Above the Waterfall by Ron Rash Book Analysis

Throughout the novel, Above the Waterfall, Ron Rash uses the character Les to reveal how past experiences with depression can create a psychological effect that can last a lifetime on a person. The book begins weeks before the retirement of the town sheriff, Les, and closely follows the events leading up to his last day. As the novel develops, it explains the reason Les is so protective and proactive about his job, but at the same time insecure and doubtful upon himself and his emotions. Many years before the weeks of retirement, Les said these words to his wife at the time, Sarah, “If you had seen what I saw today, what I had to deal with, instead of lounging in bed all afternoon, you’d have a damn reason to be depressed…Go ahead and do it then” (Rash 85). Moments after these words left the mouth of Les, the mental and physical aspects of his life took a huge turn. Rash uses Les’ character to provide a real post-traumatic stress disorder scenario, where his past life is controlling every decision he makes.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a very common mental health condition that is triggered by a traumatic experience in the past that causes change in behavior, as well as re-occurring stress. In a recent interview, Dr. Jayendra Patel aside the Christus Health System, elaborates on PTSD and how “A person with PTSD will be affected so acutely by a traumatic event that it interferes with their daily lives and activities.” For Les, his traumatic event all started when he entered the office one day and made the phone call to his wife. Even though he later tells Sarah, “You know I didn’t mean it” (Rash 86) it doesn’t change how he feels emotionally about the situation. His brain constantly reminds him that his words were the ones that made the impact, and that is a thought that will never leave him.

From this moment on, Les began to eat differently, socialize less, and view work through a different lens. Prior to Sarah’s attempt to commit suicide, Les would regularly join “the other deputy at Burrell’s Taproom to wind down with a beer” (Rash 85). Burrell’s Taproom was a place for Les to sit down and relax after a long workday, but he later tells us that he “quit going by Burrell’s Taproom after work and ate almost all of my meals at home or behind a closed office door” (Rash 91). This simple change in action reveals so much upon the character development of Les throughout this time in his life. Due to the PTSD Les is suffering from, he doesn’t enjoy socializing or being in public because he is constantly distressed and feels judged about his past actions and how he affected Sarah. Psychologically, Les suffers from guilt, insecurity, and unstableness about himself, therefore he struggles in a public environment severely. 

Although he faces these struggles, Les is extremely successful in his workplace; I believe there is a direct relationship between this success and the disastrous event with Sarah. As the reader, there isn’t much to know about Les and his job before Sarah attempted suicide, but Rash gives us lots of details on Les after the crisis. Rash describes Les through many events as an honest, smart, and a high-quality sheriff. He takes pride in creating relationships with civilians in his town and being extremely cautious to jump to conclusions while investigating. These characteristics are put on display throughout the investigation of Gerald and the kerosene found in Locust creek. With lots of evidence leading back Gerald, Jarvis tells Les, “I’d say we can put this one in the case-closed file, Sherriff…I didn’t respond” (Rash 140). Despite the evidence pointing fingers at Gerald, Les knows how important it is to pay attention to detail and not jump to any conclusions. Due to the hateful words he once said to Sarah Les knows how important words can be to a person, therefore through his job he is able to pay close attention and act with purpose. With this being said, I strongly believe he learned this life lesson through his history with Sarah. 

Days before retirement, Les still thinks about and suffers from PTSD from the life-changing words he once said to Sarah. Little did he know how much change would occur regarding his social life, his daily habits, and his job. While many can argue this incident caused Les to be a better sheriff, it also created an extreme amount of guilt and insecurity that will last with him for a lifetime. Concluding, Rash uses Les’ character in this novel to show how PTSD from a traumatic event can dramatically affect a character psychologically, which will lead to change in emotions and decisions in every-day life.