Like River Of Earth Analysis

While Estelle is an essential figure in the main characters life, the elements of fiction also show how the character changes within the novel. For instance, the structure of the novel leads to character change and emerging themes. The novel is written in short chapters that highlight important events that happen during this time. Furthermore, it is wrote in seven sections, all of which contain short chapters. Like River of Earth, these parts seem episodic and give the feeling of movement that D.R. goes though. These short episodic chapters highlight a theme of wandering. In Interviewing Appalachian, Gurney Norman states that the book “is about the quest for a home. That means home in a literal sense of place on the ground, but also coming …show more content…
D.R. goes through three departures during the book. The first appears when they leave for Eddie's home, the second is when they leave Eddies for Cincinnati, and the third is when he goes to his uncle’s home. Discovery could be seen when he first arrived at his sister’s house. D.R. is comfortable with his family; he jokes with them and converses with his sister about their family as if this was a regular occurrence. The chapter arrival is also when the home place gains its significance. At the end of the chapter, D.R. states “the homeplace in Kentucky.” Previously home place was spelled in two words rather than one. The change in the word reveals how it has regained its significance. Return occurs when D.R. goes back to Kentucky. He is returning to the place that he used to inhabit and thinks back on his childhood in the …show more content…
Throughout the novels, more so in River of Earth, the reader sees the devastation of mining verses an agricultural life style. However, both of these stories are about the main characters growth from innocence into experience. The boy in The River of Earth begins with a squeamish outlook on death but by the end of the novel he has accepted death as a part of life. The reader sees this wit how he deals with the death of the grandmother. Meanwhile, in Divine Rights Trip the main character goes from a drug riddled nomadic life style to settling down on his uncle’s land and marrying Estelle. The two characters change their outlook of life by the end of the