Gilead
is written in the form of a letter from John Ames at the end of his life to
his young son. Throughout this letter Ames reflects on his life and his ultimate
purpose in writing the letter is to provide comfort to both himself and his
son.
The letter is Ames’ way of reflecting
on his life and in the process he is able to explain things to his son that he
would never know otherwise. His marriage to Lilah is a somewhat controversial
topic in the novel because of the large age gap. Ames explains this age gap by
first stating that he “could have married again while [he] was still young” and
nothing was preventing him from doing so (55). He never found the right person,
however, until he met Lilah and he felt something for her from the first moment
he laid eyes on her. Ames also tries to stop any negative feelings or doubts
his son might have about Gilead by telling him that there were a lot of heroes in
Gilead “because that is the truth, even if no one remembers” (173). These parts
of the letter will provide comfort to his son later in life.
This letter is also a comfort to
Ames because he feels guilty for leaving Lilah and his son behind. He has no
money to leave them, but he thinks that he can begin to make up for this by
writing: “I’m trying to tell you things I might never have thought to tell you
if I had brought you up myself” (102). The letter is his way of leaving something for
his son that will be useful to him later in life. Reflecting on his life brings
him comfort because it allows him to come to terms with his past while sharing
with his son everything that he would want him to know.
Much of the letter is devoted to
Ames reassuring himself that his son will be fine after he is gone. This self-reassurance
ultimately brings him comfort and the ability to accept his inevitable death.
Ames discusses the story of Hagar and Ishmael and says that even though we have
to “send our children into the wilderness”, it is “a story full of comfort”
because “there are angels their too” (119). Ames views his death as sending his
son into the wilderness since he won’t be there to protect him or provide for
him. He uses the story, however, to reassure himself that the Lord will look
after his son.
The letter ends with Ames writing
to his son: “I will pray you grow up a brave man in a brave country” (247).
This statement brings comfort to both him and his child. Ames feels like he is
doing something for his son by praying for him when is feeble body prohibits
him from doing anything else. His son will read this statement later and be
comforted by the fact that his father loved him and was looking out for him
until his death.
I agree with your post and find it very interesting how Robinson uses the purpose of John Ames’ letter to his son and how it influences the tone of the novel as a whole. Like you mention in your response, I think the letter serves as both an internal reflection and a comfort to those who he will leave behind after his death. Additionally, I think Ames implicitly uses the letter format as a confessionary tool to reveal information that he could never outwardly share with people while he is alive. Ames recounts early in the novel how people treat him differently once he became a preacher and that he appreciates a joke just as any ordinary person does. “But it’s not a thing people are willing to accept… I felt like saying, I’m a dying man, and I won’t have so many more occasions to laugh, in this world at least. But that would just make them serious and polite, I suppose” (Robinson 6). As this passage reveals, Ames is able to confess his true, internalized thoughts that the clerical life and social standards forbids him from saying. But the letter, and his writing throughout the novel as a whole, creates a space where Ames can express himself freely knowing that it will only be read– if at all – after his death. In this sense the letter not only serves its intended purpose as a document for his son, but also serves an underlying purpose, almost like a diary for Ames to write freely.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the structure of the novel as a letter to his son certainly says a lot about the story. I’d argue that, in addition to everything that you mentioned, it casts an interesting light on Ames struggle to accept Jack. Considering that he is writing to his son, presumably Ames knows that everything he writes about Jack will eventually be read by his son. This is interesting, considering how very critical he is of Jack, a person Ames’s son seems to like. I think this speaks to why exactly Ames struggles so much with Jack. We learn that Jack is John Ames’s “namesake, a godson, more or less” (92). Boughton names his son after John Ames when he thought that he would never have a son of his own. So, once John Ames defies the odds and marries a woman and has his own son, he is ashamed of Jack, never telling his new family about him. I think this reflects how Jack represents a darker part of John Ames’s life, a part where he was unsure of whether he would ever have a family. So, it is meaningful that John Ames struggles so much with his difficult feelings toward his godson in his letter to his own son, since one could perhaps assume that John Ames feels guilty that he was never a proper father to Jack as he is to his own son.
ReplyDeleteThis post hits a lot of points that are really significant to the story and plot line. One is particular is the reasoning behind John Ames writing this letter to his son. He has nothing physical or monetary to leave behind when he dies so he wanted to leave his son something that will be very personal and also something educational at the same time. Ames has written this letter to his son as a sort of personal testimony throughout the hardships and trials and also the good times throughout his life. He is able to describe the different hardships that Ames has gone through during his life such as his grandfather passing and the hard trip that him and his father went on to find and visit the grave. Another way this letter is educational is that it will help his son learn the reasoning behind the different things that Ames has done in his life and describe his emotions behind how he feels about his sermons and the realization that comes of his whole life’s work fits into some cardboard boxes that are piled in the attic. These do not seem as significant to him now then they did when he was giving them, but with this he is also able to go through them at any point to see how his teachings could apply to different situations.
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