The Storyteller
The narrator and protagonist, Odie, begins the book by claiming for himself the title of storyteller. His narrative will then proceed to prove he is self-aware. Metaphor is used to illustrate the connection between storytelling and his self-identity:
“I need no goading. Stories are the sweet fruit of my existence and I share them gladly.”
On the Run
The novel is a classic example of the kids on the run trope. The four young kids at the center of the narrative are escaping from abuse at a school primarily for kids on a Native America reservation. But Odi and his brother Albert are also on the run to something as well from something. Orphaned, the only living relative they really know of is an aunt that represents the dream of escape from misery:
“I tried not to get excited about Saint Louis and Aunt Julia, but that was like asking a starving kid not to salivate at the smell of hot food.”
Sister Eve
The story takes place during the Great Depression of the 1930’s, a time religious revivals attracted huge crowds and the most successful ministers became as famous as Babe Ruth. Sister Eve is an especially enigmatic figure among that the gang of four stumble across. Although Albert targets her as a con artist, Odie becomes absolutely entranced:
“There was no breeze, but it felt to me as if there were one, blowing fresh off Sister Eve…She held me with her eyes. I couldn’t look away. Not just because they were wonderfully clear and their look gave me a feel as refreshing as mint. Gazing into them, it seemed as if I was looking into water so deep I knew it could drown me in an instant but so seductive I wanted to leap right in.”
Darkness
This novel takes place in that decade of the 20th century in which “darkness” began to take its place as the defining literary metaphor of the modern age. Nearly every novel written since then usually contains at least one metaphorical reference to darkness. It would not really kick into high gear and stand triumphantly until the horrific abominations of the Third Reich finally revealed the mundane quality of profound evil among humans, but the last stage of the ascension to the metaphor that describes so much of modern society began during the seemingly endless darkness of the Great Depression:
“When darkness comes over your soul, it doesn’t come in light shades; it descends with all the black of a moonless night.”
What is God?
The Prologue begins with the same words as the Holy Bible: “In the beginning.” The Epilogue commences with metaphorically imagery that asks what God is. What occurs in between is the experience which leads to finding that answer:
“There is a river that runs through time and the universe, vast and inexplicable, a flow of spirit that is at the heart of all existence, and every molecule of our being is a part of it. And what is God but the whole of that river?”
