“What would Jesus do?”
The entire premise of the story is based upon this quote. Rev. Henry Maxwell issues a challenge to the congregation of his church in a small town. The challenge is to devote an entire year to asking “what would Jesus do” before making a decision; to really and truly let the teachings of Christ be their guiding spiritual principle. The trek of the narrative—the plot, if you will—is the unraveling of the mystery of what the final consequence of living such a life will be.
"Felicia, you can never reform the world. What's the use? We're not to blame for the poverty and misery. There have always been rich and poor; and there always will be. We ought to be thankful we're rich."
Felicia is the sister of Rose, the speaker here. They are the daughters of Mr. Charles R. Sterling—the self-made millionaire king of grain and rail--an both enjoy the pleasures of the treasures afforded them. Aside from that, however, they are completely unalike. While both exhibit characteristics one might term carefree, that carefreedom is demonstrated in uniquely divergent ways. Rose is fond of describing actions taken by Felicia as “queer” or “outre.” As may be guessed by the passage above, they are set against each as examples of what happens within a very microcosmic example of a small class of people in America when one chooses to pursue a life led by asking what Jesus would do. By the end, Felicia is poor, but calls her path in life following a gospel. Rose marries a much older sugar daddy for whom she has no feelings and thus suffers a life deprived of passion and love.
The Rectangle was the most notorious district in Raymond. It was on the territory close by the railroad shops and the packing houses. The great slum and tenement district of Raymond congested its worst and most wretched elements about the Rectangle.
When your story’s protagonist is not a person, but an idea or abstract concept, it is difficult to create a believable antagonist who takes human form. The protagonist takes the form of all those who take the minister up on his challenge so in that sense one could say it is personified, but it is really the fundamental premise that is at stake rather than any one or two individuals. To offset the optimism and hope invested in the protagonist, the antagonist of the story is temptation. And temptation is personified in the center of sin in the town: the Rectangle. Ultimately, the novel is a tale of redemption and the question lying at its heart is whether the Rectangle can ever be redeemed.
“I remember hearing Dr. Bruce say once that he believed one of the great miseries of comparative poverty consisted in poor food. He even went so far as to say that he thought some kinds of crime could be traced to soggy biscuit and tough beefsteak.”
Felicia and family are not part of the congregation which begins the “what would Jesus do” movement. Dr. Bruce is the name by which their pastor is called and on a Sunday after visiting the town of Raymond and seeing the effects of the pledge taken there, he delivers a sermon asking his more upper crust and conservative congregation to do likewise. It is the moment at which Felicia’s life changes, of course, and her “gospel” is “helping people know the value of good.” The novel’s intense linkage of lack of good eating habit, food preparation and nutrition with poverty can seem a little strange at first, but ultimately it serves a theological purpose for the author. Although the “What would Jesus Do” movement of the 21st century is most closely associated with conservative evangelical Christians, the author of the book was a proponent of socially active Christian liberalism of the type who more likely to a congregation to go out and help feed the poor and attend to the sinner than to offer hope that poverty would get better and prays that sin could be controlled by government legislation. The point trying to be made is sinful behavior which leads to criminal activity very often is stimulated not by a lack of character, but a lack of opportunities and food.
