Gilead

Robinson continues to deepen our understanding of multiple father-son relationships. We learn the root of the quarrel between John’s father and grandfather, and the disappointment and anger felt by each man in the other. John’s father is a pacifist and cannot abide his father preaching the “divine righteousness” of war (87). Conversely, it “kills” the fiery grandfather’s heart that the Lord never came to his son, inspiring him to act against injustice as he did. The grandfather wishes, futilely, that his son would continue his legacy.

Kansas was a battleground state at the time John’s grandfather supported John Brown. Pro-slavery and anti-slavery forces clashed in brutal battles from 1854 to 1861 that became known as “Bleeding Kansas.” The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 ruled that a popular vote by the settlers would determine whether Kansas entered the Union as a free or slave state. Pro-slavery settlers in Missouri known as “Border Ruffians” crossed the border into Kansas trying to violently influence the election. “Free Staters” in Kansas crossed into Missouri to return the fight. “Osawatomie” John Brown (107), a militant abolitionist, led armed uprisings against pro-slavery groups. When 300 Border Ruffians crossed into Kansas in 1856 intending to destroy the Free State town of Osawatomie, Brown attempted to defend the town even though he was wildly outnumbered. Brown failed, but his effort made him a hero to many abolitionists. Bleeding Kansas was a factor leading into the Civil War. John’s grandfather supported Brown and the Civil War; John believes that his grandfather did “preach those boys into the war” (88).

Like his grandfather, John also wants his—much different—legacy to continue. He wants his son to read the books he read himself, including the work of 16th-century metaphysical poet John Donne. John also wants to give his son “some version of that same memory” (103) he has of his father giving him communion—even though in John’s memory it is slightly altered. The mutable nature of memories and experience becomes a continuing motif in Gilead.

Despite his love for his own son, and his ministerial understanding that God has boundless love even for the undeserving, John cannot understand how Boughton can love Jack above his other children. This attitude reveals John’s negatively fixed opinion of Jack. To Boughton, Jack is “the lost sheep, the lost coin” (73). Here John refers to parables told by Jesus in the books of Matthew and Luke about a shepherd who leaves a large flock to find the one that is lost, and a woman who rejoices finding one of her missing silver coins; both parables represent the repentance of sinners and their return to God. Yet John is not certain of Jack’s contrition, and Jack recognizes this, observing when they meet that “bygones are not bygones yet, Reverend” (91-92). Jack’s comment calls into question whether John can change and forgive Jack for past transgressions. The theme of forgiveness becomes more prevalent as Gilead progresses.

In this section we also see the expansion of two physical motifs. John is very attuned to nature, seeing in it the presence of God. Light and water have special significance to him. Water is used to baptize and confer blessings. Edward pours water over his head after playing baseball with John and quotes Psalm 133, making John “at ease” about Edward’s soul despite his atheism. The rain at the burned church and on the day John meets Lila becomes an even more powerful memory as he ages. John also is very aware of light in all its different nuances. John describes himself as “crepuscular” (71), or active at dusk and dawn. Light will come to have physical and spiritual importance.