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
John has a few pictures of Louisa, but they don’t seem to be a good likeness. Then again, he hasn’t seen Louisa in 51 years. He remembers how young Louisa used to jump rope without skipping a beat, her braids bouncing and her sunbonnet askew.
In a way, Louisa is just a dim memory to John at this point, and he didn’t have the chance to get to know her very well. His memories of her as a child are more vivid than memories of their brief marriage.
Themes
John has always envied men who could watch their wives grow old. He’ll never see that, and he’ll never watch his child grow up. He’s guided hundreds of people through life’s milestones, yet so much of life seemed closed off to him. His wife says he was like Abraham, but unlike Abraham, John didn’t have an elderly wife or any promise of a child—he “was just getting by on books and baseball and fried-egg sandwiches.”
Though John’s late marriage and fatherhood are a great joy, the sorrow of his impending death is built into that joy. His career as a minister is largely focused on shepherding people through things like births, marriages, and relationships—things that seemed beyond John’s reach. Though Lila compares his former life to that of the biblical patriarch Abraham, John’s was lonelier in a way—he lived a solitary bachelor life with no expectation that it would ever change.
Themes
John says that his son and the cat, Soapy, have joined him in his study. His son is drawing airplanes while lying on the floor in a patch of sunlight. He knows the names of different airplane models—names like Messerschmitt and Fokker and Zero—because of a book Leon Fitch gave him behind John’s back, surely knowing John wouldn’t approve. John knows he should make his son return the book, but he’ll probably end up just hiding it in the pantry. He wonders when his son will figure out that’s where they hide things they don’t want him getting into.
John’s pacifism is again hinted at here, even though he doesn’t directly say why he objects to his son’s book of fighter planes. He’d prefer that his son not take delight in weapons of war. Recall that John fervently opposed American involvement in World War I, and presumably he felt the same way about World War II, which wouldn’t be a very distant memory at this point (the mid-1950s).
Themes
John could have gotten married again while he was still a young man; people in his congregation certainly tried to marry him off. Looking back, though, he’s grateful he chose not to remarry. It seems as though “in all that deep darkness a miracle was preparing,” even though John didn’t know what he was waiting for.
John reflects that his life could easily have taken a different path; it seems he had the option of remarrying if he had truly wanted to. He suggests that the “deep darkness” of his lonely years was necessary for a “miracle” to emerge in his life.
Themes
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Then, when his wife did arrive, when they still didn’t know each other well, she gave John a serious look and quietly said, “You ought to marry me.” This was the first time John ever realized what it really meant to love another person. John was stunned into silence for a while, but he followed her down the street and finally said, “You’re right, I will.” She replied that she’d see him tomorrow and kept walking. It was the most thrilling moment of John’s life.
John reveals more bits and pieces of his relationship with Lila. It’s still largely a mystery how they came together, except that Lila initiated their engagement—a rather unconventional step, especially in a rural Midwestern community in the 1950s.
Themes
John is trying to be wise, but he doesn’t know what to say. He has loved this life—the feeling of laying his hand against a baby’s brow in baptism—and yet, every time he does it, he thinks of laying his hand on his dying daughter Rebecca to bless her. Boughton named her Angeline because of the verse, “Their angels in Heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven.”
Much of John’s understanding of life has come through the mysteries of his faith, which in turn has meant that his view of life has been built on close encounters with death—including his own daughter’s. The Bible verse she was named after is Matthew 18:10, in which Jesus urges his disciples not to disdain his “little ones”—even a child like Rebecca, who lives for only a few hours, is precious to God.
Themes
John has been thinking about existence a lot lately. It all feels new and astonishing still. He knows that what awaits him is far better, but that makes this world even lovelier, with its “human beauty.” He believes that in eternity, this life will be an “epic” sung in the streets.
John’s closeness to death makes human life seem even more remarkable to him; he’s never grown used to it, and he believes that heaven’s beauty doesn’t make earthly beauty any less worthwhile. He even speculates that earthly life will be celebrated in heaven, like an epic poem that people might recite, marveling at the deeds it depicts.
Themes
Lacey Thrush, an unmarried elderly lady, died last night, “promptly and decorously.” They said the Lord’s Prayer and Twenty-third Psalm, and John sang a hymn before she nodded off. He admires her and was comforted by her peace, noting what a blessing these elderly saints are.
As he considers his own death, John draws strength and comfort from visiting elderly parishioners’ death beds. Used to the set-apart role of minister, he doesn’t seem to reflect on the fact that he, too, is now among those old, faithful church members whose lives bless others.
Themes
