The River

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2019

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 6

Chapters 7-12

Chapters 13-18

Chapter 19-Epilogue

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Chapters 7-12Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 7 Summary

Jack and Wynn take turns keeping watch during the night. Wynn sits by the fire, recalling memories of his father. He looks off across the lake for any sign of the fire but sees nothing. In addition, he ponders what caused Maia’s injuries. He discounts that a bear could have done it, since the nature of the injuries, including the separated shoulder, aren’t consistent with a mauling. He considers that she may have fallen out of a tree but starts to align with Jack’s suspicions. As he sits there in the dark outside the tent, he holds the rifle. Maia’s condition is improving; her body temperature has come back up, and she has stopped shivering. Wynn begins to get sleepy and wakes up Jack, who takes over so that Wynn can sleep.

Chapter 8 Summary

Jack helps Maia urinate. She can utter only approximations of words. Jack and Wynn prepare the canoe and get Maia ready for the journey back to where they left Pierre. They wrap her in a sleeping bag, place her in the canoe, and push off. They follow the same route, and this time they catch a whiff of the forest fire again. When they get back to the landing, Jack carries the loaded rifle as he goes on shore. He calls for Wynn, and the two look over a scene that at first glance appears to indicate that a bear rummaged through the gear they’d left behind. All their food is gone, and two other barrels, which contained extra clothing and other supplies, have disappeared. Wynn thinks a hungry bear did this, but Jack isn’t so sure. Again, he suspects Pierre. He points to the cooler, which appears to have been opened by hand; no claw scratches mar its surface. He and Wynn discuss the likelihood of one scenario versus the other. Wynn is still doubtful despite Jack’s insistence that Pierre is behind the attack on Maia and, now, the apparent theft of their supplies. As they discuss the circumstances, they realize that Maia has taken a turn for the worse and is once again in shock.

Chapter 9 Summary

Near the landing is an old cabin, but instead of breaking in the door, the group builds a fire on the stone beach. Jack and Wynn discuss the route and what kind of time they can make on the swift river. Because of the looming forest fire, they know that despite Maia’s condition, they can’t afford to spend any more time there. They decide to pick as many blueberries as they can before embarking on the next section of the river. Wynn internally wishes they could stay at the cabin until Maia recovers. He muses that they’re about 10 days from the village—possibly more because the portages will take longer since they’ll have to carry Maia. Wynn and Jack continue to discuss the circumstances, and Jack insists that Pierre could be awaiting them at the next portage. They also realize that the circumstances could change at any moment once Maia is able to start speaking again. Jack feels that they could be sitting ducks in this scenario. He also considers the same dynamic when thinking about standing watch outside the tent near a fire. The one sitting post wouldn’t be able to see more than 50 yards or so, while someone from the woods could easily see them. Jack realizes that at the moment, Pierre has the upper hand because he’s out front. Jack considers that they must somehow subvert this dynamic and go on the offensive against Pierre. They portage their gear, Wynn heaves Maia over his shoulder, and they start walking toward the next launch site.

Chapter 10 Summary

The narrative lists all the items they lay out to pack at the launch site. Everything except the fishing gear and the rifle fits into a large duffel bag. They tie the bag under the center thwart in the canoe and lay Maia against it, facing backwards so that she can see Wynn’s face in the stern of the boat. They put a life vest on her as a precaution even though the next 28 miles are swift but flat water. They also load into the boat all the blueberries they picked, about 20 pounds’ worth. The weather is nice, but it’s clearing up, which means that frost is likely overnight. Additionally, they can smell the smoke from the forest fire more strongly now. Jack climbs into the bow, and Wynn pushes them off and jumps into the stern.

Chapter 11 Summary

Jack and Wynn make good time and settle into a rhythm as they paddle. Jack watches for signs of Pierre, scrutinizing the banks of the river for Pierre’s canoe. Because Maia is facing Wynn, he can watch her facial features for signals that she may be fully coming to. She isn’t. After about four hours of paddling, they take a break. They beach the canoe on a riverbank and make a blueberry mash to see if Maia will drink it. The bottoms of her pant legs are wet from the bilge water in the canoe, and she has urinated in it as well. They change her clothes, and she utters her first coherent word: “Try.” The men give her some mash and then gorge on it themselves. Their conversation turns to the situation. Jack accuses Wynn of being too naive, asserting that all the evidence points to Pierre being the killer. Jack also speculates that Pierre isn’t cold-blooded, and that’s why he didn’t shoot Jack and Wynn. The conversation turns heated, which is out of the ordinary for the two friends. They return to the canoe, shove off, and start paddling again. The fire smell is growing more acrid, and they notice the flight of all kinds of birds, presumably seeking relief from the encroaching fire. The men’s muscles are sore, but they finally arrive at the next portage, 28 miles from where they started that day. As the stern man, Wynn is steering the canoe to the obvious landing, but Jack insists that Wynn head over to a steep bank instead. Wynn again objects, saying that it could pose dangers for Maia. Jack again orders him to steer toward the steep bank, and this time he has the rifle pointed at Wynn.

