The Sweetness of Water

The forest and the recurring images of trees serve as important symbols. In the late 19th century, America was coming to terms with how communities should rightly live off the land. In one respect, the dark forest still held on to the ancient biblical symbolism it had of being a place of doom and evil. At one point, the narrator says, “night was already falling on Old Ox and the shadows of the trees were long enough to creep over the path forebodingly” (109). However, through much of the story, the forest is a place of rebirth and renewal, which toward the mid to late 1800s would have been an ideal of the Transcendentalists, who philosophized that divinity can be found within all nature. The forest represents rebirth in two important ways: (1) George’s farm grows out of the forest. A dark, foreboding area gives way to light and energy. This image is juxtaposed with the dark shadows of trees casting shadows on the paths and streets of Old Ox. The forest is also where George comes to terms with his age and lack of skill, only to find that his son Caleb is alive in the clearing.