The Same River Twice has been quite a racy and controversial book so far. I have found it to be quite intriguing, especially considering that it is a true story and the author’s reflection on his own life (somewhat autobiographical). The journeys that he has already gone on and the experiences he has encountered are not of your typical American (or at least not of middle-class like we are living in). My overall impression of the story’s theme at this point in time is self-identity. Chris has gone back and forth between choosing what he truly wants to do with his life—one moment he wants to be a poet, and then an artist, and then a playwright, but by the very end of the last assigned chapter, he changes his mind again. I think this battle in self-identity is also portrayed in the way that Offutt has decided to organize his chapters, going back and forth between his risqué, naïve days, and his mature parenthood days. This shows that he, as a whole, will never forget the two completely different sides that have encompassed his life and who he has come to be.
I would have to say that this book has been the most interesting to me out of the many short stories and poems that we have read thus far. Not only have I been able to make more connections to previous pieces I have read, but also this book tends to grab my attention much more than others because of both the storyline and the ease of the reading. Offutt encases his evident talent of imagery in many places throughout the book, which helps us as readers to feel like we are a part of the story, feeling what he is feeling. On page 73, Chris Offutt talks about the Lamaze pregnancy class that he and his wife are attending. “Again and again she emphasizes the pain of birth, saying it is similar to having your lips peeled over your head.” This is a clear example of Offutt’s use of imagery. Aside from the fact that this quote actually made me cringe, I felt bad for Chris and his wife, Rita. There is no way in this world that I would want to be attending a pregnancy class that just makes me more scared to give birth. I feel Rita’s pain in not wanting to attend the class anymore because the instructor’s techniques are not soothing whatsoever and actually seemed to be more on the negative side of pregnancy, rather than preparing the spouses in a positive manner.
The part of the story that I could relate most to previous reading was when Offutt was riding and driving with Winner, the creepy man with skull tattoos and grungy biker clothing. First, I thought it was strange that Chris encountered two polar opposite people back-to-back. Coming from riding with Al, the spiritual, innocent man who was determined on going to heaven, straight to riding with a man who is constantly talking about the devil and cursing every other sentence, must have been frightening for Chris. The reason Chris’ experience with Winner reminded me of something I had read in the past was the excerpt on page 84, “Maybe he and Winner were both correct—the world was doomed to extinction. Global annihilation was better than getting old; heaven and reincarnation were the same guarantee. No one surfed the river Styx.” Immediately I thought of Dante’s Inferno, because I remembered reading about the river of Styx in Dante’s portrayal of Hell. I’m still not quite sure if Offutt was purposefully making a reference to The Inferno, or if it was a mere coincidence.
Although there were many parts of the story so far that grabbed my attention, such as the description of the Parrot Lady’s act (so bizarre), the third passage that really got me thinking was on page 102, when the circus members are tormenting Gabe the Gorilla. Because they feel bad for doing such inappropriate acts and violating Gabe’s privacy, they try to make up for it by apologizing to him and giving him bananas. “Arnie went last. He was crying. He opened his pants and said, ‘See, they ain’t that much to mine either.’ Arnie stuffed four bananas through the cage and claimed credit for bringing all the men to apologize.” What this scene made me realize is that the gorilla didn’t really know what the men were saying to him, yet he was smart enough to associate the giving of bananas with apology because of their wrong-doing. I never really thought about how humans are the only animals to have a sophisticated language and that most other animals communicate through body language, which is how Gabe still understood the point that the men were trying to get across.
Vocabulary I was unfamiliar with:
Fisticuffs: combat with the fists
Equanimity: calmness
Coalesce: to unite or grow together
Affront: to insult
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