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Jakob Ashburn
A2
3/13/15
Question 4 Final
Christopher John Francis Boone is a very unique character.
Christophers views on God are not all too uncommon but his reasons and
why he explains them are very interesting to me. Christopher clearly doesnt
believe in God. Im not a religion person at all. I tend to usually not get
involved because religion is a very sensitive subject. Im not going to pretend
to know everything about religion, but from what I have gathered religion is
obviously based all around faith and not facts. Not that there is anything
wrong with that, but Christopher sees everything in a different way.
Christopher is someone who bases everything on facts and with Christopher
being the way he is, faith is something he cant even begin to understand.
Many people have different reasons for practicing religion or believing
in God, but something Christopher said stuck out to me, I think people
believe in heaven because they dont like the idea of dying, they want to
carry on living, chapter 61 page 33. Christopher may not get the whole idea
of faith, but Christopher is very aware of a popular reason to practice religion
or believe in God. Its true that everyone I have met believes theres

something after we die. The most common Ive heard is that we will return to
with to be with God. Christopher is only partly right when talking about why
people believe in God. Not only do people practice
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religion or speak about their views on God because of what they want after
life, they also do it to make it so their lives have as much meaning as
possible. Filling their own lives with religion to make themselves happy is
something that several people do. Whether they are living a lie or not if it
makes their lives better than nothing is wrong.
Christopher however cant see it that way. Since Christopher sees
things in a greater light than everyone around him, he cant participate in
the believing in God as most other people. Christopher cant really engage in
these kinds of things in the long run it probably wont matter, but at times it
can be quiet sad at times. For most of the book Christopher believed his
mother to be dead. His teacher Mrs. Forbes did her best to console
Christopher by saying when she died she ended up in heaven. Following that
Christopher said when mother died she didnt go to heaven because heaven
doesnt exist, chapter 61 page 32. Christopher latter goes on to say what
actually happens when you die is that your brain stops working and your
body rots, chapter 61 page 33. Whenever I had a family member pass I had
a hard time coping. Despite the difficult coping I constantly found myself
thinking they were in a better place. Saying stuff like that seemed to help me

get over the passing of a family member faster. With Christopher not being
able to have something like this is very unfortunate. However this seems to
not bother Christopher in the slightest. Christopher instead of believing
people go with God when they die, he says that their bodies become part of
the earth and Christopher seems to accept this as a final part of life.

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Christopher may not be able to grasp the idea of faith in God, but
Christopher is the type of character to live his life the way he wants. He may
not be able to believe that his mother went to a better place when she died,
but knowing that her body decomposed and spread throughout the earth
making the trees and flowers healthier, that is more than enough closure for
Christopher. Christopher may not be able to join in on the joys and horrors of
religion, but seeing life like no one else can that doesnt seem to matter. Ive
been saying that Christopher cant begin understand faith, but the more I
talk about him it seems like we cant begin to understand him and the way
he thinks.