Gildead Blog 5 August 29, 2014

Prompt: "often we can learn a lot about a character through his relationship with another character or characters. Discuss a relationship you see between two characters in Gilead and what that relationship tells you about the characters and the novel as a whole."

                                                                                                                   Camille Mihalchik
                                                                                                                   AP Literature
                                                                                                                   August 29, 2014

Creating relationships between two characters is often a main concern when writing a book. Important relationships can portray to the reader from the beginning, what the book is about and how the characters act. Often times, the connection and understanding between father and son is something that cannot be replaced, so in order to make sure that John Ames' son knew him and his background, he writes his autobiography, which contains their relationship as father and son. In Gilead written by Marilynne Robinson, Reverend John Ames writes this autobiography to his toddler son who may not get to know his father all so well as he grows into a man since his father is ill. Overall, this shows the bond and relationship that can be held between father and son and how sacred it truly is, ultimately what John Ames was hoping to keep with his son even when he becomes deceased.

As John writes his autobiography, his main purpose is to impose wisdom on his son about his previous experiences, life, and religion, so that as his son grows older, he is able to keep some part of his father with him. John Ames states, “I told you last night that I might be home sometime, and you said, Where, and I said, To be with the Good Lord, and you said, Why, and I said, Because I’m old, and you said, I don’t think you’re old. And you put your hand in my hand and you said, You aren’t very old, as if that settled it. I told you you might have a very different life from mine, and from the life you’ve had with me, and that would be a wonderful think, there are many ways to live a good life” (Robinson 1). This quote depicts to the reader how John Ames was able to simply explain to his son about why, how, and when he was going to leave, also giving his son a learning experience as he learns at a young age how to deal with his emotions as people come and go in and out of his life. His seven-year-old son reacts in a way that shows how strong their young and developing relationship is. His son does not think John Ames is too old to go, ultimately showing to John Ames and the reader that his son loves his father and wants him to stay in his life.

John Ames devoted his life to his family and his job as a reverend. Through these two things, John Ames acknowledges that he does not have a great life and does not live in a great town, yet he has his son to thank for making all of the troubles somehow get better. John Ames states, “I’m writing this in part to tell you that if you ever wonder what you’ve done in your life, and everyone does wonder sooner or later, you have been God’s grace to me, a miracle. You may not remember me very well at all, and it may seem to you to be no great thing to have been the good child of an old man in a shabby little town you will no doubt leave behind. If only I had the words to tell you” (52). This quote exactly explains how John Ames viewed his son and what he meant to him. This shows how the both of them were able to view each other’s existence and that’s an important thing to have in a father son relationship. This also shows how John Ames views himself with regards to his son. John Ames defines himself as an old father who no longer has the ability and money to give his son and wife a good life. John Ames hopes that his wisdom and intelligence that he writes to his son will makeup for some of the things that he has lacked as father.

Some parents always wish and have the need that their children can be or do something special, while others hope that they can be special, but are simply fine if they are not. John Ames is the latter of the two. John Ames states, “ I have said at least once a week my whole adult life that there is an absolute disjunction between our Father’s love and our deserving. Still, when I see this same disjunction between human parents and children, it always irritates me a little. (I know you will be and I hope you are an excellent man, and I will love you absolutely if you are not)” (73). This shows their relationship in the light that Ames loves his son to the point where he has faith and has hopes and wishes the best for his future, yet he will still acknowledge and love his son if he does not end up to be anything special. It shows that their relationship is something special and it wraps up the whole book in the sense that the relationship between father and son is sacred and a father is an important thing for a young boy to have as he grows up. All fathers wish that their son can grow up and be something special, taking with them the lessons and intelligence that the father has taught him. Overall, this shows how strong and how great of a father John Ames is because although his son will not grow up into a man with his father present, he will still have a book in which he can continue to read and learn from his father. John Ames shows the undying love, bond, and hope that he will always have for his only son.

Charming Billy Blog 4 August 8, 2014

Prompt: “Though Billy Lynch is the title character of the novel, ‘Charming Billy’ presents several other well-rounded characters. Choose a character other than Billy and discuss the methods the author uses to create him/her. How does your chosen character contribute to the meaning of the novel?”

                                                                                                                   Camille Mihalchik
                                                                                                                   AP Literature
                                                                                                                   August 8, 2014

To enhance a character in the eyes of the reader, authors use methods associated with emotion in order to connect the reader with the book overall, but most specifically, the characters and the personal aspects. Billy Lynch, the title character, is an important character in the novel Charming Billy written by Alice McDermott, although there are also other main characters. Maeve Lynch is originally portrayed as newly widowed and quiet upset. Throughout the novel, the author takes the reader back to the death of Maeve’s mother, the fiascos between Maeve’s drunken father and husband, and her position in her relationship. Due to a lie in hopes to help someone, Maeve’s life continued to be a life where she was continuously obligated to help others.

