The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times

In Part 1, “faith” is one of the words Doug and Jane differentiate from “hope.” Jane says that faith is “when you actually believe there is an intellectual power behind the universe, which can be translated into God or Allah or something like that” (10). Faith involves belief in a “doctrine” (10) that shapes one’s conception of the universe.

In Part 3, Jane talks about her own faith, which shapes how she sees the universe and her mission within it. She has faith in an “Intelligence behind the creation of the universe” (214). This Intelligence provides, for Jane, the connection she feels with people and nature, which relates to the theme of The Interrelation of Plant and Animal Species. Faith helps give Jane “courage” to maintain her hope (214). She adds that she has met both religious and non-religious people who do good work and spread hope.

Hope is the central concept in Doug’s dialogue with Jane concerning The Nature and Power of Hope. One of Jane’s central beliefs is her “hope in the goodness of this strange, conflicted human animal that evolved from an apelike creature some six million years ago” (xii). When Doug asks Jane to define hope, she says it is “what enables us to keep going in the face of adversity.