As discussed in class, Down By the Riverside is in many ways a naturalist novel. This is to say that the characters of the story are very much at the mercy of the world around them and appear virtually powerless to change their own destinies. Rather than their own will, the force which is responsible for carrying forward most of the plot of the story is the flood. The flood is a relentless natural force partially responsible for creating tragedy, for our own protagonist, Mann. The flood changes the course of Mann’s life overnight, causing him to experience great loss, separation, and community conflict. However, the more accurate culprits for the tragedy Mann experiences in the story, are the white people in the community whose true colors are revealed as a result of the stress of the flooding. The flood exposes their imposition of power dynamics and awakens racial community tensions that were already in place. In this way the flood is not to blame for Mann’s misfort...