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Gilead Letter 1, Section 4 Summary

  • Ames's son and wife return home with flowers. They've been to what will be their new home after Ames passes away.
  • The son has honeysuckle.
  • Ames pretends to eat it, playing with the boy.
  • Ames's wife brings out the camera. Ames wants to take a picture of her, but the film runs out.
  • Ames's wife tends to hide from the camera, since she thinks she's not pretty.
  • Ames wonders why his wife asked him to marry her.
  • Ames also wonders what it will be like to see Louisa and Rebecca again.
  • Boughton lost his wife five years ago.
  • Ames's son and the cat Soapy join him in his study.
  • The boy draws a picture of a fighter aircraft. He's learned about the warplanes from a book Leon Fitch gave him.
  • Ames thinks about hiding the book in the pantry.
  • When his wife asked to marry him, Ames learned what it meant to love another. He'd been in love before, but he hadn't known the meaning of it.
  • Lacey Thrush, the last of an old family in Gilead, dies. Ames is with her, singing a hymn she likes.