Comparison of Morality and Change
- Author Anonymous
- Apr 6, 2016
- 4 min read
The Relationship Between Morality and Change
Change is happening, it always is and will never stop. What about morals? Can we say the same thing about them? That all depends on the person you are talking to. No one’s morals can all be the same as the next person. As the more you experience, and the people you meet, some of those morals may take a turn down a different path than what you imagined. It may be a sigh of relief difference, or one that is difficult to cope with. The utmost important thing you can decide for yourself, is the will to always want to better oneself.
In the story Home, by Marilynne Robinson, Jack Boughton was raised in a highly religious family in Gilead, Iowa. Jack was a strong willed, independent kid who rarely sought to others for help and in most cases stayed away from any human contact at all possible costs. In doing so, his childhood was not as pleasant as his fellow siblings, who carried out regular daily activities such as playing games with each other. His erratic behavior continued throughout college where he didn’t even do his own school work. Jack’s brother carried his workload until he eventually dropped out, shortly before graduation. Jack’s troubled early life, forced him to turn to the bottle to help him ease. After numerous years and a failed family of his own, Jack finally makes his treacherous way back home.
Jack’s early failures made him visibly miserable. With a great lack of self confidence; he was having difficulties of maintaining a job, providing himself with a reasonable place to live, and even a friend group to support himself. That is because of the slippery slope he forced himself upon from his poor decision-making while growing up. He could have embraced guidance from his own father, who was even a pastor. Or from any of his several siblings. Instead, he chose not to change any of those bad habits he performed on a daily basis, which finally ended up catching back up to him. Luckily Jack recognizes the dead end he put himself down, and starts to make better of his situation.
It’s a slow process to break old habits, but with Jack’s slow adaptation’s he really starts to feel better about himself. The only problem that he still needs to work on is his reasoning for why he is changing. The author portrays Jack as wanting to change for the better because of his father, Robert. His guilty conscience still holds back much of his potential to develop. During his attempt of betterment, Jack was unable to shake the demons of his troubled past. Holding onto certain things like the past is not improving his wellbeing but just causing him to be depressed. Jack must look through his past and realize that there is nothing that he is able to do to change what he has already done.
Another thing that must be considered, is that now he must embrace the assisting of his family. He has been blessed to be under the same roof as his younger sister, Glory, who may possibly be the most understanding family member of his. Problem’s are best solved through being worked on with groups, it is much easier to find alternatives using multiple head’s in any situation. Fortunately, once he chooses to open up about some his thought’s that trouble his mental health, it rewards him with a sense of relief. If it weren’t for Glory, who knows what would’ve happened to Jack when he came back. He would’ve been forced to take care of his father who spends most of his day sleeping. Doing something like that would have crushed Jack, quite possibly giving him the sense of it being payback for all the troubles that he gave his father long ago during his childhood. For Jack’s luck and his father being a pastor, Robert has the gift of easily being able to forgive. If it weren’t for that, who knows if the family would have ever let Jack back into their family home.
Eventually as time goes by in Gilead, it’s easy to sense the change in moral for Jack. He in fact has a relapse with alcohol and that is the last time in the book where it mention’s him drinking. Jack forces Glory to take the alcohol that he recently purchased and to have her go dump it. It’s after this slip up, is when Jack decides to make the move of rebuilding his reputation with God, as well as with the family friend Reverend Ames. This change is particularly difficult for Jack to come to amends with; primarily because he realizes that not all people are as forgiving as his father Robert. Jack does a good job at showing Ames how determined he is to changing for the greater good. He begins to attend church service’s and also befriends Ames’ young son Robby. He teaches Robby the mechanics of how to play baseball which is an excellent way of being a positive influence on Robby.
Lastly, one of the main themes of the book inevitably has to deal with change. It is easy to recognize the similarities between Jack’s struggled life with the story of the prodigal son. Jack’s homecoming gave him the understanding that he is accepted no matter what way he comes off as to people. This acceptance had him realize that his negative habits were the main contributors to his depression.
In conclusion, it is always idealistic to better yourself because it will undeniably make your life a lot easier as well as happier. By improving yourself everyday, you benefit by making it easier to maintain the relationships that you have with your friends and family. With friends, family, and a positive character, you will soon figure out how blessed of a life you truly have and will understand there isn’t more from life that you can ask for.
Bibliography
Robinson, Marilynne. Home. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008. Print.
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