Free Essays on The River

Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"The River†: A Story of Faith? Flannery O’Connor’s story â€Å"The River† is a story of faith. The main character of the story is a young boy whose real name is Harry Ashfield. Although his real name is Harry he tells people his name is Bevel. Bevel is introduced to Christianity by Mrs. Connin, who is a babysitter that his parents have hired to take care of him. â€Å"The River† is about Bevel and his exploration of religious faith. This story is a good example that a person who is a little devil and has no religious background can change his beliefs and start to have faith in god. Bevel is a joker and is used to living everything out as a joke, almost nothing is of a serious matter to him. Bevel does not come from a religious family. In matter of fact it is said that, â€Å"If he had thought about it before, he would have thought Jesus Christ was a word like ‘oh’ or ‘damm’ or ‘God’ or maybe somebody.† (160). It can be seen that he did not even have any religious background and no knowledge of a god existing. His family becomes angry with Mrs. Connin when she told them that he was baptized. But thanks to Mrs. Connin, Bevel acquires some faith and returns to the river to try to find the Kingdom of Christ. Mrs. Connin’s introduction of Christianity to Bevel was successful because he went from having no faith to returning to the river that he was baptized at. The baptism performed by the preacher prepares us for the last scene of the story. The baptism taken place in the river and Bevel’s search of the ki ngdom of Christ brings him back to the river which leads to his death. The final scene of the story is a puzzle because it is not clear what exactly happens to Bevel, but it can be taken that he drowned in the river. This is a horror because Bevel wanted to find the Kingdom of Christ that the preacher said was in the river. Because of what the preacher said, Bevel returned to the river... Free Essays on The River Free Essays on The River Flannery O’Connor’s â€Å"The River†: A Story of Faith? Flannery O’Connor’s story â€Å"The River† is a story of faith. The main character of the story is a young boy whose real name is Harry Ashfield. Although his real name is Harry he tells people his name is Bevel. Bevel is introduced to Christianity by Mrs. Connin, who is a babysitter that his parents have hired to take care of him. â€Å"The River† is about Bevel and his exploration of religious faith. This story is a good example that a person who is a little devil and has no religious background can change his beliefs and start to have faith in god. Bevel is a joker and is used to living everything out as a joke, almost nothing is of a serious matter to him. Bevel does not come from a religious family. In matter of fact it is said that, â€Å"If he had thought about it before, he would have thought Jesus Christ was a word like ‘oh’ or ‘damm’ or ‘God’ or maybe somebody.† (160). It can be seen that he did not even have any religious background and no knowledge of a god existing. His family becomes angry with Mrs. Connin when she told them that he was baptized. But thanks to Mrs. Connin, Bevel acquires some faith and returns to the river to try to find the Kingdom of Christ. Mrs. Connin’s introduction of Christianity to Bevel was successful because he went from having no faith to returning to the river that he was baptized at. The baptism performed by the preacher prepares us for the last scene of the story. The baptism taken place in the river and Bevel’s search of the ki ngdom of Christ brings him back to the river which leads to his death. The final scene of the story is a puzzle because it is not clear what exactly happens to Bevel, but it can be taken that he drowned in the river. This is a horror because Bevel wanted to find the Kingdom of Christ that the preacher said was in the river. Because of what the preacher said, Bevel returned to the river... Free Essays on The River THE RIVER The River written by Gary Paulsen is a sequel to the book â€Å"The Hatchet.† This book is about a boy named Brian Robeson who has survived months in the woods by himself and now goes back to the woods to show and teach people how to survive. Three men have come to Brian’s house to ask him if he would go back to the woods to survive again. They want to write everything down and make a â€Å"survival book† for other people to read. After much thought and talking his mom and dad into it, Brian decides to go. Derek Holtzer, a psychologist, will go with Brian to the woods and document everything Brian does to survive. They are flown to the place that they have picked out. Brian decides that it wouldn’t actually be surviving if they take all the equipment that Derek has packed, such as food and a tent. The only thing Brian agrees to keep is a radio to be used only in emergencies and for Derek to check in every week. One of the first things that Brian and Derek did was to make a shelter. They also looked for food, and found some nuts and berries. Derek was writing everything down that Brian was doing. It almost seemed that everything was going really good, but then the storm hit. Brian could only hear the loud storm and see whenever lightening struck. It was then that he saw Derek reach for the radio and was struck by lightening. When Brian woke up, he couldn’t remember anything. It was like he was in a daze. Then he saw Derek lying on his bed and realized that Derek had been struck by lightening. At first he thought Derek was dead, but he was just knocked out. After waiting for Derek to wake up, Brian realized that Derek was in a coma and needed help fast. When Brian remembered the radio, he tried to call for help. The lightening had struck the radio also, and it didn’t work anymore. Brian had to think of something to do to keep Derek alive. He knew without food or wa ter, Derek would...