Chapter 12 Summary

Much to Wynn’s confusion, Jack continues to behave in a threatening and uncharacteristic manner. He orders Wynn out of the canoe and up the bank. Once they’re out of sight of the river, Jack whispers to Wynn, implying that the whole thing was a ruse just in case they were being observed. They walk along the shore toward the landing and discover that Pierre, identifiable in a Panama hat, is looking upriver with his shotgun drawn. Jack aims the rifle and peers into the scope. However, Wynn stops him and reminds him that they still have no definitive proof that Pierre tried to kill his wife. Wynn insists that they need to talk with Pierre. Jack reluctantly agrees, and they stealthily start to walk down the bank. Wynn stumbles, causing rocks to dislodge and roll down. Pierre hears this, turns and sees them, and fires his shotgun. Jack reacts instinctively, moving toward Pierre and firing his rifle. He can’t tell whether Pierre has been hit. As Jack approaches the landing, he sees Pierre’s hat on the ground; Pierre himself is out in his canoe, which the current is sweeping downriver.

Chapters 7-12 Analysis

The suspense builds more quickly in this section. The fire still has an offstage presence, though growing evidence indicates that it’s advancing closer, and both Wynn and Jack, while still unable to see it, can sense that it’s near. The narrative conveys the sense that contending with the fire is inevitable:

He thought the distant fire was like a war zone, like a front in some battle that was too distant to hear but that would in a matter of days change your life forever. How it felt. The night was pitch, but Wynn could feel that the sky was moving overhead, scraping the treetops (85).

Furthermore, Jack and Wynn see flocks of birds of all kinds heading east, away from the fire. They realize that they essentially passed the point of no return when they decided to take Maia to safety. They’re now locked in a situation where risk has increased exponentially. Pierre poses another potential risk; whether he’s even a threat at all and how best to approach the situation become points of conflict between Jack and Wynn.

Wynn is a deliberate individual. Even though the circumstances surrounding him are perilous, he insists on remaining true to his values. He and Jack don’t know the facts of what happened between Pierre and Maia. Therefore, he’s reluctant to jump to conclusions or make assumptions about Pierre. Without hard proof of Pierre’s guilt, Wynn lets his innate sense of right and wrong guide him and affords Pierre reasonable doubt, saying to Jack, “He just panicked. Maybe we’ll catch up to him this afternoon. We can talk to him” (103). Wynn needs to verify Pierre’s account in the absence of any incriminating evidence against him. By contrast, Jack has already made up his mind based on his gut sense. He doesn’t need conclusive proof. The narrative notes that Jack “was gathering evidence and he would indict and convict the man before they even met him again” (106), something that Wynn wouldn’t do. Jack sees it as a matter of Survival, the book’s third major theme. In the wilderness, the rules change, as Jack sees it:

Wynn was still sleepwalking. He needed to wake up and smell the coffee or they might be toast. They needed a better plan. Instinctively he knew they could not play defense, not the way they had the night before on the lake. They needed to go on the attack (109).

Jack calculates that the best odds for survival depend on subverting their current status as prey and becoming the predators. Of the two friends, Jack has a more natural disposition toward becoming the hunter rather than the hunted. Wynn isn’t predisposed to this way of behaving, and Jack knows it. He confronts his friend, saying, “Your problem is you’ve got faith. In everyone, in everything. The whole universe. Everyone is good until proven bad. You’re kinda like a puppy” (123). This remark stings Wynn but illustrates Jack’s handle on the urgency of the situation. Jack executes his plan, stealthily sneaking up on Pierre until he has him in his sights. The narrative describes Jack and Wynn as “[c]rouched in twilight like two predators” (133). Even when they see Pierre sitting there with his shotgun at the ready, Wynn still can’t convince himself that the man is a killer.

Wynn holds to his values. Intentionally killing a man, regardless of the circumstances, is murder and is morally wrong. As Jack has Pierre in his sights, rifle aimed and ready to fire, Wynn says, “We’ve gotta talk to him. We’ve gotta know. He still might think we killed her, he still might be scared of us. […] You can’t just murder him! We’ve gotta confront him” (135). The word murder here implies an evil intent; Wynn is unable to equate killing Pierre with self-defense to assure his own survival, something that Jack can do. Jack instinctively understands that at this point he’s operating under a different value system in which killing a man is ethically acceptable to improve their own odds of survival.