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
At eight o’clock that night, the doorbell rings. Margaret rushes to get it and screams with joy when it turns out to be Grandma. Grandma has a man with him, whom she introduces as Morris Binamin. Grandma looks fantastic, as does Mr. Binamin. Grandma asks where “they” are, and says she wants to see Margaret’s other grandparents. She’s distraught when she realizes they’re gone; Grandma wanted to come in case Margaret needed her support.
At first, Grandma’s arrival is welcome. After Margaret missed out on the trip to Florida, Grandma coming here is the next best thing. At this point, Grandma is vague about what kind of “support” she wanted to offer Margaret.
Themes
Margaret assures Grandma she was just fine, but Grandma asks if they tried any “church business.” Margaret admits they did. Mr. Binamin shakes his head and Grandma reminds Margaret that no matter what, she’s a Jewish girl. Margaret argues that she’s not Jewish. She’s nothing, and she doesn’t believe in God. Grandma scolds her and Margaret wants to ask God if he heard her say she doesn’t believe—but she’s not speaking to God.
Mom and Dad invite Grandma and Mr. Binamin into the living room and serve coffee. Margaret pretends to be tired so she has an excuse to go to bed and leave the room. She thinks Grandma is just like everyone else in that she’s too concerned about religion. If Margaret and Grandma love each other, Margaret can’t figure out why religion should make any difference.
Now, Margaret is starting to see that though religion is one way people can fit in, religion also doesn’t guarantee that people will love or respect each other. With this realization, Margaret starts to abandon her project to pick a religion—it no longer seems like such an important thing to decide.
Themes
