PAST GRIEF AND TRAUMA

An inability to cope with grief and loss will have long-term effects.

Secrecy around the past can have a devastating impact on the present.

Unresolved trauma and grief from the past will intrude on the present. 

Past events can impact on one's ability to move forward or not.

Memory and emotion are a powerful driving force to our actions

Memory is a powerful emotional force in the lives of human beings.

Then they heard Dad yelling from inside. Yelling at them, at everyone. Yelling at no one. And Miles could hear the words. They came through the brown walls, through the air, and cracked open the night: ‘I never wanted you.’ Chapter 24

ADULT RESPONSIBILITY

People react differently to having responsibility forced upon them. 

Paradoxically, many adults are unable to rise to the responsibilities thrust upon them.

Childhood innocence can be a casualty of the realities of adult life. 

When adults neglect their responsibilities, children can suffer.

When young people are forced to take on undue adult responsibility they often struggle.

Vulnerability / fragility of life and mortality

An awareness of the innocence and defencelessness of others can create unconditional love. 

By processing grief human beings inevitably come to terms with the complexities of death and loss. 

Some experiences of death can remind us of the susceptibility of life to senseless acts of violence.

Experiences of death and near death can give rise to a deeper appreciation of life.

At some point in life everyone has to come to terms with the inevitability of their death. 

RELATIONSHIPS

Part of being human is that we have an inherent need for nurturing, caring relationships.

Deeply loyal relationships can foster the resilience of the human spirit in the face of cruelty.

Hardship can strengthen sibling bonds, and create relationships that are  crucial to enduring life’s challenges.

An intrinsic part of being human is to want love, especially when we are deprived of it.

While the bonds of brotherhood can be loyal and strong, they cannot completely replace the need for parenting.

Despite having deep family connections, we are often left wanting more physical and emotional support than others can provide.

While relationships are paramount to the human experience, paradoxically, often others will not be there, physically or emotionally, when they are needed.

While the breakdown of relationships is common to the human condition, the effects can be far reaching and predominately harmful.

Anger and damaged masculine pride can lead to addiction and abusive relationships. 

MOTIF OF NATURE AND THE OCEAN

The interrelationship between people and place, and the connection people have to nature is an important part of the human experience.

Nature is a paradox - it can be both nurturing and dangerous.

Raised on an island, the Curren family are no strangers to water. Water is described in a way that gives clear parallels to the emotions and behaviour of the characters of the text. The tumultuous Tasmanian Sea is, at times, unpredictable and extremely dangerous. Emblematic of the father in the family this represents the explosive nature of Dad’s temper. Even when it seems calm it doesn’t take long before the sea and the father’s temper can shift and become dangerous. This leaves those around wary of both.

Miles is willing to be on the sea, although he would prefer not to work on the boat. This is indicative of Mile’s strained relationship with his father, unable to leave and cautious of his father’s moods. Likewise he finds little peace in his father’s presence. Harry is afraid of the water. Harry is also skilled in avoiding his father, a task made easier by the father’s neglect. When Harry is forced into the presence of both his father and the sea, it is fatal.

Miles and Joe also have a love of surfing. An ability to ride the force of the ocean, to get out in front of it. This will symbolise their eventual escape from the island and their father. To have weathered such a brutal life and sail away.

The sea is a strident metaphor for the complexity of the boys’ lives.

• The ocean both provides the family their livelihood but takes the life of their beloved Harry.

• Miles and Joe love surfing – for them, it’s an escape from their real lives.

• Joe is even planning on sailing to the South Pacific. 

• Parrett shows us just how fickle the ocean can be and reminds us that we have absolutely no control over it.

• Harry fears the water and Miles both loves and hates it.

• Miles seems particularly aware of this danger.

• Each time Miles goes out on the boat, something seems to go wrong.

• Harry is not allowed on the boat, because he gets seasick before they even leave the jetty.

• The climactic scene, on the boat in the storm, is both page-turning and harrowing.

• The ocean has been a symbol of the inner turmoil of this family and now, with a huge storm from the south approaching, this turmoil spills over into the real world. 

• As their father attacks the two sons in his anger, Harry takes more and more of the brunt, forcing Miles to protect his younger brother. Unsurprisingly, the two end up in the water waiting to die.

• Miles is unable to save his younger brother.

• Miles finds out that Harry is dead; it is an intense moment for the reader.

Nature and the Ocean Quotes

Water that was always there. Always everywhere. The sound and the smell and the cold waves making Harry different. And it wasn’t just because he was the youngest. He knew the way he felt about the ocean would never leave him now. It would be there always, right inside him. Chapter 1

There were things that no one would teach you—things about the water. You just knew them or you didn’t and no one could tell you how to read it. How to feel it. Miles knew the water. He could feel it. And he knew not to trust it. (Miles) Chapter 2

The cold water bit at his hands and feet as he began the paddle. Winter brought massive swells, awesome to watch and not much fun to be in, but today the bluff was still like liquid mercury. Near perfect three-foot lines. The paddle was easy. The waves were easy. The ocean was at peace. (pp 44–5)

And the water was really moving, deep channels carved between the islands. Silent currents.

(pp 202–3)

But ultimately it wasn’t up to you. This ocean could hold you down for as long as it liked, and Miles knew it. Chapter 37

Miles let the rip that ran with the bluff carry him. He enjoyed the ride, felt his hands slipping through the cool water, body floating free. And there was this feeling in him like when it had all just been for fun, the water. Chapter 42

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling out an invisible path, a new line for them to follow.

To somewhere warm.

To somewhere new. Chapter 43