The Power of Nature

Gap Creek is not only a story of a young couple's first year of marriage; it is also a love song to nature. Nearly all of the novel's descriptive passages and winding exposition create beautiful and sometimes disturbing, images of the South Carolina wilderness. Even when faced with death and destruction, there is a reverence to nature in the narration. The reader first sees this on the night that Masenier dies. Even though she knows her brother doesn't have long for the world, Julie looks around and thinks, "It was the prettiest night you ever saw, with the moonlight slanting on the creek and dew sparkling in the grass. The mountains rose like shadows ahead of us" (Page 12). When Masenier dies a few moments later, Julie realizes that the beauty and power of nature comes from its consistency. She realizes that in the grand scheme...