The River by Flannery O'Connor - Short Story Summary, Analysis, Review
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- Опубликовано: 2 июл 2024
- Welcome to the CodeX Cantina where our mission is to get more people talking about books! This week we are going into Grace and Healing in The River by Flannery O'Connor. We talk about several of the Jesus Miracles referenced and talk a bit about what it could all mean.
Flannery O'Connor Playlist: • A Good Man is Hard to ...
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 Introductions
0:26 Publication Info
1:04 Plot Summary
2:39 Analysis
3:59 Themes
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Artist: Valence
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Flannery O'Connor Playlist: ruclips.net/video/SFTSFjtIDWg/видео.html
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
0:00 Introductions
0:26 Publication Info
1:04 Plot Summary
2:39 Analysis
3:59 Themes
“Leprosy, blind...Dead.”
Dying will be the death of me.
Boom!! What an incredible recrding! Hands down the BEST interpretation of "The River" that I have ever heard. Plus, a quality recording. Definitely subscribing to this channel!
Well that was great.
It struck me in listening to your discussion of Mr. Paradise emerging from the river, that Cormac McCarthy’s The Judge and The Kid characters in Blood Meridian must have been influenced by these characters and this story as a whole.
Bookish oh man, that’s two McCarthy recommendations made on this video. Apparently this is an author that must be up our alley
Flannery has captured my heart as well! Thanks for this video.
Thanks for watching 🤗 Here’s to more Flannery!
One of my favorite channels. Aways when I finish a Faulkner story or book I come here and am never desapointed. With this one it was a surprise, I was just talking yesterday with my wife about "A good man is hard to find" cause it was her first time reading Flanerry O'connor and I told her to read this one cause it was one of my favorite short stories ever. But I as well didnt' read it for a long time and with this analyses I am definetly re-reading it and making my wife read and come to see this too. Thanks for aways heaving some of the best insigths, it really helps.
PS: So, I love that this channel is very similar to me cause you usually do southern gothic literature and I am going into a deep dive on the genre and one of my favorite authors and books from it is "Outter Dark" from Cormac McCarthy. I would really love to see you guys doing a analyses of this book or of something else from the man. :)
igor freitas he’s definitely on our to check out list some time
Thanks for the kind words! It’s good to hear things like this as it makes us more excited to keep doing complex breakdowns
Another great video guys. 1st time seeing a pig is always a shock for people.
Where's the bow-ties?!
Awesome guys, you know I am loving your O'Connor deep dives!! The "awful speed of Grace," ugh! So damn good. 📖🤔 What's next? *whispers* good country people...
Thanks, Noah! Is that one of your favorites?
@@TheCodeXCantina I have a lot of favorites when it comes to O'Connor's short works. The River is up there, my all time favs would probably be Everything that Rises must Converge, Good Country People, Temple of the Holy Ghost and, of course, aGMiHtF... Always a recurring theme under her tellings is Matthew 18:3- "except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." 😎
Amazing story! I finally had time to sit down and read this story today, and I was impressed. Flannery O'Connor has not disappointed me yet. It had me legit LOLing in places, yet that dark ending. Almost like Romeo and Juliet, the first half was comedy, the second half tragedy.
As far as the names in the story, I have questions about a few. Henry for one. Jesus perhaps? As in Jesus H. Christ? Henry VI? I can see a bit of resemblance to Shakespeare's Henry VI. Henry V too for that matter. Henry VI, the young child too young to rule, being guided by two opposing groups. Henry V, who frequented the taverns and brothels in his youth, but once crowned became the upright and glorious king. Just speculation on my part.
Other names that I'm sure have meaning but were lost on me: Sinclair, Spivey, Sarah Mildred. The JC name was easy. What about the name Bevel?
The name Emma Stevens Oakley who the children's bible originally belonged to in 1832, a reference to Annie Oakley? The name and the year were lost on me.
The names of the towns along the river that Bevel had visited, Fortune Lake and Ideal I caught, but Lulawillow? Any significance there?
I enjoyed how O'Connor portrayed Bevel. A young unlearned fiery pastor/healer full of rhetoric, but no substance whatsoever. Sounds like a lot of pastor's in today's day and age still. There are plenty of good pastor's in the world today, but plenty that "preach the gospel and good news" but don't know what's in the Bible at all.
My final and most important question: when I finally earn my Faulkner certificate, will I count now?
Starscreamlive RUclips isn’t giving me notifications for some reason. The River part II should be on colors and names!
Now you have me curious. I didn't read this one going in, but now I want to read the whole thing post watching your video.
It's either 7 or 25 pages... choose your font destiny :)
@@TheCodeXCantina I'm getting older... gotta bump up those font sizes...
@@QuestLegacy True story... that's part of my "pro kindle" stance is the fonts can go up with me in age :D
Ahh this video is SO GOOD! I just reread the story and remembered that you had done video. On it. Love it love love it. Thank you for the discussion.
I considered "red" to represent the blood of Jesus, due to the preacher's comments (e.g. "rich red river of Jesus' Blood"). But I had no idea about the rest of the colors 😂
Such a great story!
Red also represents the blood of Jesus in the Eucharist - a sacrament that provides the gift of grace in a tangible form. “Whosoever drinks … will be saved,”. “My blood is real drink…” Blue is a color that is associated with the Virgin Mary, who is doctrinally a co-redeemer because she gave Jesus life.
@@MrsEclecticTex thanks!
@@MrsEclecticTex yesss more color symbolism! Thank you!
