Is there a God? Is there no God? Is there God who doesn't care about us? These are tricky questions—in There Is No Dog, not even the people who work with God every day quite know the answers. Should we have faith in God … or should we just have faith in ourselves? Mortals and immortals alike struggle with these questions throughout the novel. In the end, the only answer we seem to get is faith that things will be better in the future.
Questions About Faith
- Who has faith in There Is No Dog? Who doesn't? What does faith look like in this novel?
- How do people with and without faith react to Bob in the novel? Are their reactions different? If so, why do you think they react that way?
- Both Bernard and Lucy are described as religious people in the novel. Describe their approaches to religion and faith. How are they different or the same? Is one more accurate than another?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
By caring for Earth, Mr. B proves that he's really God.
Godhood is about creation rather than preservation. Because Bob created (almost) everything on Earth, it's really he who is God.