Religious Faith

One of the major themes in the novel is that of religious faith. The entire Morales family is religious and all the Morales children attend Catholic school. Based on their involvement with the church, it is a fair assumption their high level of faith has been passed to them from religious parents. This faith becomes not only a huge benefit to the family throughout the novel, but also a difficult thing to maintain in a difficult world.

Alex uses his faith throughout the novel to get him through difficult times. From the very moment that Alex hears about the problems happening in the world, he immediately prays for the safety of his family and for the entire population, even before he allows himself to sleep. He also prays for strength as he knows he will have a responsibility to help keep his family safe and alive, and...