The River: A burden blue
O'Connor, ''The River'' -- Jerz: American Lit II (EL 267)
The birds revolved downward and dropped lightly in the top of the highest pine and sat hunch-shouldered as if they were supporting the sky.
I think the imagery of the birds here can symbolize the predicament of the preacher. He feels a great freedom through his faith, much like the birds know freedom through flight, and he shoulders the burden of the sky (Heaven), too, because everyone who attends the healing expects so much of him -- expects him to be able to perform miracles. Their salvation rests with his ability to preach and try to guide them towards belief.
Comments
I noticed a strong connection to "Good Country People," here. In that story, Hulga consistently glances out the barn window while she's away with Manley Pointer, and the landscape is described with a contrast much like that between Heaven and Hell:
In this passage, though, Heaven seems "hollow"; perhaps not surprising considering that Hulga is an atheist.
Posted by: ChrisU | May 4, 2006 8:39 AM
Very thoughtful interpretation! "He shoulders the burden of the sky (Heaven)" because of what is expected of him. Nice! This whole image where the sky is being held up by hunched-shouldered birds in the trees along a river is so powerful! The sky, instead of being what it is, becomes this overwhelmingly heavy thing. There is also a blurring between the usually seperate earth and sky. For some of the characters, earth & sky(Heaven) ARE closely related, and religion is very important. For others to whom religion isn't all that essential, including Bevel's parents and Mr. Connin, there is no such imagery in the setting of their characters. To the contrary, the settings where these characters act or are mentioned are a "dark living room" (30) that smells like "dead cigareete butts"(30), and Mr. Connin is lying in a "government hospital" (33) with only 2/3 of his stomach left - all very earthly (and bitter) surroundings.
Taking this all 1 step further, Mrs. Connin lives in a house where a dog's tail moves "up and down between two floor boards as he scratched his back on the underside of the house" (34). If the floor is earth, then anything under the floor can be seen as Hell, and O'Connor agains breaks the lines between heaven and hell with the dog's tail sticking up into the shack. Notice only Mrs. Connin and Bevel are in this setting too. Very intricate!
Posted by: Brenda Christeleit | March 13, 2006 5:38 PM