Peace like a River

Life can be viewed as a battle field, a constant fight between good and evil. In Leif Enger's Peace Like a River, this scenario was well depicted. In the novel, there was a constant fight taking place between the good and evil characters, and though based around family, love, and brotherhood, the novel mainly focused on the conflict between these characters.

This student felt that it was fair to classify the Lands along with Roxanna Cowley, The Shultzs and Dr. Nokes as the good characters. This was a fair classification as these characters maintained their positive personas throughout the novel. On the other hand, Superintendent Holgren, Israel Finch, Tommy Busca, and Jape Waltzer can be classified as the bad characters.

The main conflict that took place throughout the novel was between Israel Finch and Tommy Busca with Davy Land. In the beginning of the novel there was a lot of conflict taking place between Davy and the two juveniles as they were always out raising problems. Davy showed disgust towards the boys after they attempted to hurt his girlfriend. His father, having stepped in, prevented any further altercations between Israel, Tommy and Davy's girlfriend. The event that possibly hit home the most for Davy was when Israel and Tommy kidnapped Swede from their home. Davy remained quiet about the situation until he could no longer take it.

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it" (Albert Einstein).

This student felt that this quote was possibly how Davy felt, when the law decided not to handle the situation but instead decided to make excuses for Tommy and Israel's actions. The student felt that Davy was simply tired of sitting back and that it was time for him to take matters into his own hands. Davy retaliated in the most shocking manner possible, killing both Israel and Tommy.

This student felt as though Davy's actions were good because his intentions were to take care of his family. On the other hand, if he had simply been a cold blooded killer as readers later found Jape Waltzer to be, Davy's action may have been seen in a different light. Davy felt that once he destroyed evil, everything would be settled and that his family could go on like normal, but Davy had turned into a wanted individual; his family was left to battle even more evil.

Jeremiah had been working at Rueben and Swedes school as a janitor. After the two murders Superintendent Holgren began to treat Jeremiah differently, as he allowed his opinion to determine whether or not Jeremiah deserved the job. Holgren made work even more difficult and disagreed with everything that Jeremiah did. Jeremiah, being the calm person that he was, never retaliated with negative words. He allowed Holgren to mistreat him, even in front of the staff and students in the school. Holgren finally resorted to firing Jeremiah in front of everyone, but Jeremiah simply touched his face and walked away.

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" (Budha).

Jeremiah did nothing but simply left things in God's hands. He allowed Holgren to make a fool out of himself and surprisingly, he healed Holgren's face from those unsightly sores.

Once again good triumphed over evil. This student felt that Jeremiah maintained his composure and acted just as he should.

The best way to deal with situations is to walk away and Jeremiah proved to have such discipline.

The Lands faced a lot of negativity from persons who were once considered family friends. It must have been difficult for the Lands as they were viewed negatively because of Davy's actions. Although many persons betrayed them, the Lands could still count on a few old friends. The Shultzs and Dr. Nokes continued to support them even if they did not agree with Davy's actions.

Throughout the novel these characters went out of their way to support their friends in their battle against evil, often putting themselves in danger for supporting them.

August and his wife Birdie allowed Davy, a fugitive, to stay in their home risking their being arrested for aiding a criminal:

Davy was not riding a horse any longer, he was driving a Studebaker, its floorboards rotted to mere embroidery. August for years had kept the old boat for a field car." "Seeing Davy's unwillingness to return home with his hands in the air, August decided the Studebaker had been more than faithful to him and needed a change of mission and oil." "Before Davy had finished breakfast, August had affixed old license plates and obscured them with dirt and snow, filled the