LITERARY ANALYTICAL RESPONSE

The character Ozzie, a young 13 year old Jewish boy, helps illuminate many connections between religions that seem very different. Take for example, Jesus. Jews believe that Jesus existed, but they believe he was human just like they were. Christian’s however, believe that Jesus was both human and God. They believe that Jesus was the Messiah, while Jews still believe that the messiah has yet to come. Catholics believe that Jesus is God, and is also the son of God. They believe that Mary was a virgin, and that Jesus was the miracle. However, Jews do not believe that it was possible for Mary to have a baby without intercourse. These stories are so similar, yet so different. The same idea is interpreted two different ways, creating two different religions. This is many ways can explain the tension between Jews and Christians. Jews believe one thing, Christians believe another, and both believe that the others are wrong. The idea of having faith as support for beliefs is often followed within religions. Most people accept a certain religious idea or belief because that is what they are told to, and they trust their faith to bring the right beliefs. The character Ozzie, however, is very different. He is willing to challenge his religious ideas. “"' I asked Binder (the Rabbi) if he could make all that in six days, and he could pick the six days he wanted out of nowhere, why couldn't He let a woman have a baby without intercourse.” Ozzie is very similar to an atheistic way of thinking in such way that he needs a logical answer. If God could create everything on this earth, how is it that his religion could support the belief that God could create a baby without intercourse? When he says this idea to his Rabbi, however, it is instantly rejected. It is not that the rabbi has any kind of proof against what Ozzie suggests, simply that his faith tells him that it is not possible. The rabbi represents a majority of religious followers who are content with faith as evidence. This faith in his religious ideas even causes the Rabbi to slap Ozzie for suggesting terrible things about God. “You don’t know, you don’t know anything about God!... Rabbi Binder’s hand flicked out at Ozzie’s cheek.” Many religions do not support the idea of questing God. They look at God as the most superior being, the almighty power. To question God is not only looked at as immoral, but as ignorant, and insulting. However, it may have been the fact that these ideas were forced upon Ozzie that caused him to rebel. Ozzie like many atheists may have felt that his religion limited his ideas and beliefs. Ozzie, a Jew, felt that he could agree more with Christianity’s teachings about Jesus. In an act of rebellion Ozzie locks himself on a roof top of his synagogue with his peers and Rabbi left watching his every move at the bottom. Ozzie now has a sense of power, and personal influence. Ozzie has control over his own religious beliefs, and can force others to say what he wants them to. He threatens that if they do not, he will jump. Although this was not Ozzie’s immediate idea, he uses the threat of violence, and jumping off the roof, as a way to explain and justify his religious beliefs. More than that, Ozzie is doing the exact thing that he hated most about religion, he is forcing people to admit a belief that they do not truly believe in. “He made them say that they all believed in Jesus Christ- first one at a time, then all together.” To his peers, these Christian beliefs do not make sense to them, just as Ozzie’s Jewish beliefs had not made sense to him. However, Ozzie is forcing those people to admit to certain beliefs because HE believes that they are right. More ironically, Ozzie’s character illustrates the exact opposite ideas of those he had when standing on the roof. He said, “Promise you'll never hit anyone over God" (20). This idea goes far beyond a physical slap. It supports the concept that people should not be punished for believing something, even if other religious ideas to not agree with them. This concept further implies that each person should have their own ideas, and create their own beliefs about God.