What message does the author give in "The Third Bank of the River"?

Joao Guimaraes Rosa's "The Third Bank of the River" presents a number of messages. By looking at the turning point near the end of the novel, we can see one of them. Throughout the story, the narrator longs for the return of his father. Each day, the narrator takes food to his father to help sustain him as he rows around in the river. The entire community, both family and otherwise, wish to figure out why the father has decided to live a life on the river, never touching land. However, anytime someone tries to ask, the father either ignores them or rows off into the marshes where they cannot go. Eventually everyone but the narrator gives up on the father and moves on with their life. The narrator continues to go look for the father and tries to keep an eye out for him, to the point where the narrator begins to grow old and gray as well. Near the end of the story, the narrator attempts to get the father's attention to finally talk to him after so much time apart. Surprisingly, the father waves in return, and then begins to row toward the shore where the narrator is standing. However, rather than be witness to a happy reunion, and perhaps get some answers, the narrator flees and never sees his father again. For all the time spent wondering why the father did this and wishing he would return, when faced with the possibility of getting answers, the narrator chooses to avoid them. This presents the message that people can get so used to something strange that it becomes welcome—people adapt to strangeness so well that the mere thought of past normality can be terrifying.