Godless: Appreciation

     I have recently finished Godless, by Pete Hautman, and I have learned a lot and overall I really appreciate this book for all of its messages that it is getting across to me, all the ideas that the book puts in my head, all of the times that the author comes out and tells his honest opinion, how he portrays parents, and how it accurately portrays how teenagers like us feel. 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, which includes his best friend, Shin, Magda Price, Henry Stagg, and more. They have climbed the water tower, but got caught and almost got Henry killed. When Jason Bock gets a talk from his dad about what not to do, and how he should follow the guidelines and be a Catholic, it is whereI get a lot of my appreciation for this book from. It includes messages, it has author's intrusion, it portrays parents the way teenagers see them, and it shows how teenagers feel.
     First of all, when Jason Bock gets a talk from his dad about what not to do, and how he should follow the guidelines and be a Catholic, many things pop up. First of all, it portrays parents how teenagers see them, and how teenagers feel. An example of this is "'But the fact is, Jason, God is real. God is real.' I was once young and foolish too, but now I'm old and foolish, so you should listen to me. I can say anything I want and call it a fact" (144). The italics are Jason's opinion on his father, who is the one talking. I really appreciate this line. It shows that older people aren't always right, and just because they have the experience doesn't mean they know better. Another important thing that I got out of this excerpt is that you don't always need to follow what you're family says to believe or what you were raised to believe. I am a happy, reverent Catholic, but I still appreciate this line. Just because you were told to believe something doesn't mean you need to believe it. If you want to worship a water tower, go do that. Even if you want to worship dog poop, go ahead, worship it, and do whatever you want. I also like this excerpt because it shows that teenagers feel that parents don't always know for the best, and that the child has the right to fight back if s/he believes that the parent isn't being fair. The excerpt "I can say whatever I want and call it a fact," shows that its unfair that parents have more power than children. All of this is Pete Hautman coming out and telling the reader what he really thinks. I like how the author is really trying to get across to the reader and tell his honest opinion. He even puts his intrusions in italics. 
     Second of all, I appreciate how realistic this story is. Teenagers don't enjoy being forced to follow and believe what their parents believe. Teenagers also give out their true and honest opinion and don't follow everyone else. Another thing that is realistic with this book is that teenagers consider themselves free, indiscriminate people, while parents don't agree with that. As its says in the book, "But I don't see where it's going to do anyone any good for me to get eyestrain from reading a bunch of Catholic propaganda, and not get my driver's license, and spending hours shut in my room, and whatever else they've got cocked up. It's persecution is what it is. Religious intolerance. A violation of the separation of church and Jason" (145). These were Jason's thoughts right after his dad sent him to his room to read five books about theology and write reports about them. Even though most parents wouldn't assign reports to their child, it still shows how parents force their kids to do unethical stuff and how parents take away their kids' rights. I also appreciate how realistic the response of their parents was after they got caught climbing the water tower. Their parents thought it was the worst thing in the world and that they are rebelling and are destined to kill themselves.
     In conclusion, I really appreciate Godless, by Pete Hautman. I taught me a lot of messages, ideas, and morals. The author, Pete Hautman is really trying to get the messages across to us. He is intruding multiple times. He is even making his intrusions italic so that we would notice that he is trying to get this message across to us, and that it is really him speaking. I also appreciate this book because of how realistic it is, and how it accurately portrays the life and feelings of a teenager. Even though I am a happy, reverent Catholic, I really appreciate this book, and all of the messages it is trying to get out to the readers.