Identity In The Novel 'By The River' By Steven Herrick

Steven Herrick gives us a brief understanding of identity in his verse novel ‘by the river’. The main themes that I will be discussing are – grief, relationships, and coming of age. Identity is formed through many ways; however, it is sorted into two categories – getting born into and adopting. Our identity that we get born into are sex, race, and family but identity that we adopt are our attitude, beliefs, and actions. Herrick shows the use of identity in the narrative verse ‘by the river’, by making a story about a young man named Harry, and Harry’s journey through his teenage years, and occasional flashbacks from Harrys younger self experiences.

Grief is one of the main emotions shown in by the river. Grief is mainly caused by losing a

Harrys suffering from the loss of him mum, is healed by his family and his friends. The loss of Linda is healed by his friends and his brother. Although Harry is shown to be an independent person, he still needs the support he can get by his friends and mainly his brother. The poem “leaving” is about the dad coughing in the middle of the night, Harry gets out of bed and gets his dad a drink of water. Harry after doing that act, heads back to bed, but lies awake, thinking of people leaving the town in ambulances. “I go to the kitchen, fill a glass, and take it into his room”, harry shows an act of kindness in this poem. Although his father is an alcoholic, he still is caring for his father, not wanting to lose another parent. “I lie awake thinking how people leave this town in an ambulance, or worse. . .”, Herrick uses the technique ellipsis at the end of this poem, making the reader what to think further on after reading it: ‘what could be considered as worse?’. The poem ‘The day early’ is about Aunt Alice, coming a day earlier than she normally comes. She comes in worried, both Keith and Harry start to get worried and scared as time goes on, wondering where their dad is, and none of their questions are getting answered. “Me and Keith are worried” “Now we are scared” “‘Where’s dad?’”. Herrick uses suspense in this poem, it makes us want to know, why did Aunt Alice come a day earlier? Why was Aunt Alice stressed and worried?

By the river shows the story of Harrys teenage years. As time goes on, harry matures and starts to appreciate the little parts of his town. The poem ‘oil for paint’ is about Harry’ family being too poor to afford paint, so they use oil as a replacement. “the house looked brown, shabby, and mean” “you’ll see it, or smell it” “the house that stained my fingers and my heart”. “the house that stained my fingers and my heart”, ‘and my heart’ is showing the use of personification. As Harry gets older, he starts to understand and appreciate the oil on his house. ‘My dad’s good hand’, is a poem about trust and maturity. Harry’s dad gives Harry the knife to cut the watermelon, intrusting Harry with is good hand. “gives me the knife and shows me how to cut” “proud that I can be trusted with Dad’s good hand”. Harry feels a sense of accomplishment in this poem, and that he has just got his dad’s reassurance for becoming a