Rev. Ethan Wilkins relocates his family to a poor Ohio River village, where his son Jason struggles to adapt. Jason admires the local physician, Dr. Shingle, who introduces him to magazines his father disapproves of. Years later, Jason becomes a young man and clashes with his father on a circuit tour. He leaves to study medicine, asking his parents for money, which they sacrifice their possessions to provide. When his father dies, Jason's letters to his mother stop during the Civil War.
Of Human Hearts
A minister and his son, a doctor, follow different paths in their pursuit of healing, with the father focusing on spiritual guidance and the son seeking to cure through medical means.
