The River Has Roots

The River Has Roots argues that language has immense power to impact human lives and perceptions. The novella represents this power in a variety of ways, often by making abstract grammar, wordplay, and literary devices literal and concrete. In particular, the novella focuses on the power of language to effect change, depicting this as both redemptive and dangerous. 

Literal and figurative examples of language’s impact drive much of the novella’s plot and characterization. Riddles and wordplay facilitate Esther and Rin’s relationship, allowing them to cross the boundaries between their lands and cultures. Words also help bring Esther back to her own body and identity after Pollard murders her and the river transforms her into a swan. Similarly, riddles and songs represent (and help create) the unbreakable bond between Esther and Ysabel, which helps Esther prove Pollard’s crime and allows Ysabel to visit Esther in Arcadia in the conclusion. Through such examples, the novella stresses language’s ability to right wrongs, to connect people to one another, to affirm identity, and even to give or restore life—literally, in Esther’s case, but figuratively in its capacity to preserve a person’s memory.

In the novella’s framing, language has these powers because of its relationship to Arcadia, the land of Faerie.