The Factors Leading to Harry’s Demise in O’Connor’s The River :: O’Connor The RiverÂÂ

The Factors Leading to Harry’s Demise in O’Connor’s The River  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In O’Connor’s story The River a young boy takes his own life in order to travel to the Kingdom of Christ. The boy lacks structure in his life, is neglected, and is bored. He lives with his parents in an apartment in a "city that rose like a cluster of warts on the side of the mountain". (P.35) There is not one particular incident that leads him to "baptise himself" (p.45), but a conglomeration of many. From his apartment and his parents, to his treatment as an adult, the only place in which he can find sanctuary is in the River of Christ’s blood. His new faith paired with his longing for acceptance is what will ultimately led to Harry Ashfield’s demise. Descriptions of the apartment throughout the story introduce the reader to the world in which this young boy lived in. In the beginning of the story the reader is told of how the apartment’s air is stale with the smell of smoke. It is so bad that Mrs. Connin tells Harry that she will not be able to visit him in the apartment if she has to "smell those dead cigarette butts long". (p. 24) Yet another "flaw" Mrs. Connin addressed in the apartment is the picture on the wall. It is full of "black lines crossing into broken planes of violent color". (p. 24) The abstract picture in the apartment is symbolic of the life that Harry lead. He lives in a chaotic world without much guidance or many rules. Harry’s life up to the point of meeting Mrs. Connin lacks structure. The very fact that the family lives in an apartment rather than a house represents a lack of permanence. There is no commitment when living in an apartment. There is no mortgage to pay or yard to tend to. Because Harry had lived in this world of concrete for probably all of his life he has never really experienced nature. Nature represents permanence in a world that is anything but. When he was walking with Mrs. Connin down to the river, he walks through the paths as if he’s "never been in the woods before". (p.32) Nature is preferable to an urban setting and a character that is not one with nature can be seen as lacking. This lacking is visible in Harry throughout the story. The Factors Leading to Harry’s Demise in O’Connor’s The River :: O’Connor The River   The Factors Leading to Harry’s Demise in O’Connor’s The River  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In O’Connor’s story The River a young boy takes his own life in order to travel to the Kingdom of Christ. The boy lacks structure in his life, is neglected, and is bored. He lives with his parents in an apartment in a "city that rose like a cluster of warts on the side of the mountain". (P.35) There is not one particular incident that leads him to "baptise himself" (p.45), but a conglomeration of many. From his apartment and his parents, to his treatment as an adult, the only place in which he can find sanctuary is in the River of Christ’s blood. His new faith paired with his longing for acceptance is what will ultimately led to Harry Ashfield’s demise. Descriptions of the apartment throughout the story introduce the reader to the world in which this young boy lived in. In the beginning of the story the reader is told of how the apartment’s air is stale with the smell of smoke. It is so bad that Mrs. Connin tells Harry that she will not be able to visit him in the apartment if she has to "smell those dead cigarette butts long". (p. 24) Yet another "flaw" Mrs. Connin addressed in the apartment is the picture on the wall. It is full of "black lines crossing into broken planes of violent color". (p. 24) The abstract picture in the apartment is symbolic of the life that Harry lead. He lives in a chaotic world without much guidance or many rules. Harry’s life up to the point of meeting Mrs. Connin lacks structure. The very fact that the family lives in an apartment rather than a house represents a lack of permanence. There is no commitment when living in an apartment. There is no mortgage to pay or yard to tend to. Because Harry had lived in this world of concrete for probably all of his life he has never really experienced nature. Nature represents permanence in a world that is anything but. When he was walking with Mrs. Connin down to the river, he walks through the paths as if he’s "never been in the woods before". (p.32) Nature is preferable to an urban setting and a character that is not one with nature can be seen as lacking. This lacking is visible in Harry throughout the story.