The Prodigal Son Parable and Maclean’s A River Runs Through It

By Patrick K. Dooley

Credibility of AuthorPh.D. Philosophy Seminary DegreeProfessor of Philosophy at St. Bonaventure

Credibility of TextCritical essay published in academic journal

Renascence: Essays On Values In Literature

Main PointWhile not the story's main influence, the

prodigal son parable found in Luke is a definite theme in A River Runs Through It and provides a powerful perspective from

which to view the story, particularly in regard to the relationships of the three main

characters.

“I argue that the "brother's keeper" provides the story's dominant motif, and unmistakable parallels between the biblical parable of a father and his two sons and the bitter-sweet memoir of life in Montana during the 1920s enrich our appreciation of Maclean's artful storytelling.” (3)

“Reverend Maclean realizes that his son is richly talented, charmingly likable and amply blessed--that is, that he has been divinely gifted and graced. Perhaps it is because his parents and older brother sense that Paul is a special person upon whom God's favor rests that their basic mode of dealing with him is a hands-off policy.” (8)

“A River Runs through It, then, presents us with a flawed but gifted and attractive hero who needs help. Does Paul understand his own situation and does he want to be helped? Yes and no, just like the Prodigal Son who, when the great famine hits, takes some initiative by attaching himself to a land owner who has him feed his pigs. But then the Prodigal Son inexplicably and passively waits for someone to feed him, "And he would have gladly filled himself on the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything" (LK 15:16).”(13)

Poor Reasoning, Fallacies, and Outright LiesDooley makes a few connections in the essay

between the father’s love as expressed in the A River Runs Through It, and the father’s love as expressed in the Biblical parable that we feel were rather weak.

That aside, the essay provides a good insight into a previously unexplored influence found in Maclean’s work.

Works Cited Dooley, Patrick K. "The prodigal son parable

and Maclean's A River Runs through It." Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 58.2 (2005): 165+. Academic OneFile. Web. 7 Apr. 2010.