What metaphors are used in Animal Dreams by Barbara Kingsolver?

Kingsolver uses metaphor to create thematic links between the different elements of the plot. Doc Homer feels that a river separates him from his children, and the term is used metaphorically. Thematically, the river image as a metaphor for separation is connected to the riverbed on which Codi later disposes of her baby, and this is in turn linked to the river that is being polluted by Black Mountain Mining, yet another unnatural occurrence, and one that separates the human community from the world of nature.