Thanks for this video. IMO ‘The River’ is perhaps the most sublime story I’ve read. In short, O’Connor is not pitting the secular vs.the religious because she clearly mocks everyone in this story except Harry/Bevul. Ms. O’Connor sought Truth. She wanted to find God. She didn’t want to dabble in Truth. She clearly portrays both the “secular” and the “religious” as empty, dead shells-whistling skeltons. The River represented Truth. Everyone in the story went near the river, perhaps took a step in and shook a bit. But nobody actually strove to fully immerse themselves in Truth. Even the preacher who was waist deep in water, wasn’t fully immersed. Harry was starving for Truth. Everything in his life was a joke-not real. And when he goes back to the river to find God, at first he gasps and cries because he doesn’t find it in the river. It was another joke! But what happens? He sees a pig with a peppermint stick (a disgusting child sexual predator) chasing after him which DRIVES HIM BACK INTO THE RIVER. This was the ultimate moment of GRACE! Because even though on the surface of the story it seems so horrible-a child drowns due to a sexual predator chasing him in a river-it is actually a beautiful metaphor how the ugliness of the external world drives us to find Truth and peace within the Holy Water, the inner water, the Holy Ghost. Harry realizes God! To me it’s one of the most beautiful moments of literature. O’Connor was a true genius.
Thanks again for the video. I enjoyed it.
That’s a great interpretation. Thanks for sharing
Fascinating analysis! One aspect I couldn't quite figure out was the color that orange plays at the gas station at the end. "He passed a shack with an orange gas pump in front of it but
he didn't see the old man looking out at nothing in particular from the doorway. Mr. Paradise was having an orange drink."
Any thoughts on this one?
Off the cuff, gut-check feels like fire/flame and he's trying to cast people into it as the Miltonian Devil for this story. I really do believe sitting down and having a thorough investigation of colors on this piece would be absolutely worthy. Perhaps one day if someone doesn't beat me to it I want to try. It would be a newer branch for me though so it would take me a long time :)
@@TheCodeXCantina Ahh, that makes sense. Hey, if you ever start a long-form content series, I'll be first in line. Podcasts are always welcome too :)
There were a ton of Old Testament references that I could pick out just from hearing y’all talk about the story. Naaman in OT had to wash in a river just to name one. Also, when the writers of bible books wrote them, they were individual books, not compiled as we now know it. So when you mention that one writer included a name and another didn’t, it’s very possible that they did it on propose, or did it because they couldn’t remember...
Hey Gom! Many references indeed. Yeah, we know about the different timelines and authors. From what I've read, there is actually a bit of debate about the names and whether things were redacted based on whether they were inducted into the faith after the miracle etc. It's complex enough where I step out and let people studying duel it out. Sure, it's possible they could have forgot to your point. It could also be other reasons too. Word of God and all.
In the penultimate and last paragraphs on page 170, Harry’s mother demands him tell her what has happened. On the next page, he just answers, “I am not the same now.” What does Harry means with this? Then, how do you interpret his mother’s attitude as seen in the second paragraph on page 171: “she got away and moved away.”
This sounds like a book report question :)
Harry doesn't answer: “I am not the same now.” In my edition of the story he says: "He said I'm not the same now."
Bevel dives into his baptism over and over again. It finally catches him and he enters the kingdom of God. Diving into baptism is something that Christians are supposed to do. Try out this story in the light of Romans 6:1-14, which is about baptism as a pattern of dying to self and sin. Particularly verse 11:"Likewise you also, [c]reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Thanks
You're the expert. Tell me more so I can understand better. Ending: you say Mr. Paradise (MrP) doesn't try to save the boy when he goes toward the boy and into the river. This seems inadequate with p.172 where MrP sees and recognize the boy riding the car(I suppose four year olds back then were not questioned how come they were traveling all alone?!). The boy is very young. MrP must assume he is returning to the river. Then, why would MrP care for picking out a candy stick from his shack? Then going 'after the boy' top p.173? Then p.174, why would MrP be shouting and bounting after him? Shaking a red and white club (which here I think portrays the blood of Christ, making us white as snow(cleansed), and peppermint stick is Christmas candy best known for Jesus's: cane, shepherd, letter J, colors: green: hope new life everlasting growth, red: JC blood, white: cleansing. Why did he bring such a huge candy with him for the kid? What were his intentions with this 1 foot long and 2 in. thick candy? And finally, if he is not trying to save the four year old boy, going up and down, what is he doing? Only from time to time, therefore staying under water for an amount of time longer then time above water. Finally, if not wanting to save the boy, why would she write that he stood empty-handed if not to let the reader left with a feeling of incapacity; even after all his efforts in vain, his rescue did not succeed. Thanks for clarifying those questions in support of your strong siding that MrP did not try to save the kid. Looking foward for you reply :) 😃
Thanks for asking. We by no means claim to be experts. I can try to share my view of things but it’s been a few months since I’ve read the story. Also, if you have a different view, you’re more than welcome to stick with it as that’s what great literature allows and we don’t claim this is the only way to interpret the piece. If I remember correctly, Mr. P was viewed more as an ironic usage of his name. With him taunting the religion, having the swine/Legion attracted to him: that he’s in the story to mock everything that Jesus would have stood for in regards to maybe how you’ve asked some of these questions. He’s there to make sure people don’t reach paradise. If we take the concept that he is representative of the devil and he is trying to tempt the boy away, a candy stick (lust/gluttony) which represents various religious ideals seems like a good selection to me. Since the boy had just received sanctifying grace, my guess is Flannery is making a commentary on evil coming to tempt the boy and perhaps the drowning is a form of actual grace based those final lines of the boy’s escape into real paradise. We won’t ever know the intentions but since the story is basically centered on grace, any conjecture we offer I believe would need to be centered on the idea of the devil tempting the boy away from the boy’s salvation.
Calling Paradise and Ancient Sea Monster is an antichrist reference.
The young man found humor when Harry’s “ flat faced” by pigs.
I found sadistic bullying.
Where’s the humor?