July 19/10

Heather Waito 1

Hey Nostradamus! Essay Outline

Thesis: Douglas Coupland expressed, through the novel Hey Nostradamus!, that religion can
become too important in peoples’ lives. We are shown that the corruption of relationships can
be caused by this.

Point 1: - The relationship of Jason and Reg was unquestionably ruined by Reg’s psychotic
beliefs in God.

Proof – “What I understand is that my son experienced murder in his heart and chose not to
rise above that impulse. I understand that my son is a murderer.”(Coupland, 77)

Explanation – Reg chose to look to his faith, instead of realizing that Jason saved dozens of lives
by killing that one gunman.

Proof – Reg favoured Kent (Jason’s older brother) over Jason because of Kent’s involvement in
his faith and way Kent followed his rules; marrying a girl that his father approved of, having
kids, but nevertheless staying committed to his religion.

Explanation – Reg only cared about people that followed his rules and views on religion (i.e.
Kent). This definitely showed, because of the way he treated Jason (as both an adult and a
child). When Jason was a child and asked about God, Reg would get mad that Jason didn’t
know everything about his views on God and would punish him for hours on end.

Point 2: - Religion helped corrupt Cheryl’s family, even though they only realized it after her
tragic death.

Proof – (in Cheryl’s mother’s letter to Jason) “…In the last year of her life, my daughter was no
longer my daughter. She was somebody else.”(107)

Explanation – Cheryl’s mother was realizing in her letter to Jason that since her daughter had
converted, she had lost a lot of the closeness with her.

Proof – The Alive!rs had convinced Cheryl’s parents that Jason was really the mastermind of the
shooting.

Explanation – Cheryl’s parents didn’t trust Cheryl’s judgment about Jason and went with the
easy way out, instead of trying to help Jason through his grief and pain. Cheryl’s mom was
then trying to apologize about it in a letter which, three days later, was followed by Cheryl’s
dad’s attempt at finding remorse for himself.
 July 19/10
Heather Waito 2

Point 3: - The way that Jason’s mother(she was never given a name) is treated by Reg is a result
of his obsessive religious beliefs.

Proof - (Jason walked in his mom’s house and heard Barb and his mother having a chat) “Barb
asked my mom, ‘When did Reg start turning gonzo on you?’”(120)

Explanation – Barb had recently witnessed Reg’s sadistic side when he said there was a
possibility that one of her twin boy’s did not have a soul.

Proof – When Reg told Jason that he’s a murderer, Jason’s mom smashed a lamp against Reg’s
knee and exclaimed, “Crawl to your God, you arrogant bastard. See if your God… …You got
that? I want you to die.”(78).

Explanation – Jason’s mother had finally had enough of Reg’s behavior toward her, and chose
to act violently against him. In her mind, I think, it was the only way she could stand up to him.