However, his actions still tear the Land family apart. Reuben is continually question himself if the law is right that is following Reuben or if his brother was right to attack the men. He must look to his father to provide him with moral guidance, given that his mother abandoned the family when he was just a child. Eventually, Jeremiah finds another mother figure, a woman named Roxanna, as a surrogate, but the family is always clearly dominated by the father. The rightness of patriarchal authority is once again confirmed by the fact that Jeremiah is such a good single parent, although not by choice. Only occasionally does the utterly devoted, adorable youngest sibling, Swede perform 'wifely' duties, like cooking an elaborate Thanksgiving meal. There seems to be no real need for an equal, motherly presence.
Other than Davy's violent outburst, Jeremiah's children follow him with seemingly unflinching loyalty -- he not only brings back people from the dead, engages in miraculous healing of people and saddles, but even feeds an entire household multiple bowls of fish stew, including the insatiable family friend Lurvy with what should only be enough for four bowls. The only difference between Jesus and Jeremiah's miracle of the 'loaves and fishes' is that Jeremiah seems more surprised that it occurred, perhaps a way of showing that although Jeremiah is godlike and God-inspired, he is not God himself (Enger 46).
The ability to perform the miraculous gives Jeremiah Land authority as a prophet in the story. Like many prophets he is 'low' socially -- a mere janitor, but can do great things from his own conviction and because of God's grace. Some of his miracles initially seem inscrutable: For example, Jeremiah heals his former employer after being unjustly fired, but does not cure Reuben's asthma, an affliction that threatens his life until the very end of the story when Jeremiah 'dies' for Reuben, and Reuben is restored to perfect health (Enger 80). This miracle also shows Jeremiah's knowledge of when the...
Jeremiah's actions show his deep and thoroughly Christian benevolence toward the world.
The credibility of Jeremiah's miracles is reinforced over and over again by the way Enger tells the story through the first-person narration of the adult Reuben, even though he reveals the plot with the knowledge of a child. However, the fact that Reuben still believes in the miracles as an adult, even though he professes not to understand him, reinforces his credibility. He never says that his father is Christlike outright, but implies it with almost every aspect of the tale. Reuben is literally twice-born through his father -- when both of them are shot by the crazed Jape Walzer Davy has been hiding with from the police, Jeremiah dies even though Reuben's injuries are more severe.
Even for a reader who does not believe in actual miracles, the story can still have some resonance -- the fact that any child can survive the trauma of birth is a miracle, and the love of a parent for a child can be miraculous, even though not everyone possesses Jeremiah's ability to literally die so his son Reuben can live. On one hand, this could be an argument that the book merely encourages readers to see the world in a newly miraculous way, and to believe that God will provide, no matter what. But even if this is Enger's intention, so much of the story focuses on Jeremiah's godlike fatherly powers and his sense of Old Testament morality combined with Christian purity that remains unchanged in the face of terrible family, physical, and spiritual crises (such as his own sickness, the loss of his job, as well as the trial and flight of his son) it is hard to fully relate to the miracles of the book or to apply them to one's own life.
Works Cited
Enger, Leif. Peace Like a River. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2002.
