Above The Waterfall By Ron Rash

Economics and Psychology in Appalachia, An Analysis of the Novel: Above the Waterfall

In the novel Above the Waterfall, Ron Rash decides to focus on the main theme of Loss. The culture within the beautiful ecosystem of Appalachia is encased with family ties that are hard to deny. Rash writes, “In a county this rural, everyone’s connected, if not by blood, then in some other way” from the relationship between Darby and Gerald to the friendship between Les and Becky, their relationships show a true loyalty to the ones they have grown up with and show that Appalachia is a tight knit community (Rash 90). The characters within the novel: Above the Waterfall demonstrate signs of loss of self, domestic violence, as well as poverty. Becky battles her emotions, finding refuge in nature to hide from her traumatic childhood while Les uses his career to mask his feelings of

One woman living in Appalachia described her life after a violent relationship as sensing a “constant presence of terror of living with a constant fear of punishment” (Willis). Within the novel, there are many violent incidents that occur such as Gerald being tackled by the employees of the resort explain that “his face looked like a sander had been at it” (Rash 38) and Les explaining how his grandfather father would “come home drunk and slap my grandmother around” (Rash 105). The psychological effects of this action made Gerald afraid of the owner of the resort and made Les obtain a fear of fathering children because he was worried he would end up like his grandfather. In Appalachia is seems that violence is common more so domestic violence than any other which is strange considering how close their family ties are within the community. The majority of loss of security within the household seems to come from lower income families. This relates to economics because it shows a trend within a certain class relating to