Balm for Reverend Ames in Gilead

Paper Summary:

This is a book review of Marilynne Robinson's 2004 second novel, "Gilead". The paper explains how the book is a tale of an older reverend, Reverend John Ames, who is on the verge of death, and is writing a letter to his young son. The book contains many elements of religion, as appropriate for a reverend, has the theme of paternal lineage and gives the reader images of love, death, heaven and God from a dying man.

From the Paper:

"Marilynne Robinson's Gilead won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2005, and is a follow-up to her first work, Housekeeping. Gilead tells the story of Reverend John Ames' thoughts as he writes a letter to his young son; a letter so significant as he is near the end of his life and will not be around to have father/son conversations as his child grows up. Reverend Ames' story includes a telling four-generational male link, as he includes elements about his grandfather, father and himself for his son. Reverend Ames makes no secret his impending death from heart disease. Indeed, it is told to the reader in the first line, and in the first two paragraphs of the novel we also learn that his child and wife are also aware of these facts."

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