Throughout John Ames' life in the city of Gilead, he and those around him experience sudden and tragic losses. This is largely due to the fact that they live in a time where healthcare is drastically different than it is today. Witnessing life and death firsthand, the reverend develops insightful views about his own impending death regarding how it might affect those around him. The limited medical knowledge of the early 20th century leads John Ames to suffer sudden losses, which pushes him to try to alleviate his son's sudden death. John and Edward originally have two brothers and a sister between them, but were stricken with diphtheria before John was even born. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, diphtheria was a leading cause of death among children, as it could easily spread through direct human contact and through infectious particles in the air. It is a disease that affects the upper respiratory tract and is characterized by low fever, sore throat and the appearance of a false membrane on the tonsils, pharynx or naval cavity. Due to the various diphtheria epidemics that affected armies, schools, and communities in the United States in both the 19th and 20th centuries, research was conducted to find a cure. Ultimately it was Emil Von Behring who discovered the diphtheria antitoxin in 1890. The first successful cure of a patient followed in 1891, and medicine eventually evolved to the point that diphtheria was rarely heard of. Currently, one of the common treatments for diphtheria is penicillin, which, had it been used by Patrick 3 during Ames' early adult life, ironically would have had the potential to prevent another death in his lifetime. Due to an infection, the ba... ... middle of paper ...... better understand who his father was, since, at six years old, he is too young to understand the concept of death. Alternatively, John also knows what it feels like to be a widower, and is therefore very conscientious about how he will feel about his wife. He tells Robby to take care of Lila once he's gone. His hope is that this letter will survive him and that it will be a way for his voice and his love to survive his fragile and limited body. The events of the reverend's past, tragic as they may be, have made him the man he is today. . The tenderness he feels for Robby is amplified by the loss of his former son, and his many experiences with sudden, youthful loss of life give him a deep understanding of life and death. After making sure he has left something for his son so that no questions go unanswered, John is able to graciously accept his impending fate..