Man Who Lived by the River

An anonymous parable figure invoked by Father Thomas Cavanaugh, the Man Who Lived by the River embodies a believer so certain of divine deliverance that he refuses offered rescue and drowns. He lacks individual history or agency outside of allegory and functions as a moral emblem that converts political and procedural impasses into questions of conscience. The figure exerts pressure on President Bartlet's inner life, reframing ignored counsel as a missed form of practical mercy and prompting spiritual self‑examination rather than legal maneuvering.