How we cite our quotes: (Letter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #4
Great faith is required to give the child up, trusting God to honor the parents' love for him by assuring that there will indeed be angels in the wilderness. (1.11.9)
Ames has to hope that his son will find "angels in the wilderness"—in other words, good formative influences. He'll be sent into the wilderness much sooner than Ames would like, considering the fact that Ames himself isn't much longer for this world and won't be able to take care of his son himself.
Quote #5
…it is a consistent example of parents in the Bible that they honor their children. (1.12.11)
Is this statement by Ames accurate? Even if it's not, we can see that Ames has chosen to focus on examples of good parents in the Bible, and that shows that Ames is very concerned with parenting and doing the right thing for his son.
Quote #6
The truth is, as I stood there in the pulpit, looking down on the three of you, you looked to me like a handsome young family, and my evil old heart rose within me, the old covetise I have mentioned elsewhere came over me, and I felt the way I used to feel when the beauty of other lives was a misery and an offense to me. (1.14.1)
Because of his age and the unusual situation of his marriage, Ames struggles to see his marriage as a great thing for his wife and son. When he sees Jack with his family, appearing to be a good father figure—even a better or at least more appropriate father figure—Ames just can't even with that.