Past The Shallows LitChart

Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.
com
Past the Shallows

are obscured or implied rather than explicitly stated, as Parrett
INTR
INTRODUCTION
ODUCTION keeps an objective distance and allows readers to make their
own inferences. Parrett cites Cormac McCarthy as one of her
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF FAVEL PARRETT foremost inspirations—like Parrett, McCarthy is a
Though born in mainland Australia, Favel Parrett was raised contemporary author who emulates Hemingway in his concise,
primarily in Hobart, Tasmania. Amidst their parents’ broken straightforward writing style. McCarthy’s novel The Road is
marriage, Parrett was (and remains) extremely close with her both stylistically and thematically similar to Past the Shallows, as
younger brother James, who served as the inspiration for both stories portray close familial bonds in the wake of
Harry Curren’s character. As a teenager, Parrett spent profound tragedy.
summers in the far south coast of Tasmania with her mother.
The stunning, majestic landscape and rough waters of the
KEY FACTS
region made a significant impact on her that she drew upon to
create the setting for Past the Shallows. Parrett always dreamed • Full Title: Past the Shallows
of being a writer and had a zine called Numb as a young adult, • When Written: Unknown
but it was not until her thirties that she began seriously honing • Where Written: Victoria, Australia
her craft. After studying Professional Writing and Editing
• When Published: 2011
through a technical and continuing education program, Parrett
published Past the Shallows as her debut novel in 2011. She has • Literary Period: Contemporary
since gone on to publish a second novel titled When the Night • Genre: Novel, contemporary fiction
Comes and has contributed to a variety of literary journals and • Setting: Bruny Island off the coast of Tasmania, Australia
other publications. Parrett’s books have been translated into • Climax: Dad throws Harry overboard into the storm waves
several different languages and she has been nominated for a and reveals the truth of Mum and Uncle Nick’s deaths to
host of literary awards. In 2012, Past the Shallows won the Miles
Dobbie Literary Award as well as Newcomer of the Year at the • Antagonist: Dad/Steven Curren
Australian Book Industry Awards.
• Point of View: Third-person limited
HISTORICAL CONTEXT EXTRA CREDIT

Due to the harsh, rustic environment of the Australian
Surf’s Up. Growing up, Favel Parrett never thought that she
continent, colonial settlers in the late 1700s and early 1800s
would surf in the ocean. Now, much like Miles and Joe Curren
were forced to rely closely on a deep trust of their fellow men
in Past the Shallows, she surfs nearly every day and cannot
in order to survive. This concept has endured to the present
imagine her life without it.
day and has led to the prevailing value of “mateship” in
mainstream Australian culture, a principle that encourages a
Odd Jobs. Before becoming a writer, Parrett had an eclectic
tight-knit sense of respect, solidarity, and friendship among
mix of jobs including delivering mail, working in a bakery, and
men. Today, “mate” is used as a common term of endearment
even DJing.
among friends. Past the Shallows takes place just off the coast of
Tasmania, Australia, and the story’s characters grapple with the
same ancient, near-mythical landscape that humbled the
continent’s early inhabitants. The notion of mateship plays a
PL
PLO
OT SUMMARY
clear role in the novel’s central themes, as Harry, Miles, and Joe Past the Shallows is the story of three brothers, Harry, Miles,
Curren’s loyal brotherhood imbues them with hope and and Joe Curren, growing up in a small fishing town on Bruny
purpose amidst their suffering. Island off the southeastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The
brothers have had a painful upbringing full of hardships, as
RELATED LITERARY WORKS their Uncle Nick drowned on the same night that Harry and
Favel Parrett’s prose in Past the Shallows is distinctively sparse, Miles were involved in a car accident that killed their Mum.
a writing style that harkens back to the fragmentary Additionally, the boys’ beloved Granddad becomes ill and
minimalism of writers such as Ernest Hemingway. As in passes away. After the deaths of their loved ones, the boys are
Hemingway’s stories, many of the crucial details in the novel left in the neglectful care of their Dad, an abalone fisherman
who has become a violent alcoholic after the loss of his wife and
©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 1

Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.com
brother-in-law. Joe has previously escaped the abusive fishing boat despite the violent winter storm that is brewing. As
household to live with Granddad, but his younger brothers Dad and Jeff dive for abalone, Miles does his best to calm
Harry and Miles are left to bear the brunt of Dad’s addiction- Harry’s fear of the water but is interrupted when he realizes
fueled cruelty. that the boat’s engine has stopped and cut off Dad and Jeff’s air
As the Curren boys struggle to grow up without loving parents, supply.
their brotherhood becomes their support system. Harry, Miles, Dad and Jeff eventually make it back to the surface, where Dad
and Joe each find escape in one another’s company and in is furious with Miles and unfairly blames him for the engine
nature. Miles is forced to take on the responsibility of working failure. He vengefully holds Miles underwater until Harry kicks
on the fishing boat with Dad and his fishermen Martin and Jeff, his father and forces him to release Miles. Dad’s ire then
as well as taking care of Harry. Miles has a complicated switches to Harry, who attempts to call for help on the boat
relationship with the water, as he is afraid of diving for abalone radio. As he grabs and furiously shakes the little boy, Dad
but finds solace in surfing with his older brother, Joe. Harry, on notices the shark tooth necklace that Miles had given Harry
the other hand, is petrified of the ocean and escapes into the that morning to wear for good luck. Recognizing it as having
woods when he is left alone during the long stretches that Dad belonged to Uncle Nick, he grows even more furious, implying
and Miles spend on the fishing boat. He inadvertently befriends that Harry is actually Nick’s biological son and throwing him
the local hermit George Fuller and his dog Jake, finding the love overboard into the bitterly cold water. As Miles fights to jump
and understanding in his relationship with George he lacks in after his little brother, Dad restrains him and confesses that
from his own abusive father. Mum and Uncle Nick were having an affair and that Nick did
Joe, who works as a carpenter, is unable to handle the pressure not drown. Rather, he had been in the car with Mum, Harry, and
of being a surrogate father figure for his two younger brothers, Miles on the night of the accident and Dad removed his body
despite his love for them, and spends years building a boat in from the scene in hopes of saving their family from the
hopes of sailing away from Bruny Island. After the boys’ Aunty humiliation of the infidelity.
Jean contests Granddad’s will and reclaims the house that he After this harrowing revelation, Dad finally lets Miles go and
left for Joe, the boys reluctantly clear out Granddad’s Miles springs into the water after Harry. He tries desperately
belongings. Miles discovers that their grandfather kept the to save him and swim for land but is unable to find his way
wreckage of Mum’s car from the night of the accident and finds amidst the violent storm waves crashing around them. The
a shark tooth necklace between the car seats. The mysterious brothers tread water for as long as possible until Miles
tooth haunts Miles as he tries to place its origin, wondering eventually slips away into a hypothermic delirium and loses
who could have left it in Mum’s car. Once Granddad’s house is consciousness. He wakes up in the hospital to find that he
packed, Joe’s dream becomes a reality as he bittersweetly survived, and that Joe has come back to stay at his bedside.
leaves his two younger brothers to live on his boat and travel Miles is thrown into a state of hysterical shock when Joe tells
the world. him that Harry drowned to death.
In Joe’s absence, Dad’s behavior quickly spirals out of control. Miles and Joe are utterly grief-stricken at the tragic death of
After Martin is injured and has to take a leave from fishing, Jeff their little brother. Dad has seemingly fled town in shame and
convinces Dad to begin poaching abalone in protected waters the brothers are at a loss of what to do or where to go. After
in order to yield a more fruitful harvest, a decision that catches living on Joe’s boat docked near Granddad’s house for a short
the attention of the Fisheries authorities and places Dad’s time, they decide to leave Bruny Island. Not wanting to endure
livelihood in jeopardy. Dad’s drinking also becomes worse, as he the platitudes of Aunty Jean and other relatives at Harry’s
often abandons Miles and Harry to spend his nights at the local funeral, Miles and Joe decide to have their own ceremony with
pub. In the midst of a two-day alcohol bender, Dad and Jeff lash George and Jake at the sand dunes of Cloudy Bay. After
out violently at Harry and Miles, as they force Harry to drink burying Harry’s beloved collection of beach treasures, the
whiskey and Jeff slams Miles’s head into a coffee table. After brothers say goodbye to George, who had become the Harry’s
this horrific incident, the boys run away from home and end up dearest companion before his death. He returns the shark
at George Fuller’s house. Miles ultimately decides to leave tooth necklace that Miles had given to Harry for good luck, and
Harry with his schoolmate Stuart Phillips, where he knows his Miles realizes that George was the one who found Harry’s
little brother will be safe. body. The novel ends as Miles and Joe board Joe’s boat and sail
Miles goes back to live with Dad, and they end up nearly away from Bruny Island, devastated yet hopeful as they look
running into Harry in the middle of the road one night, as he ahead to the future and embark on a new path.
emerges from the woods after a visit to George’s shack. Dad is
livid, and they bring Harry back to live at the house with them.
One morning soon after, Dad inexplicably wakes up Harry and
Miles before dawn and forces the boys to come out on the

