Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Gilead, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Life, Death, and Beauty
Christian Faith, Mystery, and Ministry
Memory, Vision, and Conviction
Estrangement and Reconciliation
Loneliness and Love
Summary
Analysis
Pressing the limits of his understanding has been one of the greatest pleasures of John’s life. He believes that both Edward and his grandfather inspired him to do this. However, his “present bewilderments” make him feel more lost than ever before. It has all made him think about the way the world goes on—how those who come after trample on what we cared about.
John loves to explore problems intellectually. The challenge of his present problems, however, is that they’re not theoretical—they concern the people he loves most in the world. And looming over it all is the fact that pretty soon, John will no longer be here to protect his loved ones.
Themes
John remembers his father and grandfather shelling walnuts on the porch one day, as they did every autumn. When they weren’t arguing, they enjoyed each other’s company, and that usually meant sitting silently together. A terrible drought had started, and his grandfather said, “The summer is ended and still we are not saved.” His father agreed.
John’s grandfather’s quote is from the prophet Jeremiah, lamenting the people’s suffering under God’s wrath. So, his grandfather was saying here that the drought was God’s judgment on humanity’s sin. Notably, the two men manage to agree sometimes about God’s work in the world, though at other times they’re bitterly divided over it.
Themes
Right now, John’s son and Tobias are sitting on the porch, sorting through a colorful pile of gourds and pretending that various ones are submarines, tanks, and bombs. John remarks that all children seem to play at war nowadays, though he notes that in his day, they did the same thing—only they played at cannon fire and bayonet charges. This fact doesn’t reassure him.
The memory of the past makes John reflect on different generations, as his son and Tobias play on the same porch where his grandfather and father once sat. He acknowledges that even if the details change, there seems to be a warlike impulse in humanity—and a tendency to make light of war, at that.
Themes
John reflects on a sermon his father gave after everyone knew there’d been a breach between him and Edward. It wasn’t like John’s father to bring up personal things in the pulpit. But that day he thanked God for helping him understand what “defection” is and what he’d done to his own father when he left him to worship with the Quakers instead.
Unlike his own father, John’s father was reserved in his preaching. But that didn’t mean he was unreflective. When grieving Edward’s “defection” from Christianity, he was able to see that he, too, once abandoned his father’s view of the world.
Themes
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John’s father revealed that even though his mother (John’s grandmother) was very sick and in great pain at that time, she began coming to church again when she heard that her son wasn’t there. His sisters had to take turns carrying her. When the three of them entered the church, his father paused in his preaching, then preached for a few more minutes on the mystery of suffering for others. Then he finished the sermon, picked up his wife, and carried her home. When John’s father heard about it, he was ashamed, and he came back to church.
John brings up a rare story of his grandmother, who’s mainly known in the book as someone who suffered terribly because of his grandfather’s convictions. Despite arguably being neglected by her husband, John’s grandmother couldn’t bear the fact that her son (John’s father) stopped coming to her husband’s church, and she shamed him into coming back. Her actions suggested that, at least for her, family loyalty was the most important conviction.
Themes
John understood his father’s message—he was saying that whatever Edward’s transgressions might have been, his own were worse. He was also saying that no matter how embarrassing and disappointing these circumstances were, they still had something to teach him. John has often tried to look at his own life this way. He has found that the wrongs a person suffers are usually foreshadowed by the wrongs a person has committed themselves. However, he’s unsure how this realization applies to his present circumstances.
John’s father was open to the lessons God might be teaching him through painful circumstances in his life, and John tries to be similarly open in his life. After all, everyone is guilty of hurting others, and this is important to keep in mind when one is hurt oneself. But this insight doesn’t help John understand what’s happening with Jack.
Themes
This afternoon John had a discouraging meeting at church where very little was accomplished. When he got home, he took a nap and ended up sleeping through supper. He came outside in the evening and found his wife and son wrapped in a quilt on the porch swing. He sat down with them in the dark, watching his son doze. Then Jack Boughton walked down the road, and John’s wife invited him to visit, so he sat on the porch steps. John has noticed that Jack is always obliging toward her. Jack remarked that it’s good to be back in this town, and it’s wonderful that some of the people who live here now “don’t know [him] from Adam.” He made a weary gesture John had seen before.
