The Same River Twice by Chris Offutt

“On the other hand, I was thirty-three years old, the age when Jesus died, when Alexander had conquered the known world.”

                As Chris rambles on in his mind about his accomplishments in life, or rather the lack thereof of accomplishments, he tries to decide his life with a child. Should he stay with Rita, his wife, and have a child or leave her soon so that she a time to find a man to have a child with her? He compares himself to men of great status such as Jesus Christ, a man who converted many people and started the foundation of a religion. He also compares himself to Alexander the Great, the Greek king who conquered lands from Egypt all the way to India before his death. These comparisons make him think that not only is he unable to be independent but he cannot even raise a child.

“The completed road linked the world to the hills, but failed to connect us to the world.”

                As Chris Offutt heads to New York to become an actor and leave Appalachia behind, he realizes that even though he is not leaving the United States he is still going from two different spectrums. The roads that he takes to travel snake about like his unending thoughts. In his hometown, where he is known by everyone, he is unable to find himself. However, when he encounters the young black dancer, Jahi, his only friend in the strange city, he is finally able to realize what he wants. 

“Our public time was a constant duel designed to make me angry, jealous or embarrassed.”

                Referring to Jahi and Chris’s outings around New York, Chris explains the taunting he dealt with from Jahi on a regular basis. Jahi was a strong black woman who helped Chris mature and become an adult. She taught him a lot of firsts and the taunting was to make him a stronger person mentally. She shows him New York and probably unknowingly helped him come to the realization that cannot and will not be an actor. She opened his eyes to other possibilities, including the arts. She showed him many museums, helping him discover his love for paintings.

skid: a plank, bar, log, or the like, especially one of a pair, on which something heavy may be slid or rolled along. (The Same River Twice 11)

saboteur: a person who commits sabotage (The Same River Twice 14)

fecundity: the capacity of abundant production (The Same River Twice 14)

gibbous: convex at both edges as if the moon were half full (The Same River Twice 17)

derisively: characterized by mocking (The Same River Twice 18)

gestating: to carry in the womb from the period of conception to birth (The Same River Twice 18)

albumin: any of a class of simple, sulfur-containing, water-soluble proteins that coagulate when heated, occurring in egg white, milk, blood, and other animal and vegetable tissues and secretions (The Same River Twice 20)

assiduously: constant, unremitting (The Same River Twice 23)

cacophony:  harsh discordance of sound (The Same River Twice 24)

surreptitiously: obtained by stealth, secret, unauthorized (The Same River Twice 33)

jodhpurs: riding breeches cut very full over the hips and tapering at the knees to become tight fitting from the knees to the ankles.  (The Same River Twice 36)

cormorant: a greedy person (The Same River Twice 43)