Stefan Zeromski's Faithful River on the January Uprising

The Attempt at Creating a Polish National Identity

In his novel The Faithful River, Stefan Zeromski has clearly chosen the January uprising in Poland for a distinct reason - even though writing 50 years after the event's occurrence in 1863.  This reason, serving both the 19th century interests, and his own time, is in large part serving to extract some form of identity to place upon the Polish people.

What seems to be most out of place, ironically, in this formation of identity is the symbol of the river recurring throughout the piece.  It is present at all of the critical points in the novel: the duchess and her son must cross it to leave the manor, it helps to heal the wounded duke, and it is to where Salomea refuses the duchess's payment.  This importance is plain, but what the actual significance of the river is is more confusing.  It is tempting to say that this river is somehow connected to the identity of the Poles, that in this society filled with farmers, like Salomea's family, that there is some fundamental link between the people which comes from their connection to the land itself: "The water responded with a splash.  It alone understood the torments of her heart.  It alone echoed them with a sound that she in turn understood" (178).  This explanation, however, does not really fully satisfy the question of the river's place in the novel, and in the society which Zeromski portrays; his argument seems more complex.