Analysis Of Are You There God? It's Me By Judy Blume

Margaret Simon has a big decision to make. What will she decide? Will she even come to a conclusion? How will everyone around her influence her decision? These questions play a significant role in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume.Margaret must make a decision about her religion. She must choose between being christian, being Jewish or staying as nothing. Her parents gave up their religions when they got married because their parents did not approve of their interfaith marriage. Margaret’s parents don’t have a problem with her not having a religion and are not trying to pressure her in either direction. Her paternal grandmother, a Jew, does sometimes try to pressure Margaret into choosing Judaism.Her maternal grandparents

upon meeting her immediately start pressuring her into choosing Christianity.
The protagonist in Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume is the main and title character, Margaret Simon. Margaret is very close to her paternal grandmother, who also lives in New York City. Even when Margaret and her family moved to New Jersey, Margaret and her grandma continued to meet once a month at the Lincoln Center in New York City. Margaret is an average 11 going-on 12-year-old girl who is desperate to fit in with her peers; especially since she is the new girl in town. Margaret is desperately awaiting her first period and hoping that she will not be the last of her friends to get it. Margaret is faithful, regardless of the fact that she and her parents don’t have a religion, she still has a relationship with God.Margaret talks to god every night. Only when she is being pressured by her grandparents to choose a religion does she decide to stop talking to God, but even then, she faces temptation. While it may seem strange, one of Margaret’s best friends, Nancy Wheeler, is the antagonist. Usually, Nancy is a nice,welcoming person. However, she does have an extraordinarily visible mean side. An example of this being shown is when Margaret is changing into a bathing suit in Nancy’s room after Nancy invites her over to run through the sprinklers on the day they first meet. Nancy is in a way making fun of Margaret’s body. Nancy says to Margaret “Oh, you’re still flat.” Additionally, Nancy is controlling. Throughout the book, Nancy controls their group of friends starting as early as the first day of the school year. In addition, Nancy is a liar. One example is when she told Margaret that Nancy’s brother ,Ethan, his friend, Moose and their classmate Laura had gone behind a place called the A&P where people go to do adult things. Another lie Nancy told was when Nancy announced she had gotten her period months before she actually got it.
14 years ago, Margaret’s parents got married and gave up their religions due to the fact that their parents did not approve of their interfaith marriage.

Therefore, Margaret does not have a religion and will chose her own religion later in her life if she wishes to ever have a religion. Even though she does not have a religion, Margaret does have a relationship with god. While her parents support her in all of her decisions regarding religion, her grandparents are trying to pressure her into choosing their respective religions.She must face all of this in a new town, new friends and classmates (who aren’t necessarily always the best people). The first main event of the book is Margaret and her family moving. They moved from New York City to Farbrook, New Jersey.Margaret believes a big part of the reason for the move is that her parents find she is too close to her paternal grandmother who they think is a bad influence.However, Margaret continues to meet her grandmother at The Lincoln center in New York City once a month. The second main event that happened is Margaret meeting all of her friends. The first friend she meets is Nancy. On the day Margaret moves into town, Nancy comes over to her house to meet her and invites Margaret over to her house. Then, on the first day of school, she meets all of her other friends first in class and then at their secret club meeting at Nancy’s house after school. The third main event that happened is Margaret’s quest to find a religion. This starts with Margaret already having a kinship with god. Then, at their first secret club meeting, Margaret’s new friends ask her if she will join the YMCA or the Jewish Community Center,to which she responds that she might not join either and if she does,it will be her parents’ decision. Then, their teacher, Mr. Benedict, gives them a year-long assignment on something personal and meaningful. Margaret chose religion. Later, she goes with her grandmother to a Synagogue for the Jewish

holiday Rosh Hashanah. After that, she goes with a friend to her Church.Then, towards the end of the book, her other grandparents, her mother’s parents, come for their first visit and pressure her into choosing Christianity. Her paternal grandmother pressures her to choose Judaism.