The Prophet from Jupiter by Tony Earley
"The Prophet from Jupiter" by Tony Earley is a first-person narrative that interweaves the personal experiences of a dam keeper with the historical impact of a lake formed by the flooding of a town called Uree. Set in a region characterized by its mix of tourists and local inhabitants, the dam keeper reflects on his responsibilities, particularly maintaining the lake’s water level, while recounting the lives of notable figures in the community, such as Archie Simpson, a self-proclaimed prophet, and Junie Wilson, who possesses a mystical insight. The dam keeper’s deteriorating marriage and his sense of alienation parallel the broader theme of disconnection felt by the residents, stemming from the profound changes initiated by the dam's construction in 1927.
As he navigates his own uncertainties, he recalls the emotional turmoil experienced by Uree's former residents, captured through poignant vignettes of their last moments before the flood. The narrative also captures the seasonal shifts and their effects on community dynamics, with odd behaviors and incidents echoing the region’s troubled history. The climax of the story involves a dramatic rescue during winter, culminating in a haunting moment when the dam keeper witnesses the enigmatic disappearance of the prophet beneath the ice. The tale concludes with a reflection on the ghosts of the past, suggesting an intricate connection between personal and communal histories, and leaving readers to ponder the nature of memory and existence in this unique setting.
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The Prophet from Jupiter by Tony Earley
First published: 1993
Type of plot: Satire
Time of work: 1927-1990's
Locale: The mountain country of western North Carolina
Principal Characters:
The dam keeper of Lake Glen , the protagonist and narratorElisabeth , his wifeRandy , the assistant dam keeper, an orderly at a local hospitalArchie Simpson , aka The Prophet from Jupiter, a developer from FloridaJunie Wilson , an unemployed African American
The Story
"The Prophet from Jupiter" is a first-person narration in which the dam keeper of a lake created when a small town was flooded intermingles incidents from his own life with a selective historical recounting of the lake's effect on the region. It begins with a topographical description of the lake, establishing the location of the dam keeper's house just above the lake shore, a perimeter encircled by homes on small lots that are occupied primarily by tourists and visitors.
As the dam keeper explains that his primary concern is to maintain the lake at a constant level, he introduces some of the people whose presence defines the character of the community, including Archie Simpson, a real estate developer from Jupiter, Florida, whose "message" from God has transformed him into a "prophet," and Junie Wilson, an African American who wanders through the neighborhood with no apparent purpose or direction, but according to Archie Simpson, has "the gift of true sight."
The dam keeper's account is directed toward an explanation of why he plans to leave the area, centered on the deterioration of his marriage and his sense that the entire region is permeated with a kind of curse stemming from the decision in 1927 to destroy Uree, the town that was flooded to form the lake. His separation from his wife, Elisabeth, now pregnant with the child of the new police chief, parallels the disconnection of many people in the area from their surroundings. He enjoys fishing with his only friend, Randy, the assistant dam keeper, but recognizes their fundamental differences. Randy is sensible and practical in a way that constrasts with the dam keeper's moods and uncertainties, a man able to comfortably adapt to the environment in contrary to the dam keeper's sense of anomie and alienation.
The dam keeper intersperses observations about his life and his job with recollections of the reactions of the people who lived in Uree when the decision was made to build the dam, showing how their lives were disrupted and how they have tried to cling to some vestige of their previous existence. The four sons of "Old Man" Burdette drag their father's Reo truck out of the lake and restore it; "Aunt" Plutina Williams had to be carried into the truck when she refused to leave her house. The night before the water rose, Jim Skipper set his house on fire. The week before, the Lake Glen Development Company moved all the remains from the Uree Baptist Church graveyard. The current mayor of Lake Glen came to the town in 1931 on his summer vacation from Chapel Hill, and the dam keeper's presentation of the events of the mayor's life are marking points on a path through the half-century of the town's past.
As the narrative progresses, the dam keeper turns his attention to the transition from the summer tourist season toward changes that occur in the climate and in the communal mood during the fall. Bizarre behavior in the present seems to echo accounts of strikingly odd incidents in the town's history, while the dam keeper tries to balance the requirements of his job with his inclination toward the same kind of idiosyncrasies that he has been describing. Just before Christmas, a duck trapped on the frozen lake's surface is pursued by a dog, which falls through the ice.
The Prophet from Jupiter succeeds in rescuing the dog, but with the whole town watching, he disappears beneath the ice, joining the ghost houses under the water. Stunned by what he has seen, the dam keeper concludes his narrative with an overarching summary of the town's entire history so that "all the ghosts of Lake Glen buzzed in my ears like electricity." His final vision compresses time into an eternal moment, which increases the mysterious nature of the place while implying that the seemingly random circumstances that he has been relating might coalesce into some cosmic conception of ultimate clarity.