Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Peace Like a River-Annotated

Leif Enger, undoubtedly, had religious themes and references laced within the book Peace Like a River. One that many Christians would notice is that Jeremiah seemed to be a Christ-like figure. His name, first of all, is significant. I looked up what the name Jeremiah means in Hebrew and I do not think it is a coincidence that Jeremiah means “Yahweh Exalts”. I would not be surprised if Leif looked it up and subliminally wanted his character to exalt God throughout the book.

The first thing that gives the readers the idea that Jeremiah is a Christ-like figure is when he walks on air one night. Reuben woke in the middle of the night and thought he heard voices. Sneaking outside to take a peek at who might be out there, he noticed it was his father praying aloud and pacing. “And then, as I stood watching, Dad walked right off the edge of the truck” “He went on pacing—God my witness—walking on air, praying relentlessly, a good yard of absolutely nothing between the soles of his boots and the thistles below” (17). One of Jesus’ famous miracles is when he walked on water. This is one of the first indications that Jeremiah is no ordinary man.

When Jeremiah was humiliated in front of all the students, he says absolutely nothing. “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” (Matthew 5:39b). This reflects Christ so much. Christ, while taking his last breaths upon the cross, asked not that his persecutors be punished but that God would forgive them. Jeremiah healed the superintendant’s face. That was his response. After being ridiculed and put down, kindness and forgiveness was reciprocated.

Another characteristic that shows Jeremiah as a Christ figure is the forgiveness he shows. “In this picture I saw no forgiveness for myself—not from Davy, not from Swede, not from anyone but Dad, who was so forgiving that it almost didn’t count” (285). Christ said to Peter, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times” (Matthew 18:21). Christ continually forgives us for our stupidity; Jeremiah forgives others in the same manner. He especially forgives his children because they are his pride and joy. Christ views us as his children (1 John 3:1) and he loves us with a love that a parent has for their child.

The last and final Christ-like act is when Jeremiah sacrificed his life so that Reuben could live. Jape hid out beside the house and patiently waited for Davy to leave. Everyone went outside to see Davy off when a loud shot rang through the air. Jeremiah fell onto the hood of the car. He had been shot in the side. Roxanna ran over to try and stop the flow but Jeremiah replied, “Let the blood wash it clean” (306). Christ’s blood washed us clean. It is by His stripes that we are healed (Isaiah 53:5). A few minutes later, Jape shot three more times and Reuben was hit in the lung. “One day he said, ‘Your father should not have died, Reuben. Did you know that?’ I nodded. ‘I mean, injured where he was. I examined him, you know. No organs were damaged. Blood vessels, yes. But he actually shouldn’t have died.’ And I conversely shouldn’t have lived” (307). When Christ died, no bones were broken. In Jeremiah’s case, no organs were damaged. When reflecting later on in life about what happened that day, Reuben states, “That it seemed a transaction had taken place on my behalf” (310). Christ paid the price so that all of us could live with him eternally and that we would no longer be separated from our Heavenly Father by a chasm. There was a transaction taken on our behalf.


Jeremiah, New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, Tyndale Press, Wheaton, IL, USA 1987.

Writinghood. "Peace Like a River Explored." Writinghood. N.p., 3 Feb. 2011. Web.
20 Apr. 2011.
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