Before Maeve came along, Billy was in love with a girl named Eva who was from Ireland. Throughout Maeve and Billy’s relationship and marriage, Eva and the past secretly had a lot to do with the way that Billy acted, therefore creating inconvenience for Maeve. Ironically, Maeve and Billy met at the shoe store, which Billy worked at, in order to pay back the money that he borrowed from his boss and gave to Eva, so that she could come to America and marry him. For Billy, this was the start of all his problems; Eva stayed in Ireland, married, had children, and used the money to open up her own café. To protect Billy, his friend Dennis told him that Eva had died. This seemingly innocent and helpful lie to protect his friend ultimately ruined his friend and Maeve.

 Although Billy was fully committed to Maeve once they got married, Maeve was always the second girl in Billy’s heart. Eva would always be his first and that’s the way he felt, he would never be changed. In a conversation with Dennis, Billy’s best man, Dan Lynch stated, “They’re loyal to the first plans they made- just like Billy was loyal to Holtzman and the job he gave him. And like he would have been loyal to her if she had lived and come back here and they’d gotten married. Just like he was loyal to Maeve: Billy never breathed another word about that girl after he married Maeve. But the girl was first, and for Billy she would always be first. That’s the kind of guy he was. Maeve couldn’t change him” (McDermott 21). This passage explains Maeve and Billy’s relationship in the sense that Maeve was fully committed to Billy. Billy acted in a way showing that he could reciprocate the same feelings, but in his heart, he could not. Through the emotion that Alice McDermott created in Billy and Maeve’s relationship, Maeve was able to become an central character who was blinded by her own husband and his true feelings.

Maeve’s life consisted of taking care of the two most important men in her life. After the death of Maeve’s mom, her life changed forever. Her dad started to drink alcohol and became addicted. Maeve then went on to meet Billy, a man who was already an alcoholic.  The “death” of Billy’s first love, Eva, caused Billy to start his new addiction. The narrator explained Billy as having an “irreparably broken heart.” Through deaths dealt by Maeve’s father and Billy, it is shown that death creates the need to drink, as if the drinking erases all problems that one might have.  Although, what is actually shown through these deaths is that as family members start to drink, they actually cause more problems for others, as if it is a domino effect. Unfortunately, through blood and marriage, Maeve was obligated to deal with adversity. In a conversation after the death of Billy, one of his sisters Kate stated,“‘ Toward the end it was a foregone conclusion,’ Kate said. ‘I think it was worse for her at the beginning, when she has her father and her husband to keep track of” (12). Maeve dealt with the problems associated with her fathers and her husband’s problems, such as getting them off of the streets, changed, and in bed. Although Maeve was practically obligated through blood and marriage, there was love that encouraged her to help each in every time. After Billy’s death, Billy’s best friends, Dennis, was talking about Maeve and stated, “She hoped the world would somehow turn out to be just the way he believed it to be. She hoped somehow that he’d turn out to be right in the end, with all his hanging on to the past. All his loyalty to the dead. Even if it meant she’d have no life of her own” (194). Maeve loved Billy immensely, making it hard for her to not help him. She believed that if she constantly helped him, he might turn out okay, even if that meant that she had to give up her life for him. Through these tough tasks and dealing with drunken, grown men, the reader is able to understand how Maeve loved and had a significant part in these peoples lives, especially Billy’s as his family and friends dealt with his death. Through the emotion created throughout the book, the reader is able to connect and sympathize with Maeve and the problems that she encountered.

Billy’s drinking at night had a routine, in which Maeve was an important part of. Billy would drink while walking the streets late at night with his dog. Maeve would then find him stumbling inside, giving the dog a treat, where Maeve would then have to help him up the stairs for bed and warm up her kettle. After Billy’s funeral, Billy’s family and friends gathered at his house while Maeve took a nap upstairs. Their dog was still alive, so Dennis took her out for walk. Upon returning to the house, Maeve came downstairs, “She looked around the room, her eyes weak. ‘I was just getting up,’ she said. ‘I hadn’t put the light on yet.’ Now she had put her fingertips to her forehead and lowered her eyes. ‘I thought Billy was down here with the dog’” (144). Through this passage and conversation, Alice McDermott is able to show to the reader how Maeve was used to her routine with Billy. Upon going downstairs, Maeve was expecting Billy, not a group of his family and friends. Maeve was in denial about Billy’s death and thought that it was all a dream. Maeve shows how hard it is to experience a death and what a normal routine is like without the person who made it so difficult and structured.

Love is a feeling that Maeve’s life was revolved around. Alice McDermott used this feeling of love and emotion to capture the true characteristics of Maeve, so that the reader is able to personally connect to her character. Through Maeve’s life, her father, and her relationship, Maeve encountered many hardships, proving how strong she truly was. Most of Maeve’s problems were caused by alcohol and death. Although Maeve had difficulty taking care of her father, she had the most difficulty taking care of her husband, Billy. Alice McDermott shows through Charming Billy that lies where one friend or family hopes to help the other can cause problems, despite the good intentions. For Dennis, all he hoped to do was help Billy. Ultimately, Billy tried to fix his problems with alcohol, which then created problems for Maeve. Maeve’s strong and loving character shows that you have to support and help the ones you love because sometimes, people cannot be changed. After Billy’s funeral, Dan Lynch stated, “Maeve couldn’t change him” (21).