“The River” by Flannery O’Connor tells the story of a young child named Bevel who tries to baptize himself in search of the Kingdom of Christ, to make himself “count.” Bevel is introduced to Christianity by Mrs.Connin, the lady who takes care of him for a day. After seeing Reverend Bevel Summers preach to the people from a river in the forest, Bevel returns to the river the next day and drowns himself while looking for a way out of his life, which comes in the form of the Kingdom of Christ.
Bevel’s family and his life at home are the things that push him to decide to baptize himself. Bevel’s mother and father are people who constantly drink and smoke, and don’t take proper care of their child. This can be seen several times throughout the story. When the father is dressing up Bevel before Bevel leaves with Mrs.Connin, he doesn’t take care that Bevel’s arm isn’t in the sleeve of the coat and when Mrs.Connin points this out, he replies “ ‘Well then for Christ’s sake fix him,’ ” which is a sarcastic reply that shows he doesn’t care. Bevel’s mother also displays the same attitude towards her son. When he is leaving with Mrs.Connin, the mother doesn’t say anything or help fix Bevel up because she is sick in bed with a “hangover.” When the mother does talk to Bevel, she only does so to criticize Reverend Bevel and religion. The fact that Bevel steals, and that no one tells him not to steal also shows that the parents don’t take interest in their child’s life. This can also be seen when Bevel goes to bed without changing his clothes, because no one prepares him for bed, and when he wakes up, he eats the leftovers he finds lying around and drinks “some ginger ale left in a bottle.” Bevel is a lonely child. His parents don’t look after him and no one cares for him. He is taken care of by babysitters, especially by the ones who take the children to their own houses instead of staying at the child’s house. When Mrs.Connin takes Bevel to the river, Bevel discovers that the “River of Blood” will take him to the Kingdom of Christ, and he will be able to leave his pain and sorrow in the river, and he is genuinely affected by this. The idea of laying his pain in some muddy water, and not having to return to the apartment leads Bevel to decide to go back to the river. Since his parents don’t look after Bevel, he is able to sneak out and visit the river once more, to baptize himself, this time without having to fool with preachers, until he finds the Kingdom of Christ.
When Bevel dives into the river and realizes that he has to come back up for air, he believes that he was deceived, and that the Kingdom of Christ does not exist and that the people at the healing were joking with him earlier. This devastates and infuriates him, since he thinks that he came all the way to the river for nothing and that he won’t be saved from his life, and Bevel yearns for salvation; he desperately wants to be saved from his life at the apartment with parents who don’t love him. While he thinks about all of these things, he forgets to think about where he is stepping and is taken to the part of the river from where there is no return. At this moment, he sees Mr.Paradise, who had followed Bevel to the river when he saw him walk by the gas station, perhaps because he was worried when he saw Bevel by himself. Yet, Mr. Paradise could have actually known that Bevel would try to find the Kingdom of Christ, since he himself went through the same feelings as Bevel, and wants to be saved, because he has cancer and can’t be cured. Mr. Paradise, however, misinterprets Christianity and God, expects real miracles to be performed, and is an animal in the sense that he will never understand religion. This is why Mr.Paradise doesn’t see that Bevel finally finds salvation when he drowns himself.
In this story, Flannery O’Connor describes what happens to a child who lives without love of spirituality. The need of love and something greater to believe in is demonstrated though Bevel’s behavior.
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