The Dearly Beloved

“But this was not a wound; it was an amputation. There was no proxy for Charles. There was no replacement to be carted in like a sofa or hung, carefully as a picture, to hide the hole in the wall. James and Charles had ministered together for forty years. They had witnessed each other in pain, in desperation, in crises of faith, even as they struggled to inspire a congregation, to help them make sense of the course of events that engulfed the world.”

The quote incorporates Faith Versus Doubt by showing the complexity of Nan’s faith in her later adult years. While she previously believed that God would fix everything in time, she is now questioning that idea. She starts to consider the possibility that some pain never goes away and thinks that James might have to deal with his grief over Charles for the rest of his life.

“She tried not to wonder why it had happened, why she—who had always been the best lovely girl—had seen a naked man, standing there, staring at her. She tried to have faith that there was a purpose to it, that God had a greater understanding of these things, a purpose and a plan, no matter how much of a shock the sight had been.”

The passage shows Nan’s first crisis of faith and a loss of innocence in which she questions God’s plan for her. This foreshadows her major crisis of faith following her miscarriages and her grappling with God’s purpose for her.

“The pain he felt, now, he realized, came from forbidding himself to believe it, this answer to a question he did not think he had asked, this confidence growing in him—both secret and certain. God existed; God was real. He could not explain this new conclusion, except to say that when he put it away, it was agony, and when he brought it out, it was the deepest, most beautiful relief he had ever known.”

The passage explores Charles’s epiphany in which he considers belief in God for the first time and experiences a spiritual awakening. This leads him on a spiritual journey that will be tested by Will’s diagnosis and lead to his spiritual maturation.

“He says the challenge is not to understand, but merely to believe that all things are understandable.”

This quote, in which Tom Adams tells Charles about Father Martin’s philosophy on faith, reflects Charles’s spiritual philosophy. Charles, like Father Martin, sees a world of possibility with God and believes that he can reach understanding in everything. This shows Charles’s faith and dedication to God, supporting the theme of Faith Versus Doubt.

“But she did not believe in God, and he did. In any intellectual analysis, it was an insurmountable divide. Wars had been started for less, civilizations razed to dust.”

This quote explores Faith Versus Doubt and The Impact of Personal Beliefs on Relationships by showing the importance of having common ground in relationships, especially regarding religious beliefs. Because religion is already a controversial topic, most people consider it important for their romantic partners to have the same beliefs. Charles knows that his relationship with Lily will be a challenge for this reason, but he still wants to be with her.

“The minister had preached that God had a reason for her parents’ deaths, a purpose only God knew. So, for weeks, Lily racked her mind to discover that purpose. Was it to spare her parents from aging, to let them exist for their loved ones as ever young, ever handsome, ever charming and at ease? Or, Lily wondered, was their death meant, in fact, for her—did she need to wake up, to grow up, to suffer, to learn? And if so, why? Was she so judgmental, so impatient, so spoiled? Were her parents so casually expendable?”

The passage details Lily’s experience with The Search for Meaning and Purpose as Lily goes through the painful process of trying to understand why her parents died. Searching for purpose gives her anxiety, and she finds relief when she decides that there is no purpose and no God. This foreshadows, however, that she will later find a purpose for her parents’ death and for her life.

“There was no master plan, no prewritten destiny, no plot, no judge, no sentencing. There was no God. There was only circumstance and coincidence. Life was random, neutral, full of accidents. There was no redeeming value in her parents’ deaths, just debris to be cleared, trees in the driveway after a storm. Her relief was as liberating as a lemon ice on the hottest day of the year.”

Lily gives up on The Search for Meaning and Purpose, finding relief in the idea that there is no meaning in life. Her grief still consumes her, however, and she struggles to overcome it. This foreshadows that her idea of purpose will change later in the novel as she starts making peace with her parents’ deaths.

