Blackberries In June Ron Rash Summary

Blackberries in June is a short story, written by Ron Rash, that highlights the harsh economic standings of families in the Appalachian region on the United States. The main characters are a young newly married couple, Jamie and Matt, who have been blessed with a lake house in the mountains. The young couple are optimistic about having their whole lives in front of them but elders in the story elude to a more somber reality. In the short story, Blackberries in June, the author uses the presence, or lack thereof, of water as a symbol to represent the character's state of freedom.

In the beginning of the story the presence of water symbolizes the physical and mental freedom the young couple share. The story begins with Jamie driving on the way home, to the lake house, after a long day of work. In the car Jamie yearns “ to be unchained in the weightlessness of the water” (203). The physical act of being weightless symbolizes her mental weightlessness or freedom. Jamie and Matt make love in water which enforces the connection they have with themselves and the mental and physical freedom they feel.

Later, when Jamie and Matt go to visit Jamie’s parents the shortage of water represents the freedom that the parents have.

Her father crippled from work, can no longer provide for the family causing him to push his, and his wives, dreams to the side. The author describes the landscape of the parents house: “ In a white oak out by the boarded-up well, a cicada called for rain.” The author uses the imagery of a boarded-up well to represent the absence of water, which symbolizes freedom, in Jamie’s parents life. The water is gone and dried up just like the dreams that her parents use to have when they were young. The mention of rain eludes to Jamie and Matt’s freedom which hangs in the balance like gray clouds in the sky. While at their parents house, while it is not stated directly, her mother’s attitude is apprehensive of what the future might hold for Jamie and

Matt.

Jamie realize’s their fututre when Carlton, Jamies brother and Matt’s boss, is injured at work. Matt is now forced to work to take care of the family, therefore Matt and Jamie must put their dreams on hold for the good of the family. In the end of the story when Jamie, after coming home from the hospital, does not go down to the lake with Matt. This represents the mental change she has had at the end of the story. She no longer feels the mental freedom that she once did so she does not engage in the physical relief or weightlessness that the water symbolizes in her life. Matt goes to water alone which suggests he is still optimistic of the future. When he returns Jamie’s mental change is obvious: “She smelled the thick, fishy odor of the lake, felt the lake’s coldness of his skin.” ( 212) She no longer sees the lake as a place of enjoyment or cleansing, like earlier in the story, but feels the burden she has inherited.

Throughout the story, Blackberries in June, the author uses the imagery of water to represent the freedom of the characters. The story, Blackberries in June, is an important text because it shows the economical situation of families living in the appalachian region of the country.