Peace Like A River Analysis

A “biblical guide to resolving personal conflict”, this, in a nutshell is what “The Peace Maker” is all about. In this critical book review I will be taking topics from the book and giving the reader my personal views on how I either reacted or related to the topics covered. My goal for this paper is to give the reader a non-biased opinion of “The Peace Maker”, which was published by Baker Books in June of 2004.

Peace Like a River is about The Land family, with Jeremiah, the father and his three children, Davy, Swede and Rueben. The narrator of the novel, Reuben has asthma, his dad, Jeremiah is the guy who walks on water and the guy who survived being swept up in a tornado.He does stuff, that Reuben defines it as miracles, like causing reuben to breathe after not being able to breathe for 12 minutes. He puts his faith in God and his live life very righteous, unlike his oldest son, Davy who believes in himself. When the family is harassed by two bullies, Davy takes matters into his own hand and shoots them. Instead of facing the consequences and his trial, he runs away from jail and is living in hiding. The rest of the book is about how the Land family searches for him and the miracles Reuben witnesses.

Peace Like a River by Leif Enger is a bestselling fictional novel based on justice, tragedy, and love. The novel takes place in the 1960’s throughout Minnesota and North Dakota, and it is told from the perspective of Reuben Land. Davy, Reuben’s brother, gets himself, along with his family, into some trouble with the law. Because of this, the Land family travels to the Badlands and on their way, they discover God and His ways. Peace Like a River has a few major themes including, what makes a miracle, decisions and their consequences, and God.

John Knowles’ “A Separate Peace” takes place at a boarding school during World War II. Best friends Gene and Finny have been inseparable during their time at the Devon School. This is until reality hits Gene, and he slowly starts to realize that he is inferior to his best friend. Through the unbalanced friendship between two teenagers in “A Separate Peace,” Knowles illustrates that a loss of identity may be present in a relationship if there is an unequal amount of power.

The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles is about learning and it reveals that people have to have the bad to see the good. This thematic statement connects to both the book and the world that we live in today. Many people want everything to be perfect and beautiful but the hard truth is that it will never completely be that way. Life isn’t going to be the way every stroke was placed on the perfect painting of life that everyone has in there head which was handcrafted from their wildest dreams. Their may be some slippery patches but good will follow close behind.

John Knowles’ novel A Separate Peace is about a few boys at a boarding school in New Hampshire. The story is centered around the friendship of two boys, Gene and Finny, at a boarding school in New Hampshire. Although in the beginning of their friendship Gene did not trust Finny, by the time he dies Gene feels as if a part of him has died, showing that he still felt closely bonded to him after all they had been through.

“He who is not contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would like to have” (Socrates). Humans are selfish, they wish for more even when there is no more to give. This is shown in many books through parallels between texts. These parallels allow readers to become connected with the text on a deeper level. People must read in between the lines to get a clear understanding of the author's message. John Knowles, author of A Separate Peace, has woven an intelligent story which at a glance seems like the story of two boys friendship, but underneath explains the reason behind why people are ever jealous. Through the use of biblical allegories and character parallels, A Separate Peace, meticulously portrays the human impulse

Peace Like a River is a powerful novel that is able to incorporate miracles from the Bible and pull them into a more modern day context. Each character challenges the reader to connect to them in a new way. Reuben has lungs so swampy he shouldn’t be living, and yet here he is the main witness to his father’s miracles. Jeremiah is a devoted and caring father whose faith is unparalleled and whose miracles are a bit random. His other son Davy is almost his complete opposite, relying only on his hands and own hard work to create his life. Then Swede has a wild imagination and sense of wonder yet can’t see the miracles that happen right under her nose. As I read Peace Like a River I was filled with awe and wonder with the miracles Jeremiah did, yet when I was challenged by Reuben to “make of it as you will” (311) I was filled with dread as I was reminded of my own blindness that mimicked Swede’s.

