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
Mom insists that everyone wears new clothes on Jewish holidays, so Margaret wears a new suit and a velvet hat. She also has to wear white gloves, but since it’s unseasonably warm in October, Margaret’s hands sweat. She takes off the gloves before she gets to New York, and Grandma picks her up at the bus station. They head for the temple.
Mom shows Margaret her support for this project by making sure Margaret is dressed appropriately and fits in at the temple. However, Margaret finds that fitting in isn’t so comfortable for her, since she has to take off her sweaty gloves before she even gets to New York.
Themes
An usher shows Grandma and Margaret to their seats in the fifth row. When the rabbi steps up, beautiful organ music plays. The rabbi looks like a priest, except he wears a yarmulke instead of the “backwards collar.” The rabbi says lots of things that Margaret doesn’t understand, and then the congregation reads from a prayer book. Margaret likes it best when the organ plays and the choir sings. She’s surprised that Grandma can speak Hebrew, like the rabbi.
Because Margaret has little or no religious education, it’s hard for her to understand what’s going on during the service. It's common for people in the Jewish faith to learn Hebrew; it speaks to just how far removed Margaret is from Judaism that she’s surprised that Grandma knows Hebrew. In this sense, Mom and Dad have been successful in minimizing religion in Margaret’s life.
Themes
Being in the fifth row, Margaret can’t see much. The rabbi gives a sermon and Margaret tries to understand what he’s saying. But she eventually gives up and counts hats. Then, everyone sings a song in Hebrew; this concludes the service. Margaret expected something different, but she wonders if she needs to go multiple times to feel something. After the service, Grandma insists on introducing Margaret to the rabbi. Rabbi Kellerman looks a bit like Mr. Benedict and he pumps Margaret’s hand up and down. He invites her to come back any time.
Without the knowledge base to know what the rabbi is talking about, Margaret finds it hard to engage with the service—she’s discovering that organized religion isn’t about just showing up at a house of worship. She may be onto something with the insight that a single visit won’t reveal much. Margaret seems to have expected to feel closer to God during the service, so it’s no doubt unsettling that she didn’t get much out of this experience.
Themes
When Margaret gets home, Mom and Dad question her about her experience. Dad asks if she learned anything, and Margaret says that she learned that there were eight brown hats in the first five rows. Dad laughs and says that when he was a kid, he counted feathers in hats. Later, Margaret tells God that she’s on her way now—she’ll know all about religion by the end of the school year, and she’ll be able to start junior high knowing who she is. She’ll then be able to join the Y or the Center.
Dad suggests that Margaret’s experience wasn’t so out of the ordinary—it’s not uncommon, and might even be normal, to find oneself bored at a religious service, even if a person is raised in the faith. But this doesn’t deter Margaret. Attending the service gives her important information and, she believes, is going to help her fit in in Farbrook.
Themes
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