The audience's first introduction to the dual nature of the narrator's morality occurs in a scene in which he describes a moment in which the sky changes as he prays, "At first I thought I saw the sun setting in the east...Then I realized that what I saw was a full moon rising just as the sun was going down. Each of them was standing on its edge" (Robinson 14). Within the first couple of pages, Marilynne Robinson is symbolically showing the ending of the "day", or the happiness of Ames' life, in juxtaposition to the beginning of the "night", or sadness and end of his life. It is also imperative that this scene happens as Ames prays in that it shows that the internal struggle throughout the novel will ultimately revolve around religion.
It is interesting the ways in which the narrator attempts to create his own proverbs within the novel, and it is especially interesting to witness this occurrence within regards to the dual nature of his character. In one lesson he writes for his son, Ames states that he has found within his long life "grief, but never without comfort; [and] loneliness, but never without peace" (Robinson 71). It is within this passage that the epitome of the struggle is emphasized. Throughout his life, the reverend has sought to be open-minded with his judgement of others. This concept also translated into his judgement of himself and the ways in which he enjoyed his life. Although I do not have a deep understanding of the Christian faith, something that was emphasized throughout the novel was the bittersweet nature of life within Christianity. John Ames feels both sides of every emotional coin, so to say, and this in turn allows him to experience the full stream of human conciousness.
The end of the novel implies the narrator's death, and they do an incredible job of detailing the beautiful intricacies of the duality of John Ames' nature after his mind reaches its full potential. "There are two occasions when the sacred beauty of Creation becomes dazzlingly apparent, and they occur together. One is when we feel our mortal insufficiency to the world, and the other is when we feel the world's mortal insufficiency to us" (Robinson 245). To the reverend, the world is seen as two halves of a whole - perfect melancholy. In order to adapt to this world, one must recognize these halves as both extremely important in shaping the religious world to the reality of conflict.
I completely agree with your analysis of John Ames’s character. I think it’s also important to note how the motif of duality persists in John Ames’s family. As we’ve discussed in class, Ames speaks at length about the conflict between his father and grandfather. Their once close relationship was torn apart by a vision his grandfather claimed to have, where the Lord came to him to tell him that the civil war was a holy mission from God to free the slaves. Ames’s father, on the other hand, believes in peace and is staunchly anti-war. Ames shows sympathy to both sides. While he does claim that “his father was right”, Ames also defends his grandfather, and even tellingly inherited his love of baseball from him (76). While these dual interpretations of the same religious teachings conflict, Ames lives his life considering both equally possible and both men who hold those positions equally correct. This may shed light on the way he treats other conflicts in the novel – with a mind toward seeing both sides.
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