after Harry when their father throws him overboard into the
CHARA
CHARACTERS
CTERS ocean. Although he cares deeply for Harry, Miles is tragically
unable to save his little brother from drowning.
MAJOR CHARACTERS
Joe Curren – The oldest of the three Curren brothers. Joe is a
Harry Curren – The youngest of the three Curren brothers.
nineteen-year-old carpenter who is forced to look out for his
Harry is a sweet, innocent little boy who is neglected after the
younger siblings Harry and Miles after their Mum dies in a car
death of the boys’ Mum and left alone for the majority of the
accident and they are left in the inadequate care of their
day while Dad and Miles work on the fishing boat. Although
abusive, alcoholic father. When Joe was thirteen, Dad broke
Harry is terribly mistreated by Dad, he is unusually thoughtful
Joe’s arm in a fit of drunken rage and Joe subsequently escaped
and selfless for a child his age, preferring to spend his money on
the chaos of their household to live with Granddad. Rather than
his friends and brothers rather than himself and taking care of
become an abalone fisherman like Dad and Uncle Nick, Joe
Miles when he is ill. While he is younger and smaller than Miles,
follows in his grandfather’s footsteps to learn carpentry.
he often risks his own safety trying to defend his older brother
Granddad leaves Joe his house when he passes away, but Aunty
from Dad’s abuse. Even Aunty Jean, who has a strained
Jean contests his will in order to take back the home and sell it.
relationship with the Curren family, seems to adore Harry and
As a result, Joe spends years hand-carving a boat that he plans
is moved to tears by his kind spirit, which reminds Jean of her
to live on as he sails around the world. He is unable to cope with
late sister. Unlike Miles and Joe, who love to surf, Harry is
the stress of being a father figure to his younger brothers and is
terrified of the water and avoids going out on the family’s boat
desperate to escape Bruny Island, attempting to do so just as a
because he is prone to seasickness. Although Harry is generally
terrible storm hits. While Joe is away trying to sail through the
very sensitive and skittish, he is inherently curious and loves to
strait, Dad throws Harry to his death in the frigid ocean waters.
explore nature and collect “treasures” on the beach. He shares
As with Harry, it is implied that Joe may be Uncle Nick’s
a deep connection with animals that leads him to meet George
biological son, as Dad reveals Mum was having an affair with
Fuller’s dog Jake in the woods, follow him to George’s shack,
their uncle and tells both boys that they are “just like [Nick]”
and gradually befriend the lonely old man. Harry forