By writing this novel in the epistolary style, Marilynn Robinson immediately conveys a fundamental character trait of the narrator, John Ames. That trait is the “habit of writing [that] is so deep in [him]” (40). In line with revealing this kind of truth about the narrator, essentially truth is the accomplishment of the style as a whole. The reliability of our narrator is rather trusted because of the acute presence of his mortality. In a sense, this letter to his son is the last chance he has to show himself to his son as opposed to his son learning about Ames from others (another advantage of the epistolary style). The motive for Ames to lie is minute because as a holy and religious man lying at this moment would not only contradict the value set that he is hoping to convey to his son, it would also jeopardize his salvation in violating one of The Ten Commandments (bear false witness).
Though Ames does admit to allowing others to maintain various misconceptions about him, he says it is because he “choose[s] not to disillusion... the kindly imaginings of [his] flock” (40). As a preacher, Ames’ private life is insinuated to be shielded and he is “a little bit apart” from the congregation yet they “tell [him] the most remarkable things” (5). Ames’ intention is to let his son see all that is “underneath the surface of his life” (6). He seemingly intends to correct mistruths and be fully transparent, telling his son that he is “not a saint... [and he] gets much more respect than [he] deserves” (39). This kind of transparency with his son carries throughout the novel in which Ames states his goal to be to convey “a bit of fatherly knowledge... the Lord’s truth, and the things [he] knows from [his] own long experience” (139).
Some of the facets that come along with the epistolary style are repetition and a colloquial tone. The repetition stems from the recursive memory of the narrator: certain events that he thinks on often come up more than once and their significance is bolstered in this repetition as it asks the reader to think about their inner meaning more than once. Additionally, by referencing the same event more than once is emphasizes his reliability and transparency as a narrator as he is genuinely just writing what comes to his mind that he deems significant. That being said, while it is probable that Ames intent is to truthfully relay his memories to the best of his abilities, one should note that memories may not be identical to what actually happened as they are likely to have blurred and deteriorated over time. The colloquial tone of the novel is an interesting pairing with some of the heavier topics it deals with. Nevertheless this tone conveys the intimacy that Ames holds only with his son and again emphasizes his intent to be completely open and truthful in this letter intended only for his son. Going along with the colloquial tone, Ames cites many family stories and memories as a way of preserving them for his son before he dies. This colloquialism however is counteracted by the many sources drawn upon by Ames in detail including the Bible, Fuerbach, Barth, Calvin, Donne, Emerson, and many more. These sources combined with the fundamental life principles dealt with in this novel combined with family anecdotes and the casual tone allows for an extremely complex and powerful work that would not be possible without the epistolary style and the intimacy between the narrator and the reader.
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