Jack by Marilynne Robinson
The mythological location of Marilynne Robinson’s novels Gilead, Home, Lila, and now Jack, Gilead, Iowa, and its adored characters have shed light on and questioned the complexity of American history, the strength of human emotions, and the wonders of a sacred environment. The fourth book in this now-classic series by Robinson is titled Jack. It details the relationship between Della Miles, a high school teacher and the wayward son of a Presbyterian pastor, and John Ames Boughton, the Presbyterian minister of Gilead. They are deeply felt, tortured, a star-crossed interracial passion that reflects both the historical and contemporary ambiguities of American life.
Jack by Marilynne Robinson
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In segregated St. Louis, Jack is the tale of Jack Boughton, the rebellious son of the local Presbyterian minister, and his romance with a clever and beautiful African American woman who becomes his common-law wife. Robinson is unquestionably one of the greatest writers currently working in English.
JACK forces me to reevaluate the core themes of the other Gilead books. While the elderly preacher John Ames serves as the book’s narrator, Jack is unquestionably its protagonist. Near the end of the novel, the sweet, mostly sage old Pastor Ames finally allows himself to realize that he has disliked Jack since the moment Jack’s father “tricked” Ames into trying to accept the infant son by giving him the name John Ames Boughton. Due to his ongoing grief over his own deceased infant and his perception of Jack as a cuckoo child and usurper, he rejects Jack. Even when Ames touches Jack’s brow to baptize him, he cannot feel good.
The anger is complete and immediately subdued, but Jack still feels it. He also feels it as he grows up in a family that is so tightly knit and adamantly religious that there is nowhere for him to grow into his own identity. His mother was hurt by his difficult birth, which caused him to feel unwelcome in the world even before he was born. He quickly becomes the family’s scapegoat to the point where they suspect him of more serious crimes as well as the little misdeeds and practical jokes he actually performs.
In other words, he starts acting out and withdrawing because he feels early on that he can’t do anything correctly. His siblings adore him, but they also enjoy worrying about him and gossiping about him, which keeps him on the outside looking in. They also like forgiving him repeatedly because they are true to their faith. They enjoy praying for him and feeling hopeless about him. He may be considered their most important family project, but despite their best efforts, they will never fully comprehend him.
He feels more motivated to protest it the more they pray for him to grow up to be a good preacher’s son. When in fact Jack’s precociousness is only a persistent insecurity, Old Ames mistakenly interprets it as arrogance. Early on, Jack learns to cover up his hurt by appearing unconcerned. Throughout GILEAD and HOME, Jack is putting his family to the test, and they keep failing him, especially his father, whose careless responses to Jack’s probing queries about the Civil Rights movement must sting Jack every time he dismisses his worries.
