the character of Widow Glendower in Ron Rash’s novel “One Foot in Eden” represents both the tragic and mystic nature of human personality: the author achieves this by combining deep knowledge of the world, spirituality, and antipathy in one being.
The novel starts with an event when a person who is regarded as a local villain vanishes in the forests of South Carolina. The story is set in 1950’s. The novel is structured as 5 different stories, which overlap and intertwine, forming a complex and unparalleled maze of love, murder, and grief. One of the main ideas in the novel is to locate the spiritual sense in life and discover the ends to such being.
The character of Widow Glendower (or witch) is used to represent the idea that improper actions tend to cause grief and disappointment for the people performing such deeds. Widow Glendower also illustrates various myths that talk about the path of life and knowledge. Local inhabitants of Jocassee fear and admire the witch
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It so happens that he has to sink what’s left of Widow Glendower in the lake, which also happens to be its deepest part. After the task is completed, Bobby passes the farms on his boat and observes that things look completely intact: one is able to get an impression that nothing changed since all of the events took place. The river, lake, and water play a significant role here as they symbolize the flowing and changing nature of life. When the witch’s casket comes floating down the river at the end, it symbolizes that the witch rises to the surface again. In the beginning of the novel, the widow is hard to trace: “I’d have to be the one to call on Widow Glendower. I followed the river up past the old Chapman place to where Wolf Creek flowed into the river”, whereas at the end her casket appears just by itself (Rash, 44). In other words, no one needs to look for her anymore, she comes to the people