Critical Analysis 3

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SETTING
The story takes place in St. Andrew Valley, an ordinary town with not much in it. Jason and his friend look for snails sometimes, exploring rivers and basically anywhere with moisture. Jason attends Teen Power Outreach sessions held in the church basement every Thursday because his mom forces him to. He also goes to mass every Sunday at the Church of the Good Shepard. One day he has a revelation while under the water tower: water is life. After making a new religion centered around the water tower, he recruits disciples and eventually they go to the top, where things go badly. They swim in the reservoir and then Henry falls off and lands on the catwalk, breaking many bones. Afterwords they get arrested and Jason goes to jail for six hours until his dad bails him out. Henry goes to St. Theresa's Hospital. Near the end of the book, Jason and his friends go to the mall, where he gets hit in the head with a crutch, then hits his head on the floor and gets a mild concussion and seven stitches. The story ends with Jason in the hospital, reflecting on the events of the book.
PLOT
Jason Bock, agnostic-going-on-atheist teen, and his friend Shin go to the water tower looking for snails for Shin's collection. They run into Henry Stagg and his goons, and Henry knocks Jason on his back. While laying down with his head scrambled, he sees the water tower with the sunlight gleaming over the edge. Feeling fed up with Catholicism, he realizes the importance of the water tower. It brings water to everyone in the town, and water is life. He comes up with the idea of the water tower being God. At one of the Teen Power Outreach sessions, he states that he doesn't worship the same god as them, and starts making up god as a joke. He tells his f...

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...nished by his father, ends up hating Jason and calls him a heretic. Magda, the only girl in the church is liked by all its members. She gets in huge trouble because of Jason and hates him for it. Henry, the violent and unstable one gets severely injured and later hates Jason because he says he isn't good enough for Magda.
TONE
The book is very comical, but it is also a satire of religion. It is somewhat subtle, not blatantly insulting any religion, but it does show some of its consequences.

THEME
The book shows the effects religion can have on people, specifically Shin, who goes becomes an insane believer. It ruins the lives of all the believers of the water tower.
PERSONAL RELEVANCE
I think the theme is very relevant, seeing how religion controls the majority of the population. People don't question their faith very often and this book is about a boy who does.

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