The River (short story)

"The River"
Author	Flannery O'Connor
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre(s)	Southern Gothic
Published in	A Good Man Is Hard to Find
Media type	Print
Publication date	May 12 1955

"The River" is a short story by the American author Flannery O'Connor. The story includes a lot of symbolism and imagery, and is one of the ten stories included her short story collection A Good Man Is Hard to Find, published in 1955. A Roman Catholic, much of O'Connor's work focuses on Christian concepts of pride, sin, and redemption.

Plot summary

The story focuses on a boy named Harry Ashfield who is brought to a Christian revival meeting by his babysitter, Mrs. Connin, a Christian who believes in faith healing. Harry is about four or five years old, and has a troubled home life. When he hears he is going to meet the young evangelist Bevel Summers, he tells Mrs. Connin that his name is Bevel. For the rest of the story, Harry is referenced as Bevel.

While at the revival, Bevel is baptized in the river by the evangelist who tells him he has a father in heaven who loves him, and that he is counted among the saved now—that he "counts." When the boy returns home, his family still ignores him despite the fact that he tells them that he now counts. In the morning, young Bevel returns to the river to re-experience the events of the preceding day and drowns while attempting to find the Kingdom of Christ.^[1]

References

↑ Richard Giannone, Flannery O'Connor, hermit novelist (University of Illinois Press, 2000)

Works by Flannery O'Connor

Novels

Wise Blood (1952)
The Violent Bear It Away (1960)

Short story
collections

A Good Man Is Hard to Find (1955)	"A Good Man is Hard to Find" "The River" "The Life You Save May Be Your Own" "A Stroke of Good Fortune" "A Temple of the Holy Ghost" "The Artificial Nigger" "A Circle in the Fire" "A Late Encounter with the Enemy" "Good Country People" "The Displaced Person"

Everything That Rises Must Converge (1965)	"Everything That Rises Must Converge" "Greenleaf" "A View of the Woods" "The Enduring Chill" "The Comforts of Home" "The Lame Shall Enter First" "Revelation" "Parker's Back" "Judgement Day"

Previously unavailable stories included in The Complete Stories (1971)	"The Geranium" "The Barber" "Wildcat" "The Crop" "The Turkey" "The Train" "The Peeler" "The Heart of the Park" "Enoch and the Gorilla" "You Can't Be Any Poorer Than Dead" "The Partridge Festival" "Why Do the Heathen Rage?"

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