The River

Danger from both natural and human sources looms pervasively throughout the novel. The forest fire, the violence of the whitewater, and the presence of predators such as bears all pose threats that are natural in a wilderness setting. Pierre—and the violence that he represents—is a uniquely human threat that has its source in greed and envy.

As an example of a natural threat, the narrative recounts a solo blueberry foraging excursion that Wynn makes early in the trip. He encounters a bear, and when he notices that she has cubs with her, the situation becomes intense: “Wynn’s heart jumped because he suddenly knew how much danger he was in” (105). The standoff with the bear ends innocuously, an irony given that Wynn is instead killed by a human in the novel’s climactic moments. Another natural threat is the fire, which wreaks massive destruction as it incinerates the forest, leaving behind a hellish landscape. Somehow, Jack, Wynn, and Maia survive the fire, mainly because of a combination of quick thinking and luck. After surviving the fire, Jack and Wynn, with Maia, paddle to beyond the fire’s edge and eventually find themselves again in a verdant landscape:

Being at this edge was like standing at the high-tide line of a tsunami. Looking out over the wreckage and death. The sense that you could turn around and walk away into the hills, and life. It might not be that simple with a homicidal freak downstream, but for now the sun was shining and the day was warming and they would have fish for supper (205).

Their escape from the fire should offer more than just a passing sense of relief, but it doesn’t because as much as the wilderness poses threats, so do humans in the story. In addition to Pierre’s shadowy presence is JD’s attempt to rape Maia, which begins with his peering into her tent: “[JD] turned his head to the tent more than once and Jack had the strong impression that it wasn’t just because he had burning questions. There was a young woman lying in there, however injured. That’s the sense Jack got” (222). The implication here is that the heavily drinking JD has nefarious intentions toward Maia. The threat of human violence in the novel is unceasing and parallels the dangers of the wilderness setting.

The novel suggests that violence and death is as much part of existence as beauty and grace. It also implies that in a primitive environment, human instinct returns to its primal nature so that it mimics its natural environment. Survival in the face of danger trumps morality and ethics. In addition, despite the threats faced by the characters and all the possible ways they could have been killed by natural threats in the wilderness, humans cause the deaths of Pierre and Wynn, suggesting that though humans have evolved into rational beings, they’re not all that far removed from their animal nature.