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 and her classmates enter the classroom on Friday morning to find their test papers on their desks, marked and with their names added. Margaret is thrilled—she got a 98. Mr. Benedict says nothing, but he seems to know that he won. In the afternoon, he reminds the students of their projects and suggests that they should have a topic and some notes by the end of the week. Margaret struggles to think of a meaningful topic that she’d feel okay sharing with Mr. Benedict; bras, breasts, and Moose obviously aren’t appropriate. Maybe she could do her project on religion, so she can know whether to join the Y or the Jewish Community Center. She asks God how he feels about it, and she promises to not make a decision without asking first. But she can’t be nothing forever.
Thanks to Mr. Benedict, Margaret gets to fit in and still do well on her test. And though Margaret notes that he “won,” she also doesn’t seem sad about that—a clue that she doesn’t share her classmates’ desire to get the better of Mr. Benedict. It’s telling that Margaret’s “meaningful” topics include puberty, crushes, and religion. This highlights where she is developmentally: she’s concerned about maturing physically, crushing on the wrong guy, and figuring out how to fit in in Farbrook.
Themes
On Saturday, Mom drives Margaret to the bus station so she can bus to New York. Mom is nervous and gives Margaret advice on how to be safe, and then reminds her of where to meet Grandma. The ride is uneventful and Margaret finds Grandma easily. They have lunch first and Margaret asks Grandma, in a whisper, if she can tell that Margaret is wearing a bra. Grandma says she can; it makes Margaret look much older. During the concert, Margaret makes a point to pay attention to the music and not fidget like she used to.
Riding the bus to New York by herself makes Margaret feel independent and adult, even though Mom ruins it a bit by talking to the bus driver. Grandma may or may not be able to tell whether Margaret is wearing a bra—but she still knows that saying yes can boost Margaret’s confidence and help her feel more mature. This in turn encourages Margaret to focus on the music—something she characterizes as adult.
Themes
In the taxi heading back to the bus terminal, Margaret decides that Grandma, who’s Jewish, is the perfect person to help with Margaret’s project. She asks Grandma if she can accompany her to temple sometime. Grandma’s eyes open wide. She throws her arms around Margaret and says she always knew Margaret was “a Jewish girl at heart.” Margaret insists she’s nothing, but Grandma says this must be because Margaret has made Jewish friends in Farbrook. Margaret insists this isn’t about her friends; she just wants to see what Judaism is like. She doesn’t want to tell Grandma about Mr. Benedict.
It's somewhat unclear why Margaret hesitates to tell Grandma about Mr. Benedict’s project. Even though she seems to want to impress upon Grandma that she doesn’t identify as Jewish (not yet, at least), she may not want to crush Grandma’s hopes by admitting this is part of a school project. When Grandma suggests that this is about having Jewish friends in Farbrook, it shows that Grandma also sees religion as a way to fit into a community.
Themes
Thrilled anyway, Grandma says that Margaret can come with her on Rosh Hashanah. Then, she asks if Mom and Dad know about this. They don’t, so Grandma begs Margaret to make it clear to them that this isn’t Grandma’s idea. Later, when Margaret tells Mom about wanting to go with Grandma to temple, Mom insists it’s ridiculous and Margaret isn’t old enough to choose a religion. She’s unimpressed when Margaret says she’s going to try out church as well, but she says she won’t stop Margaret from going.
Judaism is very important to Grandma, but Grandma also knows very well that Mom and Dad won’t be pleased about Margaret’s temple visit—and may see it as Grandma overstepping. However, Mom shows again that she’s here to support Margaret, even if she doesn’t understand or like Margaret’s choices. Saying Margaret isn’t old enough to choose, though, is still somewhat infantilizing.
Themes
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On the morning of Rosh Hashanah, Margaret talks to God before she gets out of bed. She explains that she’s going to temple with Grandma, and Mom and Dad think it’s ridiculous. But Margaret is still sure that this will help her decide, and she promises to look for God inside the temple.
Margaret might be experimenting with organized religion, but this doesn’t invalidate the meaningful personal relationship she has with God. She seems to expect organized religion to simply boost and improve the relationship with God that she already has.
Themes
