The River Between Us

The Mississippi River symbolizes many things throughout the story. First, it is a physical boundary between the life Howard knows and his family history. It divides the past and the present, symbolizing the flow of time, which constantly moves forward no matter how hard anyone tries to stop it. The river also divides the North from the South. Ideologies shift drastically depending on which side of the river a character comes from. The river is dangerous and claims many lives, including those of the ghosts Cass sees in her visions. The river’s role as a grave and space of loss is also evident as the war rages: It holds Noah’s severed arm, along with many other soldiers’ amputated limbs, and Mama’s body. However, the river is also the source of Grand Tower’s trade, keeping the town financially viable.

The river also symbolizes Tilly, the one character who connects everyone. She holds her family together; her mother and her siblings rely on her to remain steady. She connects Noah and Delphine, arranging for them to sit together on the train from Cairo. Tilly also connects the past to the present by telling Howard about their family history, keeping the family flowing toward the future. Without Tilly, the novel’s plot would not exist, as Grand Tower would not exist without the Mississippi River.

Throughout the novel, music, song lyrics, and plays are motifs that reflect the political climate and emotional states of the characters. At the dance at the beginning of the book, Mr. Attabury calls the dances and invents lyrics such as the following:

Jeff Davis is a President,

Abe Lincoln is a fool,

Jeff Davis rides a big bay horse,

Abe Lincoln rides a mule (28).

Some people in the crowd cheer, while others boo, displaying their political affiliations and demonstrating the tense atmosphere of Grand Tower and the rest of the US. Similarly, the plays performed on the showboat in Chapter 6 are politically charged and significantly Union-leaning. Lincoln’s fictional daughters in the drama represent the Union and Confederate states, and the Confederate daughter is treated as a prodigal child. That same night, the calinda dance music is played, and Calinda performs a dance that is so foreign to Tilly that she finally understands how far from home Calinda and Delphine truly are. Both Delphine and Calinda cry, as the music reminds them of home.

Later, once the war begins, music and lyrics reflect the emotional states of the characters. The girls sing of home to the soldiers who are far from theirs. Tilly is especially drawn to the lyrics “Brother, draw thee close beside me, / Lay your head upon my breast” (91) and to a song that speaks of a soldier resting in his sister’s arms while sick and feverish. These songs convey the emotions of Tilly and the other characters more overtly than her narration does. Similarly, when the boats return from the Battle of Belmont playing a funeral dirge, the music expresses the feelings of the soldiers and their families: grief, fear, loss, and pain.