The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

Doug is the first-person narrator for most of the book, other than the Prologue and Conclusion. Doug’s questions drive the book forward and create dynamism when his views diverge from Jane’s views. For instance, while discussing The Significance of Youth Activism and Education, Jane asserts that young people in the 21st century are better equipped than ever to “deal with the problems we’ve created” (131), while Doug counters, “We don’t have the time to wait for those young people to grow up” (131). This mild disagreement starts a generative back-and-forth between Jane and Doug on the possibility and best method to create change as soon as possible.

Jane and Doug’s outlooks on hope are also juxtaposed, with Doug serving as Jane’s foil. Jane believes whole-heartedly that it is not too late to change human actions to combat climate change, nor is it impossible to use hope to motivate people to do so. Doug is more skeptical, often dwelling on the immense harm done to the planet, the power of industry, capitalism, and politics, the disenfranchisement of various human populations, and the spread of neo-Nazism in the 21st century (52). Nevertheless, he is warm and receptive to Jane’s point-of-view on The Nature and Power of Hope. Both Doug and Jane recognize the state of the planet is such that “our house is on fire” (127), and they want to find solutions to put out this metaphorical fire. They are very cooperative in their discussions about the potential of hope to motivate people in fighting climate change and biodiversity loss.

Though The Book of Hope’s plot is primarily driven by dialogue, there are several moments of external conflict in which Doug takes his sometimes-abstract discussions about hope with Jane and applies them to the difficult circumstances he is facing. Foremost among these is the illness and eventual death of Doug’s father. Though Doug considers himself a “hope skeptic,” he must leave Jane’s home in Tanzania at the end of Part 1 to be with his father in the hospital. Under these new circumstances, he writes, “hope and hopelessness were no longer intellectual. They were everything” (36). Doug tends to academize his view of hope, looking up hope studies and approaching the idea of hope from a scientific point of view that contrasts with Jane’s appreciation for anecdotes and personal stories.

Doug continues to battle with hopelessness through the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. In addition to the “enormous amount” of global grief the pandemic caused, Doug is experiencing acute grief at the beginning of Part 3 for two friends, one who died by suicide and another who died by substance abuse. These losses make Doug even more eager to talk to Jane. Throughout their conversations, Doug notices how Jane’s stories highlighted how she was a beacon of hope to people. During their final conversation, Jane becomes a personal source of hope for Doug as well.