The Third Bank of the River by João Guimarães Rosa
"The Third Bank of the River" by João Guimarães Rosa is a poignant tale exploring themes of isolation, duty, and the complexities of familial relationships. The story centers on a narrator whose father, after unexpectedly ordering a canoe, retreats into the middle of a river, leaving his family behind. Despite the family's attempts to maintain a connection by providing food, the father never returns, becoming a mysterious figure who endures the passage of time alone. As years go by, the family continues with their lives, including significant events like marriages and the birth of a grandson, yet the father remains absent. The narrator, feeling a sense of obligation, eventually confronts the reality of his father's enduring solitude and his own aging. This emotional journey culminates in a moment of panic, where the narrator flees from his father, who emerges from the canoe, leaving the father's fate ambiguous. The narrative invites readers to reflect on the nature of love, loss, and the passage of time within familial bonds.
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The Third Bank of the River by João Guimarães Rosa
First published: "A terceira margem do rio," 1962 (English translation, 1968)
Type of plot: Mystery and detective
Time of work: Perhaps the twentieth century
Locale: Probably central Brazil
Principal Characters:
The unnamed narrator His father His mother His sister His sister's husband His brother
The Story
One day, quite unexpectedly, the narrator's father orders a canoe made. His wife thinks it absurd for a man his age to think about hunting and fishing, but the man offers no explanation. When the canoe, sturdy and built to last, finally arrives, the man solemnly paddles it into the middle of the river. During the first few days after this strange withdrawal, the narrator worries about his father and regularly leaves some food along the riverbank for his father's sustenance. The days become weeks, months, years, and it finally becomes clear that his father will never return to his family. His father manages somehow to ride out the floodwaters every year, though he barely touches the food left for him by his son and by other members of his family. The daughter marries and has a son, and the family gathers by the river in the hope that the man will come to see his new grandson, but he does not appear.
The daughter moves away, and finally the mother goes away to live with her sister. Finally, only the narrator, out of some profound sense of duty, stays. When he realizes how aged he has become, he knows that his father must be very old, and he goes down to the bank at last and calls out that his father's duty is finished, that he, the narrator, will take his place in the canoe. The father approaches in the canoe, but the son panics and flees. His father is never seen again. Finally, the son longs for a place to die, a canoe.