The need for rain is established early in the book and becomes an increasingly pressing issue as the situation worsens for the characters. The drought is often brought up hand in hand with bad events, as showcased while Aloma and Orren argue about getting married and she calls their land a farm, but, “It took some effort not to call it the soil, the dirt, the dust” (43). As the drought builds up, so does the tension between Aloma and Orren. This is exemplified when Aloma discovers Orren’s parents’ initials carved into a tree, and how she decides to not share that information with him.
Then, when the storm comes, Orren is so excited that he runs outside and gets soaked through his clothes as the rain comes pouring down. While standing out in the field, his description matches that overwhelming sense of release, “His face was light with relief. The rain washed his forehead and his hands, his lips parted” (125). The storm washes away not only the dirt from Orren’s body but all the worry that has built up inside him.
Afterward, the situation for Aloma begins to turn around. While her relationship with Orren doesn’t immediately become peachy and perfect, I feel as though she begins to settle further into her role on the farm. Aloma gets used to her duties in the house and hits her stride playing the piano - even receiving a key to the church so she can practice piano whenever she wants immediately after the storm. Despite further issues like killing the chickens with wet feed, she is able to replace them on her own, and feel a wicked sense of pride in doing so by herself, “Not seeing the look on his face only heightened the satisfaction of knowing she had taken him by surprise” (150). From this, I believe the rain is used as a turning point in the novel. While events are not perfectly divided into good and bad on either side of the storm, I would argue the suffering of the characters is shaped like one of the mountains Aloma despises, and the rain symbolizes that she is finally descending. Rain symbolizes hope in All the Living. When the rain comes, there is hope that better days are on the horizon, and that there is more to the world than lack.
I agree with the concept of the drought’s end and the storm coming as a turning point in the novel and a symbol of hope. While Orren grows seemingly hopeless watching his farm suffer as he waits for rain, Aloma keeps stating that she knows rain will come because she believes that things work out – she holds her faith, even when Orren calls her silly for it. I think this prefaces the rain becoming a symbol of hope because she is relying on faith, which often stems from religion, and her place playing piano at the church was an earlier turning point for Aloma’s life on the farm as well. Even though, as this blog post mentioned, there were still problems at the farm such as the death of the chickens after the rain, nothing seemed as detrimental as during the drought. For example, a point of disagreement between Aloma and Orren throughout the novel was his unwillingness to spend time in the newer, smaller house, no matter how much Aloma insisted. However, during the storm, he went into the small house to get the TV because Aloma wanted to watch the weather. I think this was another strong point in their relationship because Aloma’s desire was met, and Orren and Aloma did something together that did not revolve around working on the farm. Finally, after the storm, Orren and Aloma finally figured out their relationship and got married – throughout the novel, I was always wondering whether Aloma was going to end up with Orren or alone, and it is possible that without the rain and the hope it brought, the ending would have been different.
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ReplyDeleteI also agree that the rain in the novel represents a symbol of hope for the characters. More generally the drought seems to be a parallel to the lack in the characters in All the Living, just like the characters seem to be missing something in their lives they town also lacks rain, which they greatly desire. Many of the characters in the story believe that it will rain however for different reasons. Bell believes that the rain will come because of his faith in God, ”It is going to rain. It is going to rain and God says so”(p.117). While Aloma has hope that the rain will come because of her faith in finding a better life for herself and those around her. Aloma after seeing a tree that died due to lack of rainwater, ”Her eyes were wide to the miscarriage of the summer, the ruth and pity of it. She suddenly desired the betterment of everything… and everything that had ever died, or would (p.122). The hope that Aloma has in the rain coming seems to stem from her desire to leave Kentucky and follow her dreams of playing the piano. In this scene, Aloma recognizes how everyone in their town is a victim to the climate and sees the drought as an obstacle for everyone to get to where they want to be. In this way, the hope for rain is symbolic of their hope for a better life.
ReplyDeleteI had not previously considered the role rain played in the story outside of being a plot point, and I appreciate your analysis of its deeper significance. A major theme in the book is hope for the future, or lack thereof, and I think that hoping for rain is one way that Morgan points out deeper longings the characters may have.
ReplyDeleteAs you said, the rain relieves some of the tension between Aloma and Orren, and I think that in a way, the drought and the rain parallel their relationship. During the drought, everyone is hoping and praying for rain. When it finally comes, this brief respite is a reason to celebrate. Aloma and Orren have a sort of drought of their own at the beginning of the novel, during the time when they are constantly fighting. The coming of the rain coincides with a short period of peace in their relationship and like you said, while life certainly isn’t perfect, Aloma feels more settled in at the farm and argues less often with Orren. The rain is not only a relief from the drought, it is a symbolic relief from the uphill battle that the characters have been fighting.