Gilead: Analysis of Major Characters
"Gilead: Analysis of Major Characters" explores the complex relationships and personal journeys of characters in a narrative deeply rooted in themes of faith, family, and legacy. Central to the story is John Ames, a reflective seventy-six-year-old minister who writes letters to his young son, sharing his life experiences and grappling with his past losses, including the deaths of his first wife and child. His struggle with forgiveness, particularly towards Jack Boughton, the son of his best friend, adds tension to his narrative.
John Ames Boughton is portrayed as a troubled figure whose past actions, including the abandonment of his family, create a rift within the community and his relationships. In contrast, Lila Ames, John’s second wife, represents a character seeking understanding and connection, despite her challenging past. The analysis also highlights characters like Robert Boughton, who tries to support Ames through his grief, and Edward Ames, whose atheism creates a divide within the family.
These intertwined lives reflect broader themes of spiritual conflict, personal redemption, and the enduring impact of one’s choices across generations, making for a rich exploration of character motivations and philosophical questions.
Gilead: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Marilynne Summers Robinson
First published: 2004
Genre: Novel
Locale: Gilead, Iowa; Kansas; parts of the Midwest
Plot: Historical
Time: The 1830s to 1957
John Ames, a white Congregationalist minister in Iowa and son of John and Martha Ames. He is a tall, quiet, intellectual man who has always looked older than his years. At seventy-six and with a heart condition, he is writing a series of letters to his young son to describe his life as well as the lives of his father and grandfather. His youth was marked by tragedy. As a young man, he married his childhood friend Louisa, who died giving birth to their first child, Rebecca. When Rebecca also died soon after, he fell into a deep depression that lasted for many decades. Despite a profound loneliness, he finds spiritual succor and relief in the everyday experiences of life in Iowa. He understands the world best when his thoughts are guided by theology. He struggles to summon forgiveness for those he does not trust, especially Jack Boughton, the son of his best friend. Late in life, he marries a much younger woman and has another child; he and his new wife view their relationship as an expression of their religious beliefs. As he approaches death, he worries both for the future of his family and for his congregation, who will need to go on without his leadership and guidance.
John Ames, a radical white abolitionist and minister to the Union Army during the Civil War. Wild-haired and scrawny with a crooked beard and one eye (the other was lost in the war), he is a passionate and stubborn man. Originally from Maine, he begins his spiritual and political journey when he has a vision of Christ in chains and feels compelled to travel to Kansas and fight against slavery. He is inspired by the abolitionist John Brown and believes in just violence and militancy. As minister of the Gilead Congregational church, he often preaches with a gun at his side. Later in life, he commits minor crimes in order to provide for poorer people in town. When his son John inherits the church and becomes a pacifist, he moves back to Kansas in protest, dying alone.
John Ames, the pacifist son of John and Margaret Ames and father of the protagonist. He disagrees with his father's militancy on spiritual and moral levels, which causes a rift in their relationship. Seeking a spiritual life of his own, he spends a good deal of time in Quaker communities. He tries to pass on his moral code to his son John, even taking the young boy to a river and throwing a gun into it as a symbolic gesture. After his father dies, he finally manages to make an uneasy peace with his memory.
Lila Ames, the second wife of protagonist John Ames, thirty-five years his junior. New to Gilead, she arrives at his church almost entirely unfamiliar with religion. Although she can appear distant, she is actually a very giving, loving woman, with a soft kind voice. She is attracted to Ames in large part because of his education and moral standing; after he baptizes her, she proposes marriage. She strives to be a proper wife, relying on her much-older husband to educate her, both in theological matters and in general. Although she clearly has a difficult and perhaps traumatic past, she rarely shares details from it, focusing instead on her new life.
Robert Boughton, a Presbyterian minister and the best friend of protagonist John Ames. He enjoys a large and devoted family, including many children. Aware that his best friend lives in a state of prolonged grief following the loss of his wife and child, he attempts to lessen this loneliness by asking Ames to be the godfather to one of his sons. In his older age, he is in regular physical pain and discomfort, which makes him crankier than he used to be. He is a gifted preacher and has a distinctive, strong voice.
John Ames “Jack” Boughton, the son of Robert Boughton and godson of protagonist John Ames. Tall, with black hair and high color, he has always had a precocious charm. In his youth, he seduces a poor young woman, who bears his child. He abandons them both and the child dies of an infection. Having caused his family great pain, he leaves Gilead for two decades. When he returns, his attention to the wife and young son of John Ames causes jealousy and widens a longstanding divide between Ames and his godson. He is in love with an African American woman and has a child with her but is driven out of her life by the racial prejudice of the law and her family.
Edward Ames, the brother of protagonist John Ames, ten years his senior. He leaves Gilead to study in Germany and becomes an atheist. When he returns at twenty-seven, he carries a walking stick and sports a huge mustache. His world philosophy is informed by forces far different from those of his family, many of whom consider his life to be a disgrace. He teaches at a university and rarely maintains contact with thepeopleinGilead.
Louisa Ames, the childhood friend and first wife of protagonist John Ames. As a young girl, she is joyful and energetic and always wears her hair in braids. From childhood, the people in town could tell she loved Ames and expected them to marry. She dies giving birth to their first child, who also dies.
Della, an African American woman who is the love of John Ames Boughton's life. She is a pleasant and respectful woman. She considers Boughton to be her husband even though they cannot legally wed.
Martha Ames, the mother of protagonist John Ames. A hardworking and practical woman, she makes sure the family has sufficient resources to get along. Although her husband and his father always argue, she is unafraid to intervene and to insist on peace in her home.
Unnamed son of John Ames, to whom the protagonist addresses the entries that comprise this book. He is seven years old, shy, and serious and spends a lot of time alone or with his one good friend, Tobias. Despite his shyness around peers, he is a loving and vibrant child, sharp and impish and very close to both his parents.