J.E.B Spredemann once said, “Choices made, whether bad or good, follow you forever and affect everyone in their path one way or another.” This quote to me summarizes one of the main themes of the book, “Peace Like a River”, which is no matter if our decisions are good or bad, they always have consequences. We see this intertwined throughout the book in multiple scenes and characters. Characters such as Davy, Reuben, and Jeremiah can be seen faced with this realization in the book, but another important point with that theme is that God is always with us. When many troubles crossed the Land’s, they realized that God will be there, and they look to him in prayer and just truth he knows what is best. Throughout the story, in almost every single …show more content…
That is that God is always with us. This was a major theme throughout the entire book. Like I said before, when the Lands were presented with a lot of troubles and problems, their only answer sometimes was to just turn to the Lord in prayer. They sometimes did not understand why he led them to a certain way and path, but in the end, he was always right. Good example of this also in the book was when the family was able to still drive with little to no gasoline for four hours until it finally stops and dies, but ends up coming across Roxanne Cawley, who becomes a big part of their family. In the Bible, the book John on chapter thirteen, verse seven says, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Sometimes we have to experience things we don’t understand just so God can bring us to the place where he needs us to be. Never doubt the season he has you. It is not always good news either. In the book when the dad died, that was awful news. However, he never leaves them in times of tragedy and grief. This theme of God being ever so present was supposed to be directly targeted right at the reader so they too may believe that God is always with
In Peace Like A River, Leif Enger utilizes the chapter title, Boy Ready, to connect Davy’s situation to the constellation, also named Boy Ready, in the dark night sky. As the book progresses, Jape Waltzer explains to Reuben Land about a legend entitled Boy Ready. A quote from the book is “The boy charmed all with his bravery and wit and was adopted by the king himself and was wise and arms and letters; at last he became king himself and was wise and good”(268). But Waltzer revealed that the boy set the fire himself (268). The quote represents Davy’s life before Finch and Basca intruded into Davy’s personal life: His girlfriend, his family, and his house.
It evokes an image of stress and worry as well as a hope through faith for a better life. It goes on to say: “The ones who are lost to God and mothers/may take the fields/the dry fields” (20-21). The reference to “dry fields” emphasizes the heat and lack of rain and also illustrates the unpleasant working condition. This also symbolizes how they are bound to the island with no other options, trapped.
“I have learned that the Father relentlessly works to reshape his blood-brought children into the likeness of his son...our task, however, is not merely to endure suffering, but to embrace it, find God on it and draw closer to him through it. Simply put, ‘There is no remedy for this darkness but to sink in it.” A quote from Bruce Demarest, found in his book Seasons of the Soul, discusses the three stages of spiritual development, orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. Disorientation is the stage where trials and sufferings are faced, but most importantly, a stage where we use our pains and sufferings to help us grow. Murray Decker explains disorientation as a stage of “lostness and dryness.”
Starting on the end of page 79 of Peace like a River by Leif Enger, Readers gain their first insight to the way that Reuben, the main character, thinks and behaves. Jeremiah has just been fired by Mr. Holgren and Reuben notices that Jeremiah awkwardly slaps Mr. Holgren. Reuben then notices that the slap has actually cured Mr. Holgren’s facial complexion problems and becomes mad at his dad, Jeremiah, because Jeremiah did not cure him of his lung problems. This passage is important because it uses imagery, character development, and point of view to cause the readers to also believe that Jeremiah's works of wonder, described by Reuben as miracles, are actually miracles. Imagery is one of the most consistently used literary device throughout Peace like a River and aids very well in making the readers believe in Jeremiah's
While reading this book you tend to feel that God is with him at all times, especially when Hinton leaves God behind by putting his Bible under his bed. Even when he does this, God is not forgotten, which I find funny. He continuously talks about how he is done with God and how “God may sit high, but he wasn’t looking low” (Hinton 112), even though he
During the beginning of the novel, Jeremiah does not understand himself; it states that "all the things people had always said to him— yeah, he'd heard them again and again. But sometimes, looking in the mirror, he had no idea who he was or why he was in this world" (11). Jeremiah's struggle to understand his own identity and purpose signifies a deep longing for self-understanding and a search for meaning beyond the racism he experiences. Throughout the course of the novel, Jeremiah's journey towards maturity involves the exploration of his identity beyond stereotypes.
The novel Peace Like A River takes the readers on a trip back to adolescence through the eyes of 11-year-old Reuben Land. Reuben lives in a motherless family with his two siblings Swede, a western obsessed poet, and Davy, the protective older brother. When Davy commits a crime of passion in protecting his sister and is announced a fugitive, the remaining siblings set out with their father Jeremiah to follow Davy’s trail. Throughout their journey Reuben witnesses miraculous things at the hand of Jeremiah and his deep connection with God. All the amazing events that Reuben witness all involve his father’s unrelenting kindness to all those who make his company, regardless of the way they act.
In both the passage and the scene, “The Mount of Monte Cristo” and “Blessings”, send messages out to their readers. The way the authors developed the messages, or themes, have similarities, but also some differences in each text. In “The Mount of Monte Cristo”, a man is imprisoned for over four years and has recently stopped eating the prison food. I think the theme of this passage is to always have hope, even in the worse situations.
The spine of this story is that it is his raft (faith) that never forsakes him. More than any other part of the tale, it is the invisible force that finally brings him to safety and the force that transforms him into the individual he finally
Leif Enger’s Peace Like A River tells the story of Reuben, who searches for Davy, his brother, a fugitive, all the while witnessing his father’s miracles. Peace Like a River depicts an unbreakable connection between Reuben and his father Jeremiah; the two of them would do anything for each other. Throughout the novel, Reuben and Jeremiah’s health seem tied to each other. Reuben is at his strongest when Jeremiah falls ill, but when Jeremiah seems healthy and happy, Reuben’s asthma controls him, and in the end, Jeremiah gives up his life for Reuben. Firstly, Reuben is healthiest when Jeremiah becomes sick.
Even though most of the people felt as if God wasn’t with them anymore, they continued to endure all of the physical and mental scarring. A twenty mile march wasn’t going to stop all the thousands of prisoners, they continued to overcome many obstacles throughout the book. All of the prisoners that survived put their minds to something, and they were able to overcome many obstacles. Obstacles can be very difficult, but you have to keep
Mayzie learns that fame and fortune is not everything and that family and friends are important in our lives. The same can be said about God. All of these material things that we think we need to survive we really do not need because nothing replaces God, family, and friends. We are all children of God and he is who we put our faith in to help guide us along the way.
The novel I’m reading, A Separate Peace by John Knowles, has an interesting setting that makes the events of the story seem more stark and relatable. Most of the story takes place at Devon school during the second world war, though the introduction of Gene revisiting the school actually takes place 15 years later. School life takes on more of a background role, grounding the otherwise aimless adventures of Gene and Phineas in a semblance of reality. The summer days are a bright backdrop for brighter events, and as the story goes on, the warmth of the seasons fade, along with much of the happiness and security the characters wish to find. Gene and his friends can feel the pressure of the war throughout the story.
God’s grace and mercy is everlasting and resuscitates life to our system daily. We can maintain a sense of fearlessness, peace, and love through this journey called life. All of the mind boggling life experiences continue to either help us depend on God, face the breaking edge of a nervous breakdown, or nearly sinking of guilt and shame and depression. The holy spirit and the hand of God are the only ones can resuscitate life in our spirit, mind, and body. God is the only one that can touch heart of mankind and its existence.