“She reminded him of the rosary beads he had once seen at the Cloisters. No larger than walnuts, each one had opened like a locket to reveal entire scenes from the gospels in miniature: crosses the size of peppercorns and saints as slender as toothpicks, with eyelashes and fingernails almost too small to be seen. They must have taken years to carve, the monks hunched carefully over every movement, still and precise and attentive. Lily seemed to Charles like both the beads and the carvers: intricate and patient, closed and waiting to be seen.”

This passage presents the rosary beads at the cloisters and the carvers as symbols for Lily, who is intricate and closed off to Charles. Charles hopes throughout the novel that Lily will open up to him more and that she will be willing to seek peace and joy. This foreshadows that Lily will later begin to show more vulnerability and share more of herself with Charles.

“I just need you to believe in me.”

Charles accepts Lily despite her lack of faith and simply wants her to love him and believe in him. He wishes to not make their religious differences the focal point of their relationship, wanting her to be happy with him. This indicates that he is willing to accept The Impact of Personal Beliefs on Relationships and their differing views on Faith Versus Doubt.

“He was determined to join them. He was determined to find jobs for those who had been maimed, find meals for those who are hungry, petition for those who were victimized. He was determined to fashion a world in which people like his father did not need to disappear, in which people like his mother—and himself—did not need to surrender to distress.”

James realizes his full mission in The Search for Meaning and Purpose: to help people and create a better world. His faith is powered by this determination, showing him growing his faith more as he seeks to do God’s work. This supports Faith Versus Doubt by showing James’s belief in a God who uses people to bring goodness to the world.

“Love is the enjoyment of something. The feeling of wanting something deeply, of wanting nothing more. Our love of God is not as important as our faith in God. Love wanes. Faith cannot. One can have faith and anger, faith and hate. One can believe deeply and still rail against God, still blame God. In fact, if one can hate God it is a sign of deep faith, because you cannot hate and at the same time doubt God’s existence.”

This quote from Harold Evans makes Charles realize that if he wants to make his marriage to Lily work despite their religious differences, love will not be enough. He must have faith that it will work and have faith in the two of them. Charles uses this to devote himself more to Lily, allowing their relationship to survive their major differences in belief.

“Vita Sackville-West believed she could grow anything anywhere, that hostile climates could be tended and made to bloom. A whole life could be created and made meaningful around doing so. It was almost comforting. But Nan was not a seedling in Vita’s calloused hands.”

The passage highlights the importance of Nan’s gardens as a motif that drives her struggle of Faith Versus Doubt and her hope for a family of her own. She starts to doubt that she can plant a family or a good life regardless of her place or situation following her miscarriage. It foreshadows her growing crisis of faith, which will force her to adjust her faith later in the novel.

“James was not so certain about it. For the first time, he resented Nan. She was denying him the chance to defend himself to his antagonists, and he abhorred the oily residue of defeat.”

The passage presents The Impact of Personal Beliefs on Relationships as James’s impulsiveness and criticalness at the pulpit force Nan to intervene. This causes a temporary rift between James and Nan, as the former believes that the latter is too satisfied with the status quo and has stopped him from defending his beliefs.

“She was so angry at God. She could not understand why God had given Lily two babies and her none. Why Charles and Lily were embraced by goodwill but desperate to escape it.”

Nan’s second miscarriage and Lily’s pregnancy trigger a severe bout of depression and crisis of faith for Nan in her struggle of Faith Versus Doubt. She starts to question God’s plan for her and believes that he is being unfair. This ultimately leads to her having to decide whether or not to adjust her beliefs when James suggests fertility treatments.

“She tamped the clodded earth down with the back of her shovel. This used to matter, she thought. Hard work, faith, and perseverance had, at one time, been significant.”

The passage uses the motif of Nan’s gardens to show how Nan’s planting of the tree mirrors her wish to grow her community and family in New York. She starts to lose hope, however, and wants to give up in The Search for Meaning and Purpose. Her struggle with Faith Versus Doubt makes her wonder if her striving and hard work are in vain and if God no longer favors her.

“Those feelings that hound you, Nan—they are God. They are God telling you to do something, to be different in some way. Sometimes it isn’t right to pray for acceptance of the status quo. If God calls you to upend it, then you should upend it.

