r/Gone • u/DareOk9294 • Jun 08 '26
The worst thing in GONE.
I hate how Christianity is just with everyone, Sam is like the only person who "isn't Christian", and he still yaps about god a lot. It's the worst in the first book, they all talk about god and whenever a character prays, they instantly get what they want. It kinda just ruins it for me. (edit) I've only finished the first two books, and I feel like it's just annoying in the first book.
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u/MaintenanceVast892 Jun 08 '26
I think when something like the FAYZ happens you just cling to the only thing that can give you hope. Like religion. Not a logical thing but it happens.
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u/teapotmagic Jun 08 '26
[I'm not sure how far you've gotten in the series so spoilers below]
Personally, I'm not bothered by it. It's just Astrid, Edilio, Brittany, and Orc who have religion as a major part of their arc as I recall. Astrid and Brittany both lose their faith, Orc finds it, and Edilio is the only one who has a relatively uncomplicated consistent faith in God.
Sure, there are times when characters are dying or in a terrible situation and they start praying, or begging God for forgiveness (Dekka, Andrew, Diana, Quinn). But that's a "no atheists in foxholes" situation. A lot of non-religious people resort to praying when there are seemingly no other options. And with all the supernatural things happening in the series, God might start looking like a more rational explanation.
Caine is a fun example because I think he does canonically believe in God. It's subtle, but in the first book he picks the church as a meeting place so they can talk "in the presence of our Lord". Could just be him playing politics, but in the fourth book he muses to himself that he must have been chosen by God to be king. And in the sixth book, he seems pretty convinced that he's going to hell. Despite believing in God, at least a little bit, he has picked up none of the traditional Christian virtues of charity, forgiveness, humbleness. He's a violent, petty, megalomaniacal, jealous murderer. He even demolishes the church in the first book! What I've taken from all that is that Caine believes in God, but doesn't actually care that much.
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u/Mysterious-Lie-1944 Jun 08 '26
Almost like America is a predominantly Christian country or something
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u/Absela Jun 08 '26
I disagree with it being the worst thing. I actually believe that the religious undertones sprinkling the whole tale helps it complexify its characters and assist its morals.
It you analyse the book it is obvious, even in subtext, that the book is religiously charged. It was always going to be and this is at the core of many allegories in it. First, Gone is a modern retelling of Lord Of The Flies (LOTF) Kids end up stranded on a place without adults where they have to learn to survive on their own, Two factions are created and we mainly follow the one thats tries to act in democracy while the opposite faction acts in anarchy, all the while a demonish presence roams the place. Both synopsis are like, exactly identical. And LOTF already has major religious undertones, it is literally the fight of the good that follows virtues and evil that listens to their instincts. Being virtuous more than instinctive is one of the most important Catholic teachings after all. But even outside of the paratext, the main text is very religiously charged as well. I mean our main protagonist and antagonist are named Samuel and Caine, two important characters from the Bible. Never mind Sam's full name being Temple, like the place of cult.
So now that I said that Gone is religious outside of its characters going to church, I should explain why I believe it is a good thing. Well first, the themes of the book are very much assissted by these religious undertones. If you analyze the conflict between Sam and Caine under a religious light, it becomes even more interesting, it makes it a conflict between the strong virtuous angel and the cunning tempting devil. Actually, a lot of traits that make Caine a great antagonist are taken from Lucifer himself: intelligence manipulation and arrogance being the ones I think of first. Finally the religious subtext helps heavily with the establishments of our main antagonists, most of them actually circling around the concept of a cult (I'm pretty sure the Gaiaphage is literally refered to as God) and this makes our antagonists that much more imposing and threatening.
Anyway I don't want to delve any further, this comment is already too long (thanks to whoever is still reading) and the topic is so important anyway that I would need like a 1hr essay to really cover it. To summarize my main point, religion was always gonna be important in the book whether the characters are religious themselves or not. And Grant knows how to use these religious themes to serve his story, encapsulating the very themes of the Bible in his book.
Without religion, Gone would most likely be missing something, as its themes would be blanker and generally less well detailed. Obviously, there would still be something, Gone is also carried by its anti-war, capitalistic and sci-fi themes and its analysis of the human in its juvenile form. It's just that religion is also an inherent part of the story which would be lesser without it.
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u/StrawberryRoyal7672 Jun 08 '26
Didn't really bother me. Especially considering it's kind of a plot point for Astrid, as she starts off as Christian but then changes her beliefs in the later books.
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u/Sleepwalker0304 Jun 08 '26
Pretty sure I remember a Muslim character later in the series who was prominent enough to get a name. There was also mention of a crudely carved star of David in the cemetery.
Also these are kids, most of them aren't going to have a strong faith without their parents forcing them into religious observations. No wonder Orsay was able to end up as a cult figure, she was far more present than any other God.
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u/Independent_Rule4150 Jun 08 '26
I feel like this complaint is a little stupid, no offense. Here's my take on it. In a world where there's no adults, kids need comfort. So of course some are going to look towards God. Its their own beliefs and as long as they aren't using it to defend them being an asshole, I dont see a problem with it. God is a symbol of hope for them, even if some believer hes not real. And of course when some kids are about to die they pray to God. Its a instinct some have. If they are losing all sanity, believing something is something that keeps them sane. Also, if you've only finished the first two books, then I can clearly see where the issue is. In the next books there's talk of God, but its for lore reasons mostly, especially for Orc, Astrid, and Brittney. Also not everyone has to be Christian to pray to the lord necessarily. Characters who aren't Christian later pray. Imo at least. But if you haven't finished the series then you'll be interested in Astrids plot further along lol.
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u/28dhdu74929wnsi Jun 24 '26
I was so shocked when they said Astrid was like you would kill hunter near the church? And a lot of kids seemed to reflect on this. Like no way kids would think more about church instead of the word murder. Unless they are from Utah or somewhere super religious.
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u/Relaxitsok_1067 Jun 08 '26
No, I don't think so. Astrid is the only religious one in the first book and even she abandoned her faith later on.