Starting from nothing in life is not easy. But in "
href="http://everything2.com/title/The+Man+Who+Saw+the+Flood">The Man Who Saw the
Flood," href="http://everything2.com/title/Tom">Tom, href="http://everything2.com/title/May">May, and href="http://everything2.com/title/Sal">Sal support and prod each other to
succeed through their href="http://everything2.com/title/relationships">relationships. Now
everybody, rich or poor, black or white, is in the same predicament after a devastating
flood. The
community is reduced to its lowest and most basic terms; survival is now the priority.
But even when starting from scratch after a disaster, community and family bonds will
help in eventually returning one's life to its previous
condition.
Tom is the strong href="http://everything2.com/title/father">father and href="http://everything2.com/title/husband">husband of the family. He leads
his wife and daughter, but does not force either of them too much. In this manner, Tom
takes more of an equal position with his wife, May, and daughter, Sal. Tom is also the
main href="http://everything2.com/title/provider">provider, working at
to pay for food and other needs. But in this relationship, May must prod him at times,
talking to him as an equal. May realizes that they "got to go on...ain't got nothin".
Tom is reluctant to begin again, after having lost everything, and especially since they
had very little to begin with. They are all "worse off now than befo." But Burgess is
continuing on his life as before, and encourages Tom and everyone else to do the
same.
Tom may be the head of his href="http://everything2.com/title/household">household, but he knows that
in society's eyes, he is inferior to Mister Burgess. Although Burgess says they "can
talk over how Tom
can pay..." back his debts, Burgess' tone shows he will get these debts paid one way or
another. May pushes from one side, wishing Tom to go on with his life and provide
successfully for the family. On the other side, Burgess pulls Tom to repay these debts.
Burgess is a leader in this href="http://everything2.com/title/community">community, as maybe the only
store owner in town. He helps provide for the community, as it is his own livelihood. He
must hold together his investments, and Tom is part of his href="http://everything2.com/title/investment">investment. Burgess leads
all the community back to normal life, and in his quest to get Tom back on track,
explains that all "the rest of the families are going back." Burgess leads the community
and holds it together as they return to normal life.
Sal
has a unique relationship with her parents. She gives Tom and May a reason to work and
another person to provide for. She herself may not know how she pushes Tom, but as a
father he wants and needs to get the best he can for his href="http://everything2.com/title/child">child. Tom and May have another
reason to begin their life again: to allow Sal to grow and be healthy. As adults, they
might be able to go without some things. But as parents, they cannot bear to see Sal
without the best possible provisions.
The flood devastated
everyone in the area. But "the rest of the families are going back," and Tom, May, and
Sal must also begin again. Yet, now they are picking up more or less where they left
off. Debts to
be paid, "'lasses for Sal" to be procured. After all this destruction, and starting
again from nothing, closure comes to the family in the realization that life will go on,
even in more or less the same manner that it was. People still remain to remind Tom,
May, and Sal of what life was like and will still be like in the href="http://everything2.com/title/future">future.
rest
see t n website as follows
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