" The River"

In the song “The River,” Bruce Springsteen uses the symbols and archetypes of sexuality, youth, and river to express the theme of decision making that can alter one’s life.  According to Bruce Springsteen, “We'd go down to the river, and into the river we'd dive, Oh down to the river we'd ride.” Springsteen implies that the lack of maturity and impulsiveness can lead to unfavorable outcomes: “Then I got Mary pregnant, and man that was all she wrote. And for my nineteenth birthday I got a union card and a wedding coat. We went down to the courthouse and the judge put it all to rest.” While the song first speaks of the wonders of youthful love-- “Me and Mary we met in high school when she was just seventeen, we'd ride out of that valley down to where the fields were green” --the reality of their immaturity has lead them down a different path that does not reflect a happy ending: “Now all them things that seemed so important, well mister they vanished right into the air, now I just act like I don't remember, Mary acts like she don't care.”

 

Archetype Photo

The three quotes I liked were: " Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, and then we may perhaps find the truth." " cleanliness is next to Godliness." " something more and other than itself which eludes our present knowledge."  The quote I did not enjoy reading is " Man is like the flower of the field."

Dream

I had a dream that my husband and I reconciled our marriage. Our marriage came to an end about three months ago, and I have struggled with this ever since.  In my dream, I relived al the fights and hurtful things he had said and done, that eventually lead to our separation.  As expected, he resisted the idea of resolving our marital issues, but this time he was more willing to try and work things out. But, because of his resistant attitude toward working on our marriage, it made me feel doubt we would get a second chance. As my dream continued and I saw his efforts in addressing our issues, I realized that as a woman, how strong and faithful I was, because I was willing to forgive and forget my husband’s infidelity, disrespect, and dishonesty.  Though it was only a dream and there is no plan of reconciliation, I still recognized that I am a strong and faithful woman, and that I had always been, I just never believed that I was because “he” made me feel otherwise.