Godless: the Progressive Perspective on Teenage Angst and Agnosticism
Matthew Baughan
Dr. Miskec
ENG 381 – NCRJ Unit #1
12 September 2016
Godless: The Progressive Perspective on Teenage Angst and Agnosticism
Faith in the religious supernatural, usually more often than not, is viewed through a lens filled with skepticism in young adult literature. Why? It is the same adult characters who are viewed as untrustworthy throughout these novels that are usually active participants in church, mosque, etc. It is a teens-vs.-adults battle through and through. Pete Hautman’sgodless is no exception when buying into this narrative that a period of teenage Agnosticism (in a broader sense, them-vs.-us mentality) is just another normal phase somewhere within the transition from teenager to adulthood. Other than this example,Hautman demonstrates he candistinguish the fine line between reactionary and progressive, and successfully manages to let that be one of the only reactionary traits he plays with. Whether good or bad, Hautman evokes a progressive narrative on the teenage condition through his use of the following in godless: the teens are portrayed as creative, individualized beings, the teens interrogate authority, and the teens’ issuesare legitimized into a larger category that adults also face.
Hautman, very early on in godless, portrays these teen characters as creative individuals, who even surpass their adult counterparts. This is particularly shown through the characters of Jason and Shin. Jason Bock, the main protagonist of the novel, proves to have a fast and sharp wit, when on the spot he creates a new religion in a TPO meeting. When questioned by his youth leader what godhe worships, Jason admits that it is “ten-legged one” – which is a product of something he is “making up as [he] goes” (Hautman, 18). This little fib as satire sparks a fire of creativity for Jason and Shin, and they take off running with their ideas shortly thereafter. Shin, Jason’s best friend, goes as far as to write a Bible-like sacred text for their religion of Chutengodism. When asked by Jason how he came up with the idea, Shin replies, “It just sort of comes out” (81). Shin’s answer gives the idea to the reader that Hautman does not need to give an explanation as to where Shin is being influenced to write this. Rather, it is Hautman portraying to his audience that these teens are just oozing with creativity without even using their full efforts. Even the oppressive adult figures that Hautman creates, who time and time again try to discourage Jason’s behavior/religion, find themselves giving credit to Jason’s creativity. In his attempt to clear some of the air between him and his son, Jason’s father admits that his son is actually creative for concocting the whole religion. Specifically, this is when Jason’s father admits, “I give you credit for being creative. What is it you call yourselves? […] Chutengodians, yes. Well, that’s very clever, but I think your little joke has gone far enough” (143). Through this dialogue, Hautman is using a different technique to further affirm that he is not buying intoreactionary standards: through the dialogue of another character. It is a progressive idea that these teenaged characters have the creativity that even the oppressive adult figures find impressive, let alone admit to admiring.
Hautman’sgodless takes an analytical look at a topic that has been covered so many times in literature, but in a different way with the inclusion of different subtly placed subtopics that are addressed along the way. This is yet another progressive trait in young adult literature. In other words, godless’main theme is religion, but it also tackles many other topics in addition, including power. It is fascinating because Hautman approaches the topic of power in a two distinct, meaningful ways. The first is more obviously byHautman explicitly writing Jason as he is dealing with questioning religion’s legitimacy,which then develops into questioning the authority that is behind the church. Hautman exhibits this progressive teenage behavior through Jason’s clear lack of respect for Just Al at the youth group meetings he is forced to attend. Just Al is an authority figure in the church that Jason does not particularly trust, as he refers to him as the “head brainwasher” (15). Jason also thinks he is not all that bright in addition to his distrust for Just Al, which leads the reader to believe that Jason has this idea that the incompetence of Just Al reflects on the incompetence of church as a whole. Since it can be implied that Jason sees the church as incompetent for putting in charge someone like Just Al, it can perhaps serve as an explanation for Jason’s distrust and his questioning nature against the church’s power. The second wayHautman uses his teenage characters to question authority is by Jason’s inability to keep up with the power of being the leading “Big Kahuna” of his religion that requires him to be attentive and responsible when things get bad for him and his peers. He simply cannot keep up with this power as his influence fails himself and his peers. Jason’s father echoes this responsibility and influence Jason has when he says, “You have to realize, Jason, that your friends listen to what you say. […] When you encourage them to do something dangerous or irresponsible, you are equally – if not more – culpable. If you tell someone to stand in front of a speeding truck, and they do it, you might as well have killed them with a gun” (142). By no coincidence, these words repeat recurrently in Jason’s head for the days to follow as he continues to question whether he is responsible for failing his peers in his handling of his power as “Big Kahuna”. Jason, then begins to question whether the consequences bequeathed upon him and his peers are a product of his failures (163, 170, 172, 188).
At first glance, godless takes its focus on religion and agnosticism exclusively as one meant to be aimed at teens, but at a second glance, it broadens the base and legitimizes it as an issue for all ages. Hautman waits until the latter half of the book to broaden the base. Jason, throughout the book, is full of questions for his adult counterparts that they simply just cannot answer. The lack of grounded certainty subtly hints that the supposedly all-knowing religious adults struggle with their doubts in faith as well. For example, the dialogue between Just Al and Jason usually leave Just Al in a flustered state of speechlessness. However, Just Al is not the only adult who cannot give Jason the answers he is searching for. As many lectures as he gives and as many readings Jason’s father assigns his son on Catholicism, he finds he simply cannot forcibly bequeath his chosen ideology down to Jason, because he cannot definitively assure Jason that he has the absolute truth. That is, arguably, what Hautman is trying to convey to his audience: to struggle in one’s faith is not just confined to teenagers filled with angst and whoare tempted to convert to agnosticism, but rather, even the most outwardly religious also struggle with doubts, including doubts spawned from unanswerable questions.
Rather than buying into a reactionary narrative about young adults, Hautman’sgodless proves to serve as a progressive novel for young adult literature. Through the shaping of his teenage characters, hisportrayal of them as creative beings comes through. They are characters who create a whole religion, write a whole text on the religion, and even get credit from the “evil” adults for their creativity for making the religion. Hautman also addresses authority in two distinct ways. The first is through Jason’s questioning of Catholicism and the particular characters who have been entrusted in the church as authority figures (Just Al particularly). The second way Hautman questions authority is through Jason’s pondering of how his actions, or perhaps lack thereof, as the leader of Chutengodism has affected him and his peers. Finally, Hautmanconveys that the doubts of certainty in faith, similar to what Jason is conflicting with, is something of an issue that is legitimized as a problem which also plagues adults. This issue of lack of certainty reflects in the exchanges between Jason, Just Al, and Jason’s father. Because of this, Hautmandemonstrates he is not buying into reactionary ideas as he has made these teenage characters strong, inquisitive, intellectual, and brave, contrary to the reactionary narrative.
Works Cited
Hautman, Pete.Godless. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2004. Print.