The Rapture

Sharon begins as a young Los Angeles woman who leads a libertine lifestyle before a transformative exposure to a stringent Christian sect. Her conversion to born-again faith leads her to marry and have a daughter, Mary, yet tragedy and doubt unsettle her certainty about God’s benevolence. When her husband Randy is murdered, Sharon's faith fractures, and she retreats to the desert to await the Rapture, insisting that Mary join her. Her later confession, murderous act, and prison reveal the emotional toll of zealotry and the fragility of spiritual certainty.

Randy is Sharon's husband whose senseless murder becomes the catalyst for her spiritual crisis. His death unravels the couple's life and plants doubt about divine benevolence in Sharon. He is not actively present for much of the narrative, but his absence shapes Sharon's move to the desert and her radical faith. The character serves as a tragic trigger rather than an agent of change by his own actions.

Foster is a police officer who becomes concerned for Sharon and Mary’s welfare as they drift into desperation and deprivation. He provides a counterpoint to Sharon's faith, skeptical about the impending Rapture until he confronts the possibility of the divine. In the aftermath of Mary's death, Foster's awakening to belief marks a symbolic transition from atheism to faith, enabling him to witness the possibility of salvation.

Mary is Sharon's young daughter, a symbol of innocence caught in the crossfire of radical belief. She pleads with her mother and becomes the catalyst for the tragedy when Sharon kills her, an act driven by apocalyptic urgency. Her death drives the emotional core of the story and underscores the perils of zealotry trained on loved ones.