Change in a "Utopia" Sense

As a reader we get to see the struggles that Jack faces throughout the story. He is trying to find himself. He wants so badly to prove to himself that he is possible of change, but throughout the entire novel he is struggling to prove that he is capable of change to the entire town of Gilead even more than to himself. In class we listened to a clip of Robinson defining what the town of Gilead is to represent a sense of “utopia.” However, this town is anything but. It has been twenty long years since Jack has returned to Gilead or since he has seen his family. After being gone for twenty years the towns’ people are still holding his past against him. In the novel Home the town Gilead struggles to be the ultimate “utopia” of a place when the townspeople refuse to forgive Jack for his past making it more of a challenge for him to grow into a better person and having to defy the odds that are against him to change.

In the novel Home there is a constant struggle between Jack and the people of Gilead refusing to forgive the once rebellious teenager. No matter how many times Jack goes out of his way to do something different it is never enough. As a reader we see this depicted most between Reverend Ames and Jack. When Jack returns to Gilead after being absent for twenty years he finds that Reverend Ames is a little more hesitant than his father or Glory with wanting to forgive him for his actions that he did in the past. As an attempt to put his past behind him and create a better him Jack goes out of his way to get an invite from Reverend Ames to have dinner with him and his family. In the beginning Jack really made an effort with Reverend Ames son. He would spend a lot of his time playing catch with his son and just trying to spend time around his family. After a while Jack realized that the effort he was making with Ames family wasn’t enough so he decided to go to a mass at the church where Reverend Ames was leading the service. At this point in the novel Robinson is showing that Jack is capable of change. He is growing as a person and trying to prove to Reverend Ames that he is not the same screw up of a teenage boy that he once was. However, Reverend Ames did not see Jack’s appearance at mass as an honorary action. Instead, Ames seemed to have geared the service towards shining negative light on Jack’s past in front of the whole church, which was a big portion of the town. Ames focused on the sins of a fatherresting on the children. Jack couldn’t help but blame himself for the death of his child he abandoned years ago. The service was extremely insulting to Jack and even more embarrassing as Jack has been trying show the town of Gilead that he is in fact capable of change. Even when he is putting himself out there, out of his comfort zone the towns’ people still can’t give him the benefit of the doubt. With Reverend Ames being a well-known towns person and also well-liked among the community this resulted in a major fall in why Jack fails to fully change to the satisfactory of the town and to his family.

After twenty years of being away and absent from the town one would think that the towns people would have let go of Jack’s past when he returns. This could not be farther from the truth. The constant challenge that the town Gilead is this “utopia” of a place is put to the test when the community refuses to change. When Jack returns two decades later he is still being blamed by the town whenever something bad happens. When Glory hears about the burglaries that was happening around town she fears for Jack’s representation and how the town will treat him. Unfortunately, when Jack goes into town the towns’ people cannot stop starring at him. They watch him to see if he will steal anything because they think he is the one going around town creating ruckus and disturbing the “peace” of the town. This occurs until the real burglars are caught. With the community refusing to see the person that Jack has now become how is Jack suppose to be able to develop into a new man and let the people see he has changed?

Jack’s biggest challenge internally is his struggle with alcoholism. Even the first time back in town seeing his father and Glory for the first time after twenty years he shows up hung-over. For many admitting you have a problem is the hardest part, but one night Jack confessed to Glory that he has a drinking problem and asked for her help. Even though it was important that his first time back he represented himself well and not under the influence of alcohol he later showed his growth in wanting to improve for his family and not be the disappointment of the town. This works for a while, he even began a new hobby of reading books and began playing the piano again for his father. Jack was helping Glory around the house with all the housework responsibilities and dividing taking care of their ill father taking the stress off of Glory. However, after his appearance at Reverend Ames church service he begins his downward spiral into alcohol.

Throughout the novel Jack grows into a better man although the odds were against him from the beginning along with the entire town. Though Gilead puts pressures on him to be a better man the town itself isn’t as perfect as it is made out to be. Reverend Ames is suppose to be a forgiving Christian figure that is understanding of peoples life challenges, however, he is anything but that. In the end his struggle to see the change in Jack represents Jack ultimately not being able to satisfy the town and his family and ends up leaving.

Robinson, Marilynne. Home.

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