The River of Earth

The River of Earth

The novel River Of Earth by James Still is a story about life in e Appalachia just before The Great Depression. The story provides a very clear description of the problems and challenges the mountain people faced after the settlement of their land. Even though the novel is shadowed by other writings of the time period dealing with poor southern life, it is still considered a great neglected masterpiece.
The story is about a family that considers awkward. They struggle to put enough food on the table for the entire family, most of the time the mother barely eats. They live in a small smoke house that is very cramped and cluttered because of the number of people living in it. The Father is waiting for the coal mines to open so he can work, while the mother takes care of the kids, the family does not complain; they feel blessed for what they have . The father is very proud and doesn’t turn anyone away when they need help. In the book he allowed a group of miners to take most of his beans from the garden to help keep their families feed . The mother is a very strongwilled woman. She never lets anything bring her down; when the family begins to have trouble with food she suggests that they begin growing a garden and providing for themselves. The kids are smart and goodwilled from what they are taught by their parents. They display good moral values in their characters.
The garden is a source of life for the family in the book. This is so because as times get harder they grow together and the garden also becomes more and heartier. They begin to have more food for their dinners, this helps the family keep their spirits up and continue to hope for good blessings to be brought to the family such as the mines opening. As the family grows stronger they begin to add to their source of food. Instead of eating only soup and vegetables and potatoes, they add begin to eat meat. They own a guinea Chicken which starts to lay a large amount of eggs they