John records an encounter with Jack. It’s a good example of the way John feels that Jack is intruding on precious time with his family. He seems particularly concerned about the fact that Jack clearly likes and respects Lila—something that apparently makes John feel somewhat threatened. Jack’s comments reference the fact that his reputation in Gilead hasn’t been great and hint that this has been a burden to him.
Themes
They chatted a bit, and John said sincerely that it has been good to see Jack during his time in Gilead. He also said he admires Jack’s familiarity with Karl Barth. Jack said he still tries to “crack the code” sometimes, and that John might not admire this if he understood Jack’s motives. John couldn’t help thinking that Jack is the hardest person in the world to have a conversation with, but he let the matter drop. He even imagined that Jack is really his son, sitting peacefully on the porch with them that night. He’s been thinking about grace lately, as if it’s a fire that burns things down to essentials, and he could feel something of that in the darkness and quiet tonight.
Jack’s reference to “crack[ing] the code” means that he still tries to understand Christianity sometimes, presumably with the hope that he might be able to believe it someday. John finds Jack’s personality very provoking, but he makes an effort not to let that disturb him and to focus on the simple goodness and beauty of life instead.
Themes
Even though John was drowsy at this point, he had a thought that stayed with him. He wished he could sit at the feet of Jack’s eternal soul and learn from him. It occurred to him that people are secrets from one another and even have their own distinct languages in a way—each a “little civilization” to themselves. Customs and common notions really just let us “coexist with the inviolable, untraversable, and utterly vast spaces between us.”
Even though John is distressed and confused by Jack, he still has an underlying respect and love for his basic humanity, as his drowsy thoughts show. After all, no human being can fully understand another, he thinks. As each person is made in the image of God, he suggests, only God can really understand the interior of any person. People just have to do the best they can to communicate and live together in this world.
Themes
John thought back to the terrible hunger during the Depression. It was simply how life was, and people got used to it: it was their civilization. But nowadays it might as well be “Ur of the Chaldees,” for all people know about it. And that’s a good thing. It’s also a good thing to know what it’s like to be poor, and better if you can experience that in the company of others.
John’s drowsy thoughts on the porch drift to life during the Depression, which is totally foreign to people today—as foreign as if it happened in long-ago Ur, the Middle Eastern land from which the biblical Abraham originated. He reflects that as terrible as that time was, it taught his generation something precious and irreplaceable about suffering together.
Themes
John nodded off, as he often does nowadays, and at some point he heard Jack and his wife talking. His wife asked Jack how long he’ll be staying in Gilead. He said his stay has already begun to seem long, and he might be heading back to St. Louis soon. His wife admitted that it took her a while to get used to this town. She also remarked that everyone speaks kindly of Jack. In reply, Jack asked if Reverend Ames has warned her about him yet.
This conversation, which happened while Jack and Lila thought John was asleep, is revealing to John. Jack and Lila know each other a little better than John guessed. At least, Lila seems to feel comfortable being honest with Jack, suggesting that they share a feeling of being outsiders in Gilead. But it’s also clear that Jack hasn’t told Lila everything about himself, assuming that John will do that.
Themes
John felt her taking one of his hands as she said that John never speaks unkindly about anyone. They laughed a little about what it’s like to be poor and how she always longed for a settled life; Jack remarked that he’s still searching for one. Very gently she replied, “Well, Jack, bless your heart.” He said, “Why, I thank you for that, Lila,” and left.
In their shared status as outsiders, Jack and Lila speak more forthrightly together than Jack does with anyone else. Lila also has a genuine sympathy for Jack which he isn’t affronted by, seeming to know it’s sincere. Highlighting the honesty of the exchange, this is the first time Lila is actually named in the novel—writing to his son, John has always referred to her as “your mother.”
Themes
