes Margaret’s hand. Nancy, Janie, and Gretchen buy Margaret a record, and Nancy also gives Margaret a special card. Margaret figures Nancy is still afraid Margaret will spill her secret.
It's significant that Mom and Margaret don’t make a big deal about Margaret’s deodorant use. This is a product of their trusting relationship. And Margaret might not technically need deodorant yet to control body odor, but she suggests she does need it to help her feel more adult—and Mom has no issue helping Margaret take this step. This mirrors the way Mom got Margaret a bra without any fuss; Margaret might not have needed a bra to support breasts, but she did need it to fit in.
Themes
Then, in the afternoon, Mr. Benedict announces that they’re going to spend three weeks working on group projects on different countries—and he’s already put together the groups. Margaret is distraught, especially when she learns she’s in a group with Norman Fishbein, Philip Leroy, and Laura Danker. Mr. Benedict asks everyone to rearrange their desks so they’re sitting with their groups. Margaret is thrilled to work with Philip—until he sings a rude birthday song to her and pinches her so she grows an inch, insisting she needs the height. Margaret decides that Nancy and Philip deserve each other.
Things take a turn for the worse when Mr. Benedict announces this project. As upsetting as this is, though, Margaret shows how mature she’s becoming as she reevaluates how she feels about Philip. Now that she knows Nancy lies and she doesn’t necessarily need to take Nancy’s word, Margaret is better able to see Philip as he is—a rude boy who doesn’t deserve her attentions.
Themes
What’s even worse, though, is that Margaret faces Laura Danker. Margaret hates Laura for being mature and beautiful, and because the boys stare at her. Laura also knows she’s normal and Margaret doesn’t know anything about herself. Margaret decides she hates Mr. Benedict for putting her in a group with Norman. So Margaret’s birthday starts out amazing, but ends up horrible. She can’t wait for her upcoming visit to Florida.
Margaret thinks of herself as being behind in her development, and Laura as being “normal.” So Margaret suddenly has an issue with Laura because Laura seems to have everything Margaret wants: breasts, attention, and her period. However, Margaret still has a pretty limited view: she seems unaware that the class ostracizes Laura for being so mature, for instance.
Themes
