N is analagous to Sputnik, only he is travelling through inner zones of faith and unbelief. The frisson N feels at the mention of the word "Sputnik" hints that N has felt or continues to feel that his personal journey has tainted or marked him as another godless intruder (like the father's perception of the Sputnik)in the world of faith. This is an example of an "objective correlative." The object (Sputnik) correlates with N's tainted sense of a faith journey, tainted because the father called the Sputnik "godless."
One of the more effective uses of a symbol in a mere 14 lines that I can recall.
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