Wrestling with “Half Gods”: Biblical Discourse in Mary Austin’s The Ford

Mary Austin’s novel The Ford recounts the water transfer from the Owens Valley to Los Angeles in the early twentieth century. Previous critical analysis of the text has focused on its vision of regional development and its concern with gender roles, while largely ignoring the novel’s extensive use of biblical narratives and symbolism. In this article I examine Austin’s use of these narratives, in particular the story of Jacob’s wrestling with God, in order to better understand the racial and gender diversity that complicates the protagonist’s coming of age.