"True Confessions of a Closet Catholic"

I think that it was a nice change of pace to get together with my group members outside of our class to discuss a book that we all have read, I think that it made it easier to talk about the issues that we all had noticed in the book. I feel that being able to meet in this type of atmosphere made the feeling between all of the different group members more relaxed and trusting than when we have a limited amount of time while meeting during the class time.
When we were discussing the book we looked at the theme of chocolate being repeated throughout the story in instances when Justine, the main character, was dealing with the most stress or her lowest level of self-esteem. None of us could really come up with a definitive reason for the chocolate; we hypothesized that chocolate, which is such a comfort food for many different people, was used as a way to make the story about a Jewish girl more universal because what female hasn't turned to some type of food for comfort in a time of need? I thought, personally, that it was interesting that while Justine viewed her addiction to chocolate as a way of coping it was also the first thing that she blamed while mentally critiquing herself and her flaws.
The question that I had the hardest time wrapping my head around was the issue of Justine and her growing Jewish identity. For me when I was reading True Confessions of a Closet Catholic I found myself looking more at her misconceptions about a Catholic identity because I am, although non-practicing, a Catholic. When Justine's character was talking about giving up being Jewish for Lent, I found it hilarious because I suppose that I never viewed being Catholic as such a blessing. I did enjoy that although many characters throughout the story tried to tell Justine that if you are not happy with yourself, changing religions is not going to solve the problem, but in the end, figuring out who you are as a person is an journey that can't be decided by someone else, just like a religious choice can't. I found that although I didn't really understand completely the issue of being Jewish and Justine's self image, I could relate to the Catholic references because I have a background in going through a crisis of religion. Ultimately, I feel that these two religions, the one crisis of religion and chocolate all helped to make this a universally connectible story and I enjoyed the chance to talk about it with my group members outside of class.