All told, her work attacks the myopia and divisiveness that currently animates politics and its supporting media structure. Rather, her novel allows space and encourages room for the conversation to expand. Unlike many contemporary Christian leaders, Robinson in this story offers no dictates for how Christians should vote. This paper examines Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead as the author’s acknowledgement of the divisions that threaten to breakdown human relationships and her offer of grace as the adhesive that binds people in spite of these natural schisms. Lastly, I discuss how faith and hope are intricately linked to a possibility of forgiveness in relationships and demonstrate how this is shown through subtle changes of two characters in the two novels. They also bring out important discussions on the concept of an individual soul, human depravity, the reality of father’s love encompassing both joy and sorrow. However, I argue that this question can be explored and possibly answered through other important questions suggested in the novels, including “What is a soul?” and “What does it mean to come home?” These play a crucial role in not only answering the question but also developing the characters and the plot.

This paper particularly focuses on the characters in Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead and Home, which center around the implied question, “Can a person change?” In fact, a simple answer is given through a character. This is possible because they show religious truth immersed in everyday life rather than try to explain it in the language of doctrines and propositions. This paper aims to show that fictional narratives, as integrated products of the author’s imagination and reason, can serve theological dialogues as new ways to present religious ideas and lives.

The diary of a country priest