59 pages • 1 hour read
Leif EngerPeace Like a River
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 10-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 10 Summary: “The Substance of Things Hoped For”
The day after Christmas, Jeremiah begins selling pieces of furniture around the house for cash, which he uses to stock the Airstream with canned goods and other necessities. Then the Lands receive a postcard from August and Birdie Schultz indicating in code that Davy had been with them at their farm in North Dakota. On January 22, they start the 80-mile trip to the neighboring state, driving their Plymouth and towing the Airstream trailer.
Between the state line and the Schultz farm, the family sees a dead crow in the road on two occasions. Jeremiah says growing up in the area, he’d never seen that, as crows are smart birds that know to get out of the way of vehicles. As they arrive at August’s home, Reuben is beset by worry about where they’ll go from here, having no other clue to Davy’s plan or whereabouts. His father says all they can do is let themselves be guided by faith, like the Israelites as they left Egypt.
Chapter 11 Summary: “The Last Thing He Would Do”
August provides details about Davy’s escape and subsequent journey, as he’d heard them from Davy. After escaping, Davy hitched rides when he could, and walked when he couldn’t. He showed up at the farm clean shaven but under-dressed for the cold. Swede asks if Davy said he missed his family. Birdie assured them he did, though it’s apparent she’s only saying it to comfort Swede. The two kids later hear, from eavesdropping on the adult’s conversation, that Davy didn’t seem to realize or care how much trouble he was in. The Schultzes suggested to Davy he turn himself in. The smile he gave in response made it clear that’s the last thing he would ever do. Reuben is surprised to hear them worrying about the effects witnessing the shootings must have had on him.
The next morning, Reuben wakes early and finds only August up. At August’s suggestion, they saddle the horses and go for a ride, ending up at Jeremiah’s childhood home. August asks about Jeremiah’s health, which makes Reuben realize he hasn’t gained any weight back since his bout with pneumonia. Reuben is forced to question whether he’s been selfishly absorbed in his own problems to the point of ignoring his father’s burdens.
Chapter 12 Summary: “At War With This Whole World”
Upon leaving the Schultz farm, the Lands head toward the North Dakota Badlands, thinking it likely Davy is there. They know he’s driving August’s old Studebaker, offered to him in a surprising show of support, given August’s belief that Davy should turn himself in. Reuben realizes he doesn’t know what the plan is if they find Davy. Swede asks, “You still want him to come home if he has to be in jail?” (151). Reuben isn’t sure they can or should convince him to come home. If they don’t find Davy at all, he’ll maintain his freedom but they’ll lose a brother and son. Reuben isn’t sure what outcome he wants, and worries choosing either one aloud might make it come true.
They stop to eat and rest in Linton, ND, where Swede notices the federal agent Andreeson watching them from his car across the park. He waves at them, not trying to hide the fact that he’s been following them. Reuben and Swede make plans to keep Jeremiah from seeing Andreeson and drive away as soon as the agent uses the restroom. Jeremiah’s migraine, which makes him unable to drive, thwarts their plan. Andreeson comes to their trailer to talk as they’re eating dinner. Jeremiah is honest, telling Andreeson they don’t know where Davy is but they are looking for him, and that Davy contacted August but didn’t tell August where he was going next. Andreeson says that they don’t need to be enemies, and Jeremiah responds that it appears they must.
The next morning, Swede Is in a hurry to leave, and convinces her dad, saying she’s been praying and believes it’s the will of God that they get going. She later admits to Reuben that she’d sabotaged Andreeson’s car while the men talked at dinner, pouring maple syrup into his fuel tank. She wants them to drive away while it’s still dark out and while Andreeson will be unable to follow. Her plan works.
They’re low on gas by the time they reach the town of Mandan, but Jeremiah doesn’t stop at any of the gas stations. Reuben is perplexed until he notices state troopers parked at every gas station. Though he can’t be sure the troopers are looking for his family, he can’t help but feel like the whole world is against them.
Chapter 13 Summary: “Something Warm”
Reuben later learns Andreeson convinced the chief of the North Dakota State Patrol to deploy a large force of his troopers to help look for the Lands. Reuben can hardly believe none of the troopers saw them in their green Plymouth wagon pulling a huge trailer. Swede calls it a miracle by Jeremiah and compares him to Moses leading his people safely through the Red Sea. Reuben worries this comparison may be blasphemous or arrogant.
Another bad migraine forces Jeremiah to pull over and rest. Swede says they need to keep going until they find a gas station, because the next day is Sunday and the pumps will be closed. Jeremiah tells her he just can’t, but he’ll pray and ask God to save them some gas. The next day they run out of propane to heat the trailer interior. They drive on, finding no open gas stations, yet somehow not running out of the last of their fuel.
Eventually they find a farmhouse with two gas pumps; the signs say Dale’s Oil Company and Closed. They knock anyway, and a woman feeding a baby goat opens the door. They learn her name is Roxanna Cawley, and her husband Dale left last November and isn’t coming back, which thrills her. She agrees to sell them gas and propane, even though it’s Sunday. Jeremiah’s interactions with her are flirtatious, though whether Reuben recognizes them as so is unclear. Roxanna shares Swede’s skill with and love of language, and Swede adores her. Roxanna offers to let them stay there for the night instead of looking for a motel.
