Introduction
Religion is one of the critical components and foundation for the pillars of society. It significantly influences the lifestyle choices of the members of society. Additionally, religion provides guidelines on different beliefs that society ought to follow. Nonetheless, most of these beliefs have since been outdated because most of them are founded on long-forgotten cultural practices. As such, people who deviate from these traditions are considered outcasts and thus subject to a series of unorthodox practices in the name of cleansing.
Similarly, each religion has its ideologies different from each religious belief; this has led to the ridiculing of particular beliefs since they are unfamiliar. Correspondingly, religion has been portrayed as a significant factor in the lives of the different characters in these two novels, Emily Danforth’s ‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post and Tahereh Mafi’s ‘A Very Large Expanse’. Religion has significantly influenced the lifestyle, cultural beliefs, and values of the characters portrayed in the novels.
Main Body
The novel, ‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post has elaborated on how religion impacts the lives of the people in society. Some of the roles of Christianity outlined in the novel include social control agents, reinforcing unity and stability, controlling behavior, and promoting individual well-being. This book exhibited these roles in the following ways: Christianity was against queer behavior among people and condemned same-sex relationships (Danforth). Upon receiving the news of the death of her parents, she experiences relief for a short moment. Cameron was scared of what her parents would do or think of her if they discovered she had kissed a girl.
Religion has impacted people, and all their actions have consequences. This led Cameron to believe that she had caused the death of her parents. As a result, she began avoiding Irene to prevent further accident accidents from befalling her family. In Cameron’s perspective, religion infringes on her ability to understand herself and her identity. She admires how Margo Keenan leads a life free of societal expectations (Danforth). She wishes to live like her without the burden of having to meet and live by certain norms of society as outlined by Christian belief.
Aunt Ruth is a religious and strict follower of the norms, and as the new guardian, Cameron is expected to attend all church services. This is uncomfortable for Cameron since the church teaches values that make her feel like an outcast. She manifests defiance and urges to experience her sexuality even more, even though it is against her religious beliefs. “I don’t think it’s overstating that my religion of choice became VHS rentals, and its messages came in Technicolor and music montages and fade and jump cuts and silver-screen legends and B-movie nobodies and villains to root for and good guys to hate,” Cameron says this to illustrate how she felt about being forced to attend and adhere to the teachings and beliefs of the church that condemned her identity and existence (Danforth). She preferred watching and listening to music instead of attending services.
Cameron is in the prime of her adolescence when she meets Lindsey while swimming, and they become instant friends; she is from Seattle and lives by completely different values from those of Arizona (Danforth). Lindsey is not afraid of what people might think of her; as such does what she wants. This is evident when she returns for summer with dyed hair and piercings, and this surprises Cameron because no one has dared to do that in their city of Miles (Danforth). Additionally, Lindsey encourages Cameron, but she cannot do it would be considered inappropriate behavior by society. She has to hide the book and emails that Lindsey sends her to avoid being discovered.
To avoid suspicions, Cameron goes with Jamie to prom, and they begin dating; however, the relationship is short-lived after Jamie realizes that Cameron has feelings for Coley. Coley and Cameron met in church and became fast friends (Danforth). A fling develops between the two, and thus they spend all summer together; however, they have to hide their attraction to each other from the public to avoid being labeled. Nonetheless, Ty almost caught them, which scared Coley into confessing to the Church leaders (Danforth).
Since Coley confessed, she is forgiven, while Cameron is assumed to be the bad influence and thus is subjected to a conversion school. Society believes that queerness is caused by evil and can be cured; hence, at the ‘God’s Promise School’. At this institution, Cameron meets other people who are skeptical about religion and plans to escape (Danforth). This plan is initiated when the son of a preacher mutilates himself because his homosexuality cannot be cured despite following all the rules and teachings of the institution.
Cameron felt that religion had blinded people to the reality of homosexuality; it is not a disease that can be cured, as religion has led the community to believe. Additionally, the institution was focusing on changing something unchangeable; it served as a constant reminder to the teenagers that they were not fit to live with other people in society. Based on Cameron’s understanding, ‘God’s Promise’ was the dissemination of discriminatory values which made the people feel like outcasts.