You think God rewards, Nan, I think God pursues.”

James encourages Nan to take her fertility into her own hands and adjust her faith in the process. He tries to persuade her that in her struggle of Faith Versus Doubt, taking the step to increase her fertility can be an act of faith rather than an act of doubt. James believes that God works through people and wants to convince Nan of that.

“Lily took a long sip of tea and then said, ‘I used to think my parents died for no reason.’ She ran her finger along a groove in the table. ‘But now I think they died so I would know that Will isn’t dead. I think they died so I would know that Will’s life is life—no matter how awful it appears.’ She put her mug down. ‘It took a long, long time for their deaths to be useful,’ she said. ‘I had to persevere.’”

Lily starts to consider The Search for Meaning and Purpose following Will’s diagnosis. The twins’ births force her to think back to her parents and make her realize that her parents’ death did have meaning. She starts to make sense of her parents’ deaths by realizing that Will’s life is meaningful and that she wants to ensure that he will have a happy life with his family.

“Another year passed. Lily spent every hour she could at the library.”

Lily’s hunt for medical knowledge includes books as a symbol for Lily’s desire for comfort and knowledge. Having loved books since childhood, Lily also seeks their knowledge to help her son Will, whose prosperity has become her purpose in The Search for Meaning and Purpose. She seeks knowledge that will truly help him, not stopping until she finds satisfactory sources.

“On the other side sat God. In spite of everything, Charles had not lost his faith. He felt its solace shimmering across the divide, warm as a campfire. Oh, how Charles wanted to walk into the expanse of peace he had once known. It was still there, as beautiful and delicious as it had been on the first day he had experienced it, the first day he had stepped into it and felt all his doubt melt away. He knew he could give himself to God and God would make him at peace with Will’s suffering.”

Amid Will’s diagnosis, Charles starts to turn away from God, sinking into despair. Yet he yearns for the peace and relief he experienced when he had his epiphany. His difficulty in obtaining that peace highlights Charles’s first struggle with Faith Versus Doubt since his spiritual awakening. It foreshadows the time and effort it will take for his family and friends to help him regain his joy in God.

“I have come here, today, to admit that I have turned away from God. That is why I have turned away from you. I am ashamed of it.”

Charles’s confession of his crisis of faith creates deep concern in his congregation, James, and Nan. In sinking into despair, Charles struggles with his feelings of shame over having disappointed both God and his congregation. This pushes James and Nan to try to help him return to his usual self.

“Marcus typed the notes, lips pursed, shaking his head all the while. ‘These people need a good disaster,’ he said. ‘They need to know what it means for life to be hard. And I’m not talking about death hard. I’m talking about suffering. Don’t they know there’s a war on?’”

Marcus’s quote shows his wisdom on the issue of Faith Versus Doubt and his understanding that they need to understand suffering before they can judge Charles for questioning himself. It also shows how suffering has challenged all of the characters’ faiths and has led to growth for James and Lily amid their families’ struggles.

“She was beginning to believe in signs.”

As Lily starts to gain a sense of purpose in her mission to help Will live a happy life, she starts to become more intuitive. She starts to believe in things that are not empirical or understandable in an academic sense. Her desperation to help her son and her newfound openness support both The Search for Meaning and Purpose and Faith Versus Doubt.

“I accept your faith, Charles. I understand it now, because I have faith in Will. Because I will choose to believe, for my entire life, that we can help him, that he loves us, in his own way. If I do not, I will go crazy. I understand, now, what your faith in God gives you—what it gives everyone who believes. It’s worthwhile, Charles.”

The struggle between Faith Versus Doubt and The Impact of Personal Beliefs on Relationships with Charles and Lily reaches its conclusion in this passage. Lily’s mission to help Will gives her insight into Charles’s faith and allows her to see eye-to-eye with him in a way she had not in the previous years. She also starts to respect his faith and encourage him to pursue it, believing it brings out the best in him.