Peace Like A River Analysis

Right off the bat, the novel starts out with a miracle. It is the miracle of Reuben, who was born with lung issues. When confronted with his not breathing son, Jeremiah commands Reuben, “Reuben Land, in the

In Leif Enger’s Peace like a River, Reuben’s younger sister Swede composes poetry in order to understand what is happening in her own life and her poetry has parallels to the journey she and her family are on within the course of the novel. Throughout the entirety of the novel we can depict the meaning behind Swede’s poetry and can sense how she reacted to the events around her. This novel and the poetry within clearly shows God’s hand at work and it is obvious that Jeremiah, Reuben and Swede agree.

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.

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.

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

This argument of an eternal presence working through people to generate change where there once was destruction is why Caine feels "the Samaritan had compassion and so he went” to signify that someone (Jesus) had once done the same act of compassion for him (Samaritan) (Caine, 8). This movement of showing compassion for those caught in the midst of destruction gives the Bible credibility in society today.

Once again good triumphed over evil. This student felt that Jeremiah maintained his composure and acted just as he should.

Jeremiah's intervention is observed when he insists, “breathe ….breathe! …. Reuben Land, in the name of the living God I am telling you to breathe” (Enger, p. 3). Jeremiah ordered his son to breathe, even though twelve minutes had passed since he was dead; however, when he orders Reuben to come back to life, he says that in the name of God he must resuscitate. Reuben was not destined to live, and because his father's choice went against what was supposed to happen, Reuben must live an asthmatic life that limits what he is able to do. Ultimately, Enger portrays how all decisions have consequences, and many times the results will not be the expected ones.

In chapter 3 of Peace Like A River Ruben and Jeremiah came home from a church service to find out that their front door had been completely tarred with one gallon of Gambles Roofing Tar by Israel Finch, and Tommy Basca. When Ruben sees this he describes a sudden change in the air, and with his lungs. He characterized the air as becoming thicker,warmer, and being filled with invisible mites that colluded his lungs. He describes his lungs a sponge, and bellows that are used to rouse a fire.Jeremiah had to sit him down and put a hot towel over his face to loosen his lungs. When this particular conflict arose Ruben immediately went into shock and his asthma flared

Words and deeds of prophetic women and men which challenge us to confront powers and structures of evil with justice, compassion, and the transforming power of love;

Through such prophets like Jeremiah, God challenges His servants to be different. Not as men of the Church, cut from the same cloth, who pride themselves in running their self-made enterprise to look like the House of God.

Trying to survive isn't always easy when you have physical and emotional monsters after you. Sometimes you have to take drastic measures in order to be alive or stable. A movie that really impacted me was "The Good Lie". It shows how people can go great lengths in order to survive, literally. One of the first examples survival in this movie when Theo urinated in a bowl to make a pact that they would all try to survive. He also took charge as chief after the death of all their parents. We all know some stories of people being out at sea for months, but people that have been through this have said they had to eat other person's corpse. This is really brave, but everything for surviving. Coming back to the "The Good Lie", Jeremiah continued to

Often times, Bible commentators have said that this section of scripture is the apogee of Jeremiah’s spiritual journey. It is also one of the most moving and profoundest passages in the Bible.

In Jeremiah 1, God explains that he has had a plan for Jeremiah before he was brought into existence. Just like Jeremiah, God give everyone the breath in their lungs to speak the words of the Lord. God gives his people his promise that even their troubles, he will be the supporter in his people 's’ calling. In Jeremiah 1, Jeremiah is called on as a young boy to speak through the lord, is given power in the lord’s touch, and has a vision to symbolize the difficulties he will face and the strength he must gain through the Lord’s promise.