Chapter 14 Summary: “The Skin Bag”
While the Lands share a sumptuous home-cooked dinner with Roxanna, they learn she spent her childhood on a ranch in Montana, which her family lost during the Dust Bowl. She was seven when they moved into town. During the drive, her mother hit a steer in the road and was killed. Her father then purchased and ran a movie theater in town. To Swede’s delight, they learn Roxanna’s great uncle was close friends with Butch Cassidy, the famous western outlaw.
Reuben goes to bed early and has a bad asthma attack in the night. He dreams a little man comes to steal his breath, carrying it away in a skin bag. He wakes to his father holding his arms while Roxanna pounds his back. Reuben is surprised by her strength and willingness to help. The next day they find a blizzard has deposited four to five feet of snow on the ground, whipped into dunes and cliffs by the wind. Reuben sees everyone outside having fun in the snow while he can barely breathe and feels extremely sorry for himself. The family plans to stay at Roxanna’s another night, which becomes several days as the town’s snowplows work their way to them.
After five days the snow is finally cleared, but the Lands are hesitant to leave and Roxanna seems to want them to stay. Soon, however, Jeremiah says they have to leave the next day. Reuben and Swede despair at the prospect.
Chapters 10-14 Analysis
August Schultz’s postcard serves as a plot device that initiates the Land family’s journey to look for Davy. The Schultz farm represents the final outpost before the symbolic unknown, in which the family only has God’s guidance for direction. Jeremiah’s migraines act as a useful plot device for putting the Lands where they need to be, and can be interpreted within the story as divine intervention for the same purpose. The scene in which they need gas but find a state trooper at every gas station, making Reuben feel like the whole world is against them, develops the conflict of the faithful versus a faithless world.
Reuben’s character arc includes an epiphany when he asks himself for the first time, “Was it possible that real loss had occurred at the death of Israel Finch? That real grief had been felt?” (132). His sense of a clear delineation between good and evil in people begins to erode as he gains more insight into life and the world. Accompanying this recognition and growth is the emergence of a fear of having no control over his life. His coping mechanism for dealing with this fear is a bit of magical thinking, as he thinks choosing which outcome he prefers in their search for Davy might make it come true, downsides and all. Reuben’s character arc in this section is also shaped by him feeling sorry for himself because of how his asthma limits him. His embarrassment by this attitude in hindsight demonstrates his humility.
Davy’s character development in these chapters occurs indirectly. For example, when Birdie tells Swede that Davy said he misses them, while subtext suggests she’s lying, readers must make their own interpretation about what this means. The fact that he would never turn himself in seems to portray him as uncaring about how his actions affect his family. He may not realize they’re enduring hardship on his account, but if so, it likely reflects a low capacity for empathy. This is consistent with his portrayal as a loner established throughout the book.
Roxanna’s character, introduced in this section, serves as a romantic interest for Jeremiah and mother figure for Reuben and Swede. She is developed through the backstory of her childhood. Emphasis is given to personality traits and character history, which appeal to Swede, such as her skill with language and her stories about her great-uncle’s friendship with Butch Cassidy. Roxanna’s willingness and ability to fit into Land family routines, especially treating Reuben’s asthma attacks, portrays her as fulfilling the caregiver archetype.
Setting takes on a more central role in these chapters than in previous ones. Leaving their home and setting out with little direction and no guarantee of success contributes to an atmosphere of hope mixed with fear, and puts the Lands in an environment where they have no allies and no resources. Their lack of a working heater in the car and trailer during a brutally cold winter further challenges them and tests their resolve. Harsh blizzards escalate tension by adding danger for both Davy and his family. They also serve as a plot device, snowing the family in at Roxanna’s, thus keeping them where they need to be to find Davy.
The narrative style in this section is shaped by biblical allusions. When the Lands leave August Schultz’s farm with no concrete knowledge of where to find Davy, Jeremiah compares them to the Israelites leaving Egypt, not knowing where to go but traveling by faith. Swede compares their easy evasion of all the state troopers in Mandan to Moses leading his people through the Red Sea in the bible. These biblical allusions contribute to a portrayal of life with God and faith at the center.
Symbolism continues to be a staple of Enger’s style in this section as well. In Reuben’s dream, the little man who steals his breath and puts it in a skin bag symbolizes the devil, or the concept of evil. Since crows are often associated with messengers in the bible, the dead crows the Lands encounter on their drive act as symbolic omens, both of hardship and tragedy, and of God’s promise of redemption.
The motif of miracles is carried on in this section with miracles number seven and eight: driving right through Mandan without being seen by any state troopers, and not running out of gas despite driving all day on an almost empty tank.
When August Shultz abets Davy’s escape by giving him his old Studebaker, putting himself at risk even though he believes Davy ought to turn himself in, he demonstrates loyalty and sacrifice for family. His concern for Jeremiah’s health and Reuben’s subsequent realizations about his father’s health illustrate how much Jeremiah is sacrificing for his family.
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