Gilead Lesson Plan

In this section, Jack Boughton begins spending more time with the Ames family. How does John feel about this?

John is ambivalent about Jack's presence. In one scene, he sees Jack throwing the ball with his son and finds it beautiful. He is happy to watch them and remember other moments he had under the same trees. Also, he remarks on Jack's naturally respectable and "preacherly" demeanor. At other times he is simply irritated by Jack. He struggles with the fact that Jack is able to come back home to such adoration after the sinful things he has done. His deepest struggle is with jealousy of Jack's strength and vitality. He senses that in some ways, Jack would be a better...