Religion Theme Analysis

In Good Night, Mr. Tom, religion can be a force for bad or good depending on whether people practice it out of fear or love. Mrs. Beech, the abusive mother of the novel’s young protagonist William Beech, clearly practices a fear-based religion. Anxious, paranoid, and vindictive, Mrs. Beech is afraid of her son, believing that unless she constantly, violently disciplines him, he will rebel against her. Nominally a Christian, she uses religious threats to control William’s behavior. For example, she believes that the color red is evil, that theaters and cinemas are sinful, and that William should never socialize with girls or Jewish people. And she physically abuses William whenever she feels he has disobeyed her. In short, Mrs. Beech is religious out of fear and uses religion to terrify her son.

If Mrs. Beech were the only religious character in Good Night, Mr. Tom, then the novel’s representation of religion would be entirely negative. Yet other characters illustrate religion’s positive side. For example, the vicar Mr. Peters in the rural English village of Little Weirwold, to which William is evacuated in 1939 in anticipation of Nazi bombing of London during World War II, welcomes worshippers of other denominations and extends offers of help to his whole community. Additionally, William’s Jewish friend Zach—though somewhat unorthodox in his religious beliefs—prays to God out of love for his parents: he asks God to keep them safe. Through these various characters, Good Night, Mr. Tom suggests that religion is good or bad depending on whether people are practicing it from good or bad motives.