Tahereh Mafi has exhibited the role of religion in the novel ‘A Very Large Expanse of Sea Appeal. ‘The novel elaborates on how religion causes strife among people and culminates in disputes despite being a critical unifying factor in society. For instance, Shirin is a Muslim teenager subjected to racism and insults from different people because of her religion. The novel revolves around the time of the 9/11 attack that turned a large portion of the world against the Islam religion (Mafi 122). Although Shirin had nothing to do with the attack, she had to endure abuse from different public members. At the novel’s beginning, we are ushered into the life of Shirin, who has just moved to her third high school in two years. Her parents have to shift regularly to secure better jobs. This means that Shirin has to repeat the process of adjusting to her new school (Mafi 138-141). She tries to remain inconspicuous from the public eye to avoid hateful comments; however, her hijab renders her efforts futile.
Islam demands that Shirin wears a hijab to cover her hair. However, this practice makes her a target for the bullies at school. For instance, at the time of the 9/11 attack, two boys from her class attacked her tore her head scarf and kicked her because of her religion (Mafi 9). As such, she stayed without friends and used emotional barriers to avoid being hurt by the insults thrown at her by classmates and some ignorant comments from teachers. Due to a lack of people to play with, she spends most of her time with her brother Navid and his friends practicing breakdance.
Shirin is reluctant to be open with Ocean James, a junior athlete. She fears that he might be hurt. However, he is persistent, which ultimately causes her to lower her guard. Despite the insults thrown at Shirin, Ocean is not afraid of being friends with her. Shirin understands that she cannot date him because of their difference in religion, but they still proceed to be friends (Mafi 166). Differences in religious beliefs and practices serve as the source of problems for Shirin; for instance, after she accepts to be driven to school by the Ocean, she is hit with a cinnamon in the face and thus runs to the bathroom to clean her face and her hijab. However, another student captures a picture of her without the hijab and circulates it to other students in the school (Mafi 158-160). She feels violated because it is against the Muslim faith for women to show their hair to the public.
The basketball coach reprimands Shirin and orders her to stay away from Ocean. He believes that she would cause him to lose in the season. Similarly, Ocean’s mother confronts Shirin and orders her to end all interactions with her son since she would distract him from getting a scholarship, so Shirin resorts to breaking up with Ocean (Mafi 172).
The coach and the mother felt that Shirin would have a negative impact on the life and progress of Ocean by associating with him. Another effect of religion is portrayed when the teacher fails to believe Shirin is one of her students because of her hijab. Despite her convincing the teacher that she is in a suitable class, the teacher does not believe a word she says. Mr. Jordan, the Global Perspective teacher, uses Shirin as an example in demonstrating prejudice (Mafi 85-87). This caused her to be upset and thus stormed out of the class. She even tries to drop the class, but the teacher apologizes and convinces her to retain the class, which she does (Mafi 7). This act demonstrates how her religion predisposes her to bigotry from society.
Conclusion
Based on the two novels, religion has played various roles in each society, depending on the prevailing conditions. Emily Danforth uses ‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’ novel to illustrate how religion influences the belief and social norms of the people. The novel revolves around a young girl discovering her sexuality amidst the beliefs and norms of her Christian family. As such, she has to keep her sexuality a secret since it does not conform to what the community considers normal. When discovered, she is taken to a conversion center for treatment. Similarly, Tahereh Mafi has portrayed the different ways religion impacts the livelihood of members of society.
The novel, ‘A Very Large Expanse of Sea,’ was set around the era of the 9/11 attack; as such, the public had developed a negative attitude against Muslims. This led to continuous attacks on Shirin from schoolmates and other members of the public. She is beaten and insulted; for instance, she is hit and choked by other students using her scarf.
Works Cited
Danforth, Emily. The Miseducation of Cameron Post (Film Tie-In). Penguin Books, 2018.
Mafi, Tahereh. A Very Large Expanse of Sea. HarperCollins, 2018.