Friendship In Erica Ferencik's The River At Night

Through difficulty and many obstacles, the four friends appear to actually improve and strengthen their bond by working together in order to find freedom from the intimidating wilderness in Maine. Wini and her friends realize throughout the novel that the most important thing is to stay together and not turn against one another. At the most rough times one must need their friends to be with them, “A bound in our lostness as we ever were as friends, we blundered through the living darkness as soundlessly as we could, but it was hard to believe that every footfall, every unintentional snap of branch or rustle of lead didn’t wake the world and call the hounds of hell down upon us” (Ferenick, pg. 181). During tough times in Erica Ferencik’s novel,

the four women are nothing but scared and constantly think of the negativity. Normally, what comes to their mind every minute is that they are never getting out of the forest, however; Wini and her friend Sandra continue to persuade their other two friends, Rachel and Pia that a positive mindset will make everything better. Unfortunately, nothing seems to get better as they go further into the woods. The only thing that keeps them calm is that they’re all together as a group and will figure this situation out as a group as well. The friendship Wini and her friends have in The River at Night is very similar to the friendship Teddy in The Fall of a City has with his paper dolls. He thinks of the two-dimensional bodies scissored from paper as his true friends because at home he has absolutely nothing to do despite arguing with his aunt and uncle. He trusts his friends just as much as Wini does with hers. The bond between Wini and her three best friends has developed into an unbreakable connection all through their frightening adventure. This journey has truly put the four friends to test on how strong and secure their bond genuinely is and how efficient their survival skills can be. Although arguments and disagreements occur on the way, the women never fully turn their backs on each other. At times they most definitely did not like one another; however the four friends did not let their emotions get the best of them, “We sat huddled together, quaking and whimpering, arms around each other, legs pressed together, like one four-headed creature” (Ferencik, pg. 156). They are aware that the negativity and the antagonisms will only break them apart. Working together and having bright thoughts is the only way the four can escape the nature staying as friends.

Each one of the women has their individual survival skills and combines both their friendship as well as durability to reinforce their bond. Throughout the novel, it is mainly Rachel and Pia who get into small fights and quarrels but it is repeatedly Wini and Sandra who convince them that everything will be okay and that they all must think clearly without doubts because that’s what is truly bringing them all down. In The River at Night, there is a lot of nature and wilderness present. Generally in personification, the attribution of a personal nature or human characteristics to something nonhuman is required and in this novel, there is personification when Erica Ferencik describes the river as “murmuring, turning, and dreaming”, she has given a river human characteristics. The reason why Wini has chosen to contribute coming on this trip with her girlfriends is because she has been through a lot and thought this would be an excellent distraction from her personal problems. Although, Wini does not know that leaving her personal issues behind would cause more problems to arise between her and her friends. Wini has many external conflicts among her three friends in this

novel. There are times when the four do not agree on one specific idea and that is where the fights appear to begin. Arguments happen and normally that would be the reason why friends spilt apart however it is quite different in their case. The fights that happen in between Wini and her friends result in them developing as characters throughout the book and have them realize how important their friendship really is and not worth it being broken over a small selfish argument.

Along with such disagreements that the four friends experience, they all know that there is nothing more significant than having hope, trust, and faith. Wini and her friends are aware that without hope and faith, they will get nowhere, “I surveyed our exhausted, grimy faces and remembered someone telling me that hope is always the last thing to die” (Ferencik, pg. 160). Losing faith in loved ones will never leave one to success, having trust and hope is consistently required. In The River at Night, the four friends lose hope and confidence in themselves due to the fact they are hopeless and desperate. There is also a comparison to hope in the poem called Mother to son. In this poem, the mother is telling her son to never give up on things that may seem impossible near the beginning. The poem is about continuing life as it is because sooner or later it will improve. Running away from problems are never the correct solutions and even though others’ lives may seem crystal clear, there are always going to be tacks and stains in

them. This novel by Erica Ferencik is clearly about female friendships and how strong they really are. Normally, it is said that female friendships don’t last as long as male friendships, but, Ferencik proves that stereotypical rule wrong. In the novel, the four women go through some extremely difficult obstacles however their bond only got more secure and forceful. Women are constantly seen as the more fragile and sensitive gender which is completely wrong because in The River at Night, Wini and her three friends use their strength and inner power to overcome any complication that may have arouse, they also prove stereotypes wrong. Eventually the four re-gain their self-confidence and belief once again in the novel. What causes them to find hope again is when they think they find someone in the woods who can be help to them; unfortunately it is the complete opposite. In the woods, the four friends spot a campfire and their instincts have told them to go explore to see if there is someone there to support them. There is a woman named Simone and her mute son named Dean who have been living in the forest for almost their entire lives. They live in an old broken vehicle and roast animals to provide themselves some protein. In the course of time, the four women find out from the young boy that his mother wants him to kill them for their own use. This is when Wini and her friends begin to panic and want to get far away from Simone as it seems they were invading her privacy. Simone did not like the idea of the women telling her secret of living in the woods to everyone out in the city once they got out of the forest, so the only way she can prevent that from occurring is to kill them all. Many hurtful and somber things have happened to Simone herself, which is why she took her son and began her new life out in the wilderness where no one can disturb them, that is until Wini and her friends arrive. For the friends, not many things provided them hope and the capability to trust someone during the trip, however they kept their faith within each other because that is what truly matters. Having trust in friendship bonds is what actually improves ones friendship, if there is no belief or conviction, the bond will only weaken.