Symbolism of Rain

The title Come Good Rain seems to have a very biblical connotation. Water, in many cultural aspects and religions, refers to cleansing. This could be cleansing of the body, cleansing of the mind, cleansing of the soul. The symbolism here is very spiritual. Baptisms, for example, occur while washing a person’s head in water, to cleanse that person of their original sins in order for them to have a new beginning, a new found spiritual purity.

Another aspect of this title is its political and economic value. On a global level, water is very much related to capitalism, as it is what humans need to survive, and therefore we have decided to make a market and profit out of it. Whilst Canada has the largest sources of drinking water in the world, clean drinking water is scarce in the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa for example. It is clear that there is an exploitation of this basic human need at a most despicable level. Even though Canada has the largest resource of drinking water, a tremendous amount of Indigenous communities do not have access to it. What does this show about “life” in Canada? It is not the utopia it makes itself out to be.

The idea of cleaning is very relevant to the pandemic-stricken world we are currently witnessing. Relative to Covid-19, washing hands has become a simple matter of life and death. At the present moment, the entire world is trying to wash itself clean of the virus with only one goal in mind – to survive.

There is also a more scientific and biological symbolism to the title. Alexandar Oparin first theorised that coacervates – tiny drops of water – were the first living things on Earth. This becomes very significant if we take this to mean that the entire existence of everything we know at present is based on water. Suddenly, it seems very cunning of Seremba to have titled his play Come Good Rain. If we take water to be a symbol of life, it follows from this that the play is based on the desire for a “good” life. Or a better life. A natural life, free of oppression and violence, where human rights are not violated.