The event in "The Violent Bear it Away" that I found most compelling is the act of Rayber baptising Francis.
In the 430s, Rayber and Francis go boating on the lake. They have a frank discussion with Rayber "preaching" to Francis about the direction his life is going. On 438, Francis gets sick, and Rayber says to him, in the lingo of the Christians, "You need to be saved right here now from the old man and everything he stands for. And I'm the one who can save you."
Ironic, huh?
What follows is Francis abandoning the boat and submerging himself in the lake and swimming back to shore. Rayber then drops his old clothes--a remnant of his time with Tarwater--into the lake so that Francis will have to wear the new clothes he's bought him.
This event is huge, if you ask me. For one thing, the tension of the previous chapters came from the question of whether or not Francis was going to baptize Bishop, then all the sudden O'Connor throws us this twist.
The greatest irony, though, is Rayber. He dismisses the act of baptism itself, then, ritualistically at least, performs it himself. Though he professes that the ritual, which imposes other's values onto another, is flawed and meaningless, Rayber himself carries out a similar ritual, stripping Francis of his old clothes so that he has to wear the new suit he bought him--as if a new suit would change his behavior and their relationship.
There's also the issue of water, which is huge in this story, such as Rayber's earlier attempt to drown Bishop. On page 434 O'Connor ominously writes, "... water is made for more than one thing." It can cleanse or it can kill. And sometimes, with these characters, it's hard to tell if they can see a difference between the two.
1 comment:
Wow, at first reading, I had not considered this, but I think you are on to something, Vince.
Sure, the connections between baptism and drowning are pretty blatant, but I think this scene can be seen as Rayber's baptizing young Tarwater "into his world" in sense.
I am wondering if the gift has anything to do with this. I feel there must be some significance of the bottle opener/corkscrew. It is given shortly after this scene. I wonder if this can be viewed as a sort of baptism gift. It is common to give little gifts for baptism. Sure, the bottle opener/corkscrew is so random here, but so too are the usual baptism gifts, and O'Connor might be doing something with that.
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