Peace Like a River

Setting of Peace like a River

In a novel, there isn’t usually just one setting. The characters move around according to the plot. That’s the case in Peace like a river. The characters go to many different places but I will show you a few of the important ones and how they support the plot.

The book starts out in 1951, at the hospital, with the birth of Reuben. This place is really important because it is where Reuben’s dad, Jeremiah, performed his first miracle. The hospital is also important because it is where Reuben was born. I think Reuben’s birth was important to the book because he’s the narrator, of course, but it also seems like he was put in the book to experience or notice his father’s miracles. Although the family was only at the hospital for a short time a lot of stuff happened that is important to the plot.
Next, would be the barn. The barn was where Reuben saw his father perform his second miracle, and walk on air. This part was important because what would the chances be that Reuben had to go to the bathroom at the exact same time that his dad was going to walk on air? It was interesting how Reuben never told anyone what he had seen and he kept it to himself. This was the setting when Reuben really realized that his dad could perform miracles.
Those aren’t the only places where the characters go to in the first 3 chapters of the book. They also go to the high school, where Jeremiah performs his third miracle, their home, and their church. So far the settings are very important to the book and they will help me figure out the theme as I read on.

The Theme

Authors note: I had a lot of trouble writing this, it took me two days! In the end i think i came up with a good writing piece.

Have you ever heard of the saying ‘actions speak louder than words’? This is the case in the novel Peace like a river. The Land’s family finds themselves in a difficult situation with different ideas about what to do. Their actions and decisions helped me find the theme of the book.

In the novel there are two major characters, but one main character. The author describes the main character, Reuben’s dad, like an angel. In the first few chapters, other characters notice that Reuben’s dad can perform miracles. His first miracle was when Reuben was born. Reuben was born not breathing and nobody could get him to breath. The doctor thought he had brain damage and he would die. When all hope was gone Reuben’s dad ran in and shouted “Reuben Land, in the name of the living God I am telling you to breathe”. Everyone was surprised when moments later the baby started breathing. This is definitely a miracle it is another reason why I believe Reuben’s dad is an angel.

Amazingly, that was not the only miracle that Reuben’s dad performed. Another surprising action was when he walked on air. One night Reuben was going to the outhouse and he heard footsteps in the barn. He went to see who it was and he saw his dad with eyes closed and praying. He was walking across the back of a pickup truck and when he got to the edge he didn’t stop. His father was walking on air. Reuben was the only witness of the miracle. This miracle reminded me of god and when he walked across water.
The last and final miracle was when Reuben’s dad found two boys in the girls’ locker room being “improper” to Dolly. When he walked in Dolly said his face was glowing and he lit up the room. This miracle and walking on air really led me to the theme.

I believe the theme of the story is, God is always with us. In this book every miracle is like something that happened in the bible. When Reuben’s dad helped bring Reuben back to life it reminded me of when Jesus brought a man named Lazarus back to life after he had been dead for four days. It is not the same situation but it just reminded me of that. The next miracle when Reuben’s dad walked on air reminded me of when Jesus walked across water, like I mentioned before. Lastly the last miracle when Mr. Land glowed and lit up the room it reminded me of when the angel came to Jesus glowing. Reuben’s dad was able to do all those miracles because god gave the ability too.

Reuben’s dad is almost like a figure of god. When the two boys in the locker room promised revenge and then put tar on the family’s door, Reuben asks his dad what they are going to do and his dad tells him “Nothing; of course, nothing! What those fellows don’t realize is, we’ve already won. The victory is ours.” When he said this Reuben didn’t understand he asked his father “aren’t we going to do something about it.” Mr. Land just laughed. This is another reason on why he’s a figure of god. He doesn’t believe in revenge. Most Catholics think that they can do their revenge but then still call themselves a catholic. I disagree. Reuben’s dad is definitely a true catholic.

If this book has taught me anything so far it’s that God is always with us to lead us and help us.

Important Quote from the Book-

At the end of Chapter one Reuben told us a quote his father had told him: “We and the world ,my children, will always be at war. Retreat is impossible. Arm yourselves.” This quote is really important to the book and as soon as I read it I thought about what it meant.There are many more important quotes but this one really stuck out for me.

After I read this quote I had to stop and think about what it meant. To me it means that the world is never at peace. No matter how hard we try there is always going to be conflicts. We aren’t going to be able to stop what happens, but we can control how we deal with it. In the book Reuben tells us that his dad told him this quote on the worst day of their lives.

After finding out what the quote meant, I started to think about why they put it in the book. Peace Like a River isn’t like many books. It’s a hard read and you have to take your time and think about what you read. This quote was one of the hard things in this book. I had to stop reading and think about why the quote was put in the book and what the quote meant. Jeremiah told his children this quote to prepare them for the change of the world now that Davy has committed a crime. He tells them this so they won’t be surprised if things are different now that Davy has committed murder.By telling his children this quote he was just preparing them for what comes next.

As you can tell the quote is important to the book. It shows us that things are going to change because of Davy's actions. It is hard to understand the quote but once you do it's easy to see why Leif put it in the book.

Important Scene in Peace Like a River

“He’s not breathing, he may never breathe.” The doctor told Mrs. Lands as soon as Reuben was born. Reuben may have not lived if it wasn’t for his dad. In the first chapter we get to experience a miracle with an ironic setting. The scene helps us understand more about the characters and what the mode of the book is.

The scene I chose was in the first chapter, when they were at the hospital. This scene was important to the book because it had two important events. One event was when Reuben was born.  This was an ironic time because Reuben was born not breathing. He was described as a clay baby that would never breathe. Even though the chapter started off ironic it didn’t end up ironic. In the end Jeremiah came in the hospital and performed his first miracle. He got Reuben to breathe.  This scene started off the book and I could tell right away what kind of person Jeremiah is.

In the scene I chose there wasn’t too much symbolism. A few symbols that I found were “damp September wind”. I thought this symbol supported the mode. I imagined heavy damp wind making it hard to breathe. To me that symbol had an ironic feel. Another important symbol was “a little clay baby.” He was described as gray and starting to cool. I thought that meant that he was about to die. If a baby is born not breathing and nobody can get him to breathe that is definitely ironic.

In the book the chapters all seem to have an ironic feel. But to me, this chapter was one of the most ironic. This chapter helped me  understand the theme and the mode of the book.