Course Title: ENGL 200

Course Code: Comparative Literature

Semester: 202320
Title: “Coursework Assignment 2 Poetry Module - individual partial
essay response”
Name: Renese Daniel
Student ID: 00066303
Due date: April 25th, 2023.
 Bruce Springsteen recorded and produced “The River” in the early 1980’s era. Bruce,

with his touching song hit, attempted to show the challenges that were encountered during that

era – specifically to those with a lower socio-economic background. During the era the song was

released (early 1980’s), America suffered an economic catastrophe which led to a high

unemployment rate. In 1980, the US had just gotten new leadership, that of Ronald Regan.

However, his people had no faith in his work as the inflation and unemployment rate was

increasing rapidly. Employment sectors of which the lower class belonged to were facing severe

job cuts, budgets were in deficits, major cutbacks to social programs were happening – having a

ripple effect on the gap between social classes. (Pew Research Center, 2020) As the setting of the

song takes place in America during the 1980’s, Springsteen highlights the socio-hardship

endured. Bruce Springsteen's song "The River" was geared towards depicting adult discontent,

working-class economic hardship, and broken hopes.

Bruce Springsteen utilized literary techniques and elements in his piece, making it unique

and giving its meaning a twist. In stanza one, line one, Bruce indicated that he came from “down

in the valley”. In this context the valley now becomes a symbolic “place” in the narrator’s piece.

The narrator identifies that he was born in the valley, yet still he did not name the valley. Who

does not proudly name the place they were born and grew up in? the fact that “the valley” was

vaguely identified, could mean that there is nothing to be proud of in “the valley”. This could

mean that “the valley” is a place with a stagnant economy. The Valley was not solely used to

show where the narrator was born but can be seen as a symbol where your dreams are bound to

be shattered. He states that in the valley “they bring you up like your daddy”. This shows that

there is no opportunity to find yourself or hold onto your own aspirations, you must do like

daddy. However, you can see that the narrator has hopes of leaving the valley as he states, “We'd
ride out of this valley down to where the fields were green.” “The River”, both the title of the

song and the album, is used to depict the contrary. The River is a place of hope and dreams. The

River becomes a sacred place to the narrator as he does not share it with anyone else other than

his beloved, Mary. The River is the place where they would go to escape the hardships of the

valley and plan and hope for a better future. At The River, the harsh reality of life would pause

and give them a sense of hope to hold onto that things will get better. The narrator continuously

goes down the river, before and after he had gotten Marry pregnant. This shows that no matter

what difficult circumstances faced, at the river there was always peace and a hope for a better

life. The narrator frequently uses similes in his piece. The narrator uses simile to show how

tradition flows in the valley – “they done bring you up like your daddy”. This shows generational

habits live on by having the younger generation follow habits of the older generation. From

Bruce Springsteen’s piece, the most touching and powerful simile used is “They haunt me like a

curse.” The memories make the narrator think of things he no longer has, hence haunting him

like a curse. The memories serve as bitter reminders of the hopes and dreams of youth that were

never likely to be realized. Here we can see that even though adulthood is now present, the issues

from the past still come back to haunt. This can be further seen as something in current triggering

memories from the past, inferring that the situations in fact never changed even if time did.

Although Springsteen drafted his piece in an American setting, we can also see those

similar issues faced in the Caribbean. This can be seen in Shadows big hit “Poverty is Hell”. The

River is used metaphorically to show a place where you go to dream of a better life. In Poverty Is

Hell, Shadow states outright that people of the lower class had dreams too – dreams of a better

lifestyle. These are the same exact reasons the River was visited, to dream of a better life. The

both pieces focuses on the same classes of socio-economic standing. Despite being in different
settings and time frames, we can see that poverty is like the globe – going around and around in

different contents making sure to bathe every blue household in can find year after year. Both

pieces look at dreams being shattered by the reality of what is now. They also look at the fact that

tradition is of high value to the lower class – nobody will break the trend, because you always

must work in someone who did nothing footstep.

Reference

Pew Research Center. (2020, May 30). Reagan's recession. Pew Research Center. Retrieved
April 22, 2023, from https://www.pewresearch.org/2010/12/14/reagans-recession/