The reference to Georges Bernanos in Marilynne Robinson's Gilead

Abstract

The allusion in the opening of Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead (2007) to Georges Bernanos’s The Diary of a Country Priest (1936) might merely indicate the similarities between the two novels: the diary format, the meditative mood, sermon‐like qualities, and the two dying priests’ susurrus during their last days. This article offers insight into the further implications of this reference, how it relates to Robinson’s revisionary thought and her understanding of the notion of “grace.” The allusion to the French novel, we argue, contributes to the way the novel in English probes into interrelated themes of cultural memory, mediocrity, and science/materialism/rationalism vis‐à‐vis faith as well as the reconsideration of the history of abolitionists. Furthermore, the reference helps define the social and cultural position of Robinson as a national prophetic writer.