River, My Friend

Ted McGee is an associate professor of English at St. Jerome’s
College, University of Waterloo.

River, My Friend is a story about a boy’s solution to the problem of
poverty. Gang-gang’s relationship with the river is at first as a
playground and playmate, then as a duplicitous traitor (and almost a
killer), and finally as a friend again, who “will give us real
silver!” Gang-gang learns that silver coins are not to be found in the
sparkling reflection of moonlight on the waves, but in the fish his
father catches and sells.

This ending is, presumably, intended to be a happy one, but it is hard
to accept the economics of the boy’s solution, given the difficulty he
and his mother have selling only a portion of the father’s catch.

Ken Campbell’s illustrations focus on the figures (sometimes seen
from odd points of view and usually against monochromatic backgrounds),
portraying their feelings and relationships. The pictures also establish
the exotic tropical quality of the story’s setting and tend to
romanticize a tale that is essentially materialistic and neoconservative
in its values. Recovering consciousness after almost drowning,
“Gang-gang sat up in bed. We must have silver coins, was his first
thought.” At this crucial moment and at the end, “true wealth” (to
use the words of the dust jacket) is to be found not in a father’s
work, a mother’s care, or a river’s bounty, but in “real
silver,” in cold, hard cash. Recommended with reservations.