Godless: Setting

     I am right about in the middle of Godless, by Pete Hautman, and so far a lot has happened. Jason Bock, who is fed up with his parents' boring old religion, creates a new religion and a new God. The religion is called Chutengodianism and they worship the town's water tower. He recruits a group of worshippers. The group of worshippers include his best friend, Shin, who is a wimp, Magda Price, Henry Stagg, and more. The group of worshippers  climbed up the tall water tower to have a midnight mass, and they almost died. Henry did some crazy things, like cut off the light and the control panel on top of the water tower. This endangers the life of all of the other worshippers. Just being on top of the tall water tower is dangerous. With all this happening, I say that the setting is very important to this story.
     First of all, this story takes place in the small suburban town of St. Andrew Valley. The reason why I know that it is rural or suburban is because the water tower is the tallest structure in the town. The setting in this story is definitely integral to the plot, theme, and characters. The setting is integral to the plot because if this story took place in an urban place, or a place a long time ago, the water tower wouldn't exist, or it wouldn't be the tallest structure in the town. As Jason Bock says, "Think about it: What is the source of all life? Water. Where does water come from? Water towers. What is the tallest structure in most towns? The water tower" (19). If the water tower isn't the tallest structure in their town, they won't worship it. The theme in this story is to believe whatever you want to believe in. Jason is part of a family that is really religious and really connected to the church. Also, in a small suburban town like St. Andrew Valley, they are full of religious Catholics and they all expect their kids to grow up Catholic. The kids don't have much of a choice. That is part of the setting, and the setting allows the fact that a kid is breaking away from his family's strict religion, and his town's strict religion, to be a big deal to everyone else. When Jason visited his dad's cousin, his dad's cousin was so shocked that Jason was not a strict Catholic. This makes Jason even more proud knowing that he is making others shocked, and makes him want to stick up for his religion
     Also, the author does describe the setting in a way that makes it stand out. The author has the eye of Jason when he describes the water tower. He describes it like it has so much power and that it is big and massive. This shows that Jason really thinks that the water tower is God. This relates back to the theme that you should believe in whatever you want. This shows that Jason really believes in the water tower. This story has multiple settings. The multiple settings besides the water tower and the town itself includes the church and Henry Stagg's house. Henry Stagg's house is important because it shows a theme. When Jason went to Henry's house to ask Henry how he got on top of the water tower, Jason sees that Henry isn't what he acts like. Henry acts like a jerk and a slob in public, but his house shows that he is actually really smart, has a lot in common with Jason, and he acts all nice. This shows that you can't just label someone, or "judge a book by its cover." You should get to know someone first and see who they really are. That is why this setting is important. Another setting is the church. The setting of the church shows what Jason truly believes, how he feels about Catholicism. It also shows why he created his own religion.
     In  conclusion, the setting plays a very important role in the story, and there are aspects of the setting that are significant. An aspect of the setting that is significant is that he is in the small suburban town of St. Andrew Valley, and that the fact that the water tower is the tallest structure in the town. If this story took place in an urban place, or a place a long time ago, the water tower wouldn't exist, or it wouldn't be the tallest structure in the town, so Jason and his worshippers won't worship the water tower. I can't wait to read on and see if any new settings are introduced, and how that plays a role in the plot.