Looking back, Ames see how young and vigorous his father was, just like himself until recently.Īmes married a girl named Louisa when he was young, but she died giving birth to their daughter Rebecca (Angeline). He and his father spent some time there and tidied up the grave, and watched the moon rise as the sun set. At one point Ames realized he’d accidentally walked on graves, and felt sick and guilty. A countrywoman helped them on their journey, and they found the grave. The journey was tough since there was a drought, and they often did not have enough food. This was 1892, and Ames and his father traveled there. Ames’s father had tried to find his father and finally learned where he had gone and died. The man had been born in Maine and then went to Kansas and died there. When he was twelve, his father took him to his grandfather’s grave. He, John Ames, was born in 1880 in Kansas, and is now seventy-six and has spent seventy-four of those years in Gilead, Iowa. When he met Lila he saw the expression of fury and sadness in her eyes. He is very serious, just like his mother. Religious vocations allow you to concentrate better, he muses.Īmes’s son is about seven years old and he came very late in his life.

His own father acted according to principles but was somewhat disappointing to him and others. He thinks he should have learned to control his temper from them.

In his family, his mother’s father was a preacher, his father’s father was, and others beyond. He marvels at the things people tell him, though. He appreciates jokes as much as anyone, but people don’t share that side of themselves with him because he is a minister. He thinks so many things are beautiful, such as watching people laugh. He regrets that he has nothing to leave his son, who is young right now, and his wife. His parishioners often ask him about death, and now he is told that he is dying because his heart is failing.

He is writing his son a letter, which he hopes his son will read this when he is grown. The narrator is John Ames, speaking in first-person.

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