I really enjoyed reading Confessions of a Closet Catholic. The problem I had with it was my ignorance about different religions. I think that the book did a good job of highlighting some of the major beliefs/culture of Judaism, but what concerns me is that I do not know if there were stereotypes or not in the novel. However, regardless of religious beliefs or knowledge, the bigger message, and very positive message that I felt this novel sent was that it is possible to have an open mind and be accepting of other people and their religious beliefs. Justine and MAC were best friends even though they practiced different spiritual beliefs. They were both curious about each others religion and never made each other feel like one was more important/better than the other. Their parents were the same way. When Justine’s mother found out that Justine was a “Closet Catholic,” she never said that being Catholic was wrong; she was just disappointed because she raised Justine differently. Even the grandmother, a Holocaust survivor did not get angry. Although Justine’s family wanted her to remain Jewish, they never said anything wrong about Catholicism.
A personal story I have comes from when I was in
2 comments:
I definitely agree with you on the stereotyping in this book. I too felt I was not qualified to make those judgements because I was unaware of what exactly the stereotypes were of Jewish people, and for that matter some stereotypes of Catholics too. I as well like how her family seemed somewhat understanding of her curiousity, but I do question how realistic that part of the book was.
I as well can relate to your story. Though both of my grandmothers are still alive, one of them has been in a nursing home for about 10 years now. Though she is still alive, I can feel that a part of her deteriorates every day. Some days when we see her she doesn't recognize us, and that's right next to death if you ask me. It's very painful. I usually cry when I leave her because feel so sorry for her and I know that it must not be how she imagined it. What I try to do, and maybe this will help you, is that I try to remember that she had a good, long life. It was full of love and happiness and she got a lot of time on this earth. It still makes me wonder as I look at my young hands and then I look at her old, wrinkly, age-spotted hands and wonder if it is just a matter of time before mine will be that way too. It helps me live my life the best I can when I remember my grandmother, and that reminds me that my time her is precious. You were lucky to have such an understanding and loyal friend. I thought your reflection and experiences were wonderful.
Response to Confessions of A Closet Catholic
I agree with you about it being difficult to pick out stereotypes about Jewish Americans in this book because I am not familiar enough with the culture. While I really did enjoy this book one thing I found throughout the book was some stereotypes toward the Catholic religion. While I realize the point in reading this book was to analyze the way the Jewish culture was portrayed, I couldn't help but notice some of the ways Catholics were portrayed that could be looked at negatively. First of all I thought it was interesting that MAC's family had so many people in it. The comment was even made by Justine that she had never seen a family with so many children. The over generalization that Catholics don't believe in birth control and have a lot of children is a common one. Also I thought it was interesting how they portrayed confession and the seven deadly sins. The way Justine confessed things that could be considered typical, and innocent made it look as though Catholics viewed these things as being horrible sins. Just some things to think about......
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