'Leif Enger's Symbolism In Peace Like A River'

In the book “Peace like a River” by Leif Enger, rivers make recurring appearances in Reuben’s dreams.The first river was described as shallow and smelling of dying plants as well as foggy. There was also a dead horse with its tail in the river. It symbolize hell, while it may not be a punishment for Reuben, it would seem that negative adjectives that described it, smelled of “dying plants”, “feet sinking in muck”, “a dead horse laid there”, could very well be a punishment for a murder. The other river symbolizes heaven, in the chapter “Be Jubilant, My Feet” the river is described as golden and the area around it was described as an orchard which somehow reminded Reuben of Eden. The first river at the beginning of the book in the middle of