What did Motorcycle Boy mean by I never got past the river in Rumble Fish?

Answer 1

I think that to him, the river represented his home/his past. It describes how he liked to stand and look at the river frequently. I think that in saying he "never got past the river," he is saying that he couldn't leave his past behind him when he left, and was drawn back home. Perhaps it might even represent part of his alienation from the rest of the world? No matter how far he goes, he goes he will always feel alienated from society.

Answer 2

Motorcycle Boy's statement "I never got past the river" in "Rumble Fish" refers to his inability to move forward and escape his troubled past and the constraints of his environment. The river symbolizes a barrier between his past and a potential future, suggesting his feeling of being stuck and unable to transcend his circumstances.