Water

“the world flushed upside down…and she was draining somehow… The pain…traveled her body in pounding waves” (129-131).

“hands as strong as stormwater rushing, his eyes went inside you to the depths without asking and helped themselves to anything they wanted” (133).

“The world rippled in her view” (142).

“stuff had leaked to the heart of the earth and maybe soured even the deepest deep springs” (158).

“She held her breath underwater…and heard the murmur of a living spring in her ears, the mumbles and plops of water from forever rushing past” (160).

Throughout the Milton beating and its aftermath, Woodrell’s recurring use of water as a descriptive mechanism ties together Ree’s physically pain and emotional struggles.  At the onset of the novel, Woodrell introduces the idea of water as an escape for Ree: “she sat…, pulled the headphones from a pocket and clamped them ver her ears, then turned on The Sounds of Tranquil Shores” (9-10).  While water is fluid and free and represents an environment with no limitations, it is also uncontrollable and relentless.  Physically, Ree experiences pain in “pounding waves” during and after being beaten by the Milton women.  Not only is she relentlessly physically abused, but also her emotional state constantly encounters “pounding waves” that test her emotional stamina.  Her fear of Thump Milton prompts her to equate his strength to “stormwater rushing.”  These continual references to water tie together Ree’s battered physical being and her emotional state as two aspects of her character that are continually fighting against “pounding waves” of pain, struggle, fear, etc.