Christianity

The novel is set in an upper-middle class, American neighborhood in Connecticut, and the American family at the center of the story, the Finches, is Christian. At the opening of the novel, Jared Finch says that he doesn't believe in God: "Jared never prayed, because the idea of a loving God seemed out of sync with the facts of the world" (p. 5). Jared lives in an upper-class American neighborhood where there is no true evil, and therefore no true good. Jared doesn't even really believe in sin: "there's no such thing as sin anyway. Just look at television. You can do anything you want with anybody you want for any reason you want and what happens? Nothing" (p. 157). As the novel progresses, however, Jared's eyes are opened to the true evil in the world. Through the experiences of the Amabo family, Jared learns about the horrors of civil...