Mickelsson's Ghosts Summary
John Gardner

Mickelsson's Ghosts Summary

Although the social concerns are unique to Mickelsson's Ghosts, many of the themes are familiar to Gardner's readers. The most important of these are the liberating power of love and the need to come to terms with the past. Mickelsson moves, slowly but inevitably, toward recognizing his need for love and the ways in which his complete — spiritual and sexual — love for Jessica can offer purpose to his life, as opposed to the degrading and compromising lust he felt for the prostitute Donnie Matthews. At the end, Peter seems to be accepting many commitments based on love. He seeks out Jessica, whose forgiveness he needs, and is rewarded by the apparent approval of her former husband's ghost.

His son Mark has come home, and it is conceivable that the boy's activism will help Mickelsson out of the apathy that has plagued him. He decides...

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