River Case

The narrator seems to be mourning the loss of his father. He is usually doleful and disoriented. He is isolated from the outside world. Although not physically, he is mentally detached. When he wakes up he is under the influence that is father is waiting for him. But as he realized that he was just imagining, he thinks he is ‘foolishly alone’ which doesn’t only point to the absence of his father, but also him being sequestered from society.

The father’s physical details reveal his character. Several references to the ‘odor of salt’ suggest that he was a fisherman. The ‘shaggy whiteness of his hair’ indicate that he payed little attention to his outward appearance and that he was unkempt, untidy, and old. His outward appearance portrays the image of a man who is not quite happy with his life, however he has developed a resigned attitude towards it. He is affectionate towards his son, since he carried his son on ‘his shoulders’ for half a mile and took him for his ‘first ride’ when he was ‘very small’. The author loved his father as well since his first recollection of his father is that of an affectionate fatherly moment however his true feeling are not too clear since the main idea he remembered of his first recollection is about how he smelled odd and looked aged.

Primarily ‘boat’ serves to reflect the narrator’s emotional state. When he wakes up in the morning he is often terribly frightened, which is analogous to the dream that the boat ‘restlessly rides’ by the pier. Both these events show anxiety and turmoil. Secondly, the boat symbolizes the journey through the narrator’s life. He sees it as gateway into his past. Since he spent quite sometime fishing with his father, the boat symbolizes a way to reconnect with the past. The narrator is afraid and is in a state of emotional turmoil when he gets up because the boat reminds him of his father.

‘There are times even now’