In the book, Peace Like a River, Reuben as the narrator depicts Jeremiah as a divine mortal. The first time Reuben paints this picture is in the first chapter. Reuben states that Jeremiah says, “Reuben Land, in the name of the living God I am telling you to breathe”(Page 2). Jeremiah some how manages to bring back a child who hasn’t been breathing for 12 minutes. Reuben proceeds to assert “the answer, it seems to me now, lies in miracles”(page 2). In the start of the book, Jeremiah is already portrayed as a blessed person. Later on in the book every time a miracle happens, the Reuben will say make of it what you will. In the end, Jeremiah performs one last miracle and sacrifices his life for Reuben, affirming him as a great parent and person

In Peace Like a River by Leif Enger, Reuben Land had lost his father. He dearly missed him, and often was in conflict with his faith in God due to his lost and the miracles he performed. Most evidently shown in The Curious Music That I Hear, is “… I breathe deeply, and the certainty enters into me like a light, like a piece of science, and curious music seems to hum inside my fingers.” (311). This is referring to The Land of Nod, a poem written by Robert Louis Stevenson. It talks of a child falling asleep and being alone until they awake. Futhermore, it places emphasis on the feeling Reuben had when he last touched his father, Jeremiah, and how Reuben could not join Jeremiah in Heaven. It was not Reuben’s time to die, and Jeremiah had to jump

In A Separate Peace, the author chooses to use conflicts to show the growth of a character. As a conflict happens there is some sort of growth which the character gains as a result. In fact, there are many conflicts throughout the story that shape the characters in unique ways including Genes jealousy of his best friend, Finny doing dangerous things, and Gene trying to live through Finny. Some conflicts result in good ways some result in bad and it changes the way the character is. The book is a good example of what it is like when a conflict happens in real life, by showing growth of a character after a conflict. The decisions made by the characters will either change them in positive or negative ways; that is an important message that the book tells quite well.

The Anatomy of Peace by the Arbinger Institute tells a story of a father named Lou, whose main in life is his drug-addicted son. Cory, Lou’s son, was arrested for using drugs and stealing, which lead to Lou to bringing him into a treatment program in order for them all to rehabilitate. The program, known as Camp Moriah, is lead by two men named Yusuf al-Falah and Avi Rozen, who both lost their fathers in the hands of each other’s “ethnic cousins” in war. At first, Lou was skeptical of the program but his wife, Carol, threatened to leave him if he didn't stay with the program. Initially, he was convinced that he had no responsibility for his son’s mischievous behavior that lead him to a world of crime. After agreeing to stay, he learns that

Consequences come from choices individuals make, such as waking up in the morning at a specific time in order to avoid traffic. However, even if the decisions are not made by the individual, they still have to suffer the consequences of those decisions made by others. Take, for instance, the choice that someone makes to drink and drive while under the influence. If that person kills someone, then his decision impacts the lives of everyone involved and not just himself. A theme in Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger, is that people must accept the consequences of their actions because it influences the direction they go in life. This theme is developed through the character of Jeremiah, the conflict between Davy and the law, and the symbolism

Reading the books The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and A Separate Peace connected us to the challenges of teenage-boys. Both of the main character’s in the book deal with problems that teenager’s in real-life deal with. The stories are told in first-person point-of-view and this shows us the feelings of the boys and how they are affected throughout the story. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and A Separate Peace taught readers how to overcome inner challenges, trust others, and live with order and rules.

There is an image in my mind of the perfect live I want to have. One aspect of the future life I want to live is being a doctor that is how I see myself in the future helping little new babies. I want to be a OBGYN because I really love to be around babies and I know that becoming an OBGYN is very difficult, but is a career that I am passion about and is a career that I am 100% sure I want to do. Becoming a OBGYN is the future I want to have and it relates to the book “The Anatomy of Peace” because in the story Lou´s wanted his son Cory to changed. That relates with me for two reasons because I want to become an OBGYN to help people, but also I want to changed my life to the be better and not have to struggle and Cory´s dad want him to changed