Fathers, Sons, and Spiritual Doubles in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead

Introduction: Ames, His Namesake, and a Grudge Long Held

As John Ames, the protagonist of Marilynne Robinson's epistolary novel Gilead, struggles to come to terms with his life, he frequently reflects upon the troubled relationship he had with his close friend and fellow clergy member Rev. Boughton. Ames' first wife died in childbirth, and Ames feels a sense of jealousy and sublimated anger toward Jack — Boughton's son and Ames' namesake (Boughton's son carries the full name John Ames "Jack" Boughton). The novel's chronicle of Ames' personal history keeps returning to Boughton until it concludes with Ames finally forgiving Jack, the only man in his life he ever truly detested. Robinson said of her novel's religious themes: "The first obligation of religion is to maintain the sense of the value of human beings. If you had to summarize the Old Testament, the summary would be: stop doing this to yourselves" (Fay). Ames must surrender his grudge and also his guilt for having held that grudge for so long.

Ames dislikes Jack because Jack got a young woman pregnant and abandoned her; the woman, like Ames' second wife Lila, came from a poor, impoverished background. At the time, Boughton believed his friend might not have any more children, so he named his son Jack after Ames, hoping to give Ames a namesake. "That was a pretty bitter joke given how hard his parents took the embarrassments he exposed them to. And it was harder for them because of the way they had of printing the entire name. It was always John Ames Boughton" (Robinson 70). This implies that Ames, too, felt embarrassed by Jack's actions. While Boughton's other children distinguished the family, Jack became the black sheep — someone who, in Ames' view, never did anything worthwhile with his life.

Class, Resentment, and the Prodigal Son

As well as the resentment that his friend had a son and the misuse of his name, the fact that Lila, Ames' second wife, is also from a lower social class provides yet another reason Ames resents Jack. Jack's escapades hit too close to home. "Jack Boughton had no business involving himself with that girl. It was something no honorable man would have done" (Robinson 157). Jack is called the prodigal son, the one who "caused so much disappointment without ever giving anyone any grounds for hope … the lost sheep, the lost coin" (Robinson 91). Jack forms a kind of second identity for Ames, doing all the things that the devout, conservative Ames would never do under normal circumstances — such as having relationships with women considered socially unacceptable. Yet Ames' own sexual history is far more complicated than his Republican, conservative self-image might suggest. After all, the very purpose of the book arises from Ames' desire to write to the son of his much younger wife; in some ways, he has committed the same transgressions as Jack, having entered a relationship with a woman of a different class and background than himself.

Ames' conservatism is itself a departure from the tradition of both his fathers, so he too — much like Jack — could be said to have betrayed the older generation. His grandfather was a follower of John Brown, a radical abolitionist, and preached with a gun in his hand from the pulpit. His father was an ardent pacifist. His grandfather in particular, much like Jack, seems to represent another second self — another unlived life and unexplored identity that Ames was reluctant to assume. He remembers his grandfather as a "wild-haired, one-eyed, scrawny old fellow with a crooked beard, like a paintbrush left to dry with lacquer in it" (Robinson 79). The grandfather's fanaticism, rather than bringing him peace, left him "stricken and afflicted … like a man everlastingly struck by lightning, so that there was an ashiness about his clothes and his hair never settled and his eye had a look of tragic alarm when he wasn't actually sleeping. He was the most unreposeful human being I ever knew except for certain of his friends" (Robinson 47). In contrast to his grandson, who seems peacefully content with his ministry and unwilling to rock the boat — Ames says he will vote for Eisenhower if he lives long enough — he comes from a long line of rabble-rousers.

Jack as Ames' Unlived Life

His description of his grandfather also highlights the paradox of passionate conviction. By the standards of today, Ames' grandfather is clearly on the right side of history. Yet Ames is clearly taken aback by his grandfather's deep, emotional connection to God. His grandfather plainly believes he is doing the Lord's work, but Ames' own way of relating to God's divine presence is more cautious and far less passionate. There is also a parallel not only between Ames and Jack, but between his grandfather and Jack, since Jack ultimately becomes involved in an interracial relationship with an African-American woman and fathers a child with her. Given the prejudices of the 1950s, he is engaging in his own John Brown-like behavior by transgressing racial barriers. Ames, however, is repelled by such intensity rather than drawn to it. His relationship with God is much quieter. While he loves his life and regrets that he will soon be leaving it, his spirituality is never overstated. His personal philosophy is, above all, not to disturb the peace of his current environment.