Peace is a word defined as “Freedom from quarrels or dissension between individuals (or, esp. in early use, between an individual and God); a state of friendliness; amity, concord” (Oxford). In the book “Peace Like a River” the word peace is one of the words in the title that stands out to me. Peace is one of the key targets that the family in the story is striving towards throughout the book. I feel that this family goes through so much and has to continue to go through trials to be able to experience peace in life. The word peace is so significant in this book because at one point in time each character encounters a test on having peace whether it is with themselves or someone else. Reuben who is the narrator as well as one of the main characters in the story is born a severe asthmatic. He is the young brother of Davy and is there to witness him killing the two bullies Israel Finch and Tommy Basco. Reuben struggles in the story to accept and be at peace with the decision the court makes about his brother being guilty. Reuben feels that when his brother killed the bullies that this was an action of self-defense. On the other hand Davy struggles with coming to peace because he has just murdered two boys and is now on the run. Not only does he has to deal with the result of murder but the outcome of not being able to be with his family that he only thought that he was trying to protect. How can you be at peace when you have just taken two people lives? How can you find peace within yourself when you must live on the run away from the people that you love the most? I believe that Davy is the major character who struggles to find peace the most in this story. Then there is the father Jeremiah who also deals with a lot in this story. He experiences a child born with asthma, loss of his job, and the abandonment of his wife who leaves him with the children all alone. However, the biggest struggle to find peace was between him and God. Throughout the book Jeremiah is the only person who actually talks to God. It is times in the book where he questions why all of this is happening to his family. The result of being a father of a murder and how he has to deal with the authorities and court. Jeremiah is a strong character who stays strong for his family in the entire book. This characteristic of Jeremiah is especially shown as a father who has to raises his daughter alone. Swede seems to deal with a lot of her pain by writing it down on paper, being the intelligent young girl that she is she even writes a poem about the events that happen to her family. Swede is brought to peace in the story by the mother figure piece that she is missing. This piece is filled by Roxanne as you can seem the connection throughout the story with Swede’s literary love connection that occurs with Roxanne.
Peace is not something that happens or “pops up” just because you want it to. I believe that all people go through test in life that leads to having peace in life. I think that peace comes with a lot of aspects like guilt, forgiveness, pain, and regret. Although there are a variety of viewpoints that you can examine the idea of peace from these are a few that were dealt with in the book. All of the Land family experience pain from losing a brother to a situation like that. I can truly relate to this situation because I have two brothers. I know that my brothers are pretty much willing to do anything to protect me from the world that we are living in today. I can truly imagine losing my brother in situation like this how much pain it would bring to my parents and even more to me as the youngest sister that they were trying to protect. I honestly don’t feel that I would ever be at peace with my brother’s actions of killing the bullies or the courts actions for finding him guilty. Then there is the guilt that can come before you reach peace in your life. I know at some point in time Davy felt so much guilt about killing Basco and Finch. Even though Davy expresses in the book that it wasn’t an accident and he meant it I am sure he eventually after much thought he understood that they were people too who have families. This idea of guilt also relates to how Reuben was feeling when he say the families of Finch and Basco in court. This checkpoint in the story made him stop and actually view both sides of the situation at hand. The thought that these two boys had families who cared about them just as the Land family cared for Davy. Another that helps a person seek peace is the thought of forgiveness. The situation that the Land family experiences with the bullies could have been handled with forgiveness which would have led to the peace between the two families. Jeremiah tries to express to Davy that the situation with the bullies is only going to escalate if we continue to be angry. If only Davy would have taken in these words and not continue to store the thoughts of retaliation in his head. I feel that peace would have been an earlier outcome with the Land family. They would have been at peace with Davy still being at home and a part of the family or even at peace with the two bullies still alive not murdered.
Miracles are another way in this book that brings peace to Land family in the story. The first miracle is when Reuben is born. The doctor says that he isn’t breathing and is not going to survive since he has not taken any breathes in minutes. Yet, his father comes in and miraculously gets Reuben to breathe. If he would have died that day his father would not have been at peace with the doctor not being able to keep him alive, but instead he is brought peace by the miracle of his son making it though. Additionally, the last miracle of the story is an example of peace. Jeremiah bartering with God to save Reuben’s life by taking his place, although Reuben might not have been at peace with losing his father but Jeremiah was at peace for saving his son.
The major line in this book that seem to represent peace states “In heaven, Reuben and his father arrive at a city, and as they look together from a hill down on it, they see rivers of people streaming along, singing a hymn, and “it is as though they march in preparation for some imminent and joyous and sanctified war” (120). This quote literally expresses the title of the book and gives great imagery on what “Peace like a River” means in the authors eyes. In other words the author helps you envision heaven how he pictures it. He gives this detailed description to help the audience understand the serenity of heaven. After reading this quote it made me feel as if I was there with that peaceful river that was running in heaven, along with all of the heavenly people.
I feel that peace was one of the concepts that grasped the full complexity of the story because if the Land family wasn’t at peace then they were definitely working hard to get to it.
References
Enger, Leif. Peace like a river. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press; 2001. Print.
"Home: Oxford English Dictionary." N.P., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2011. <http://www.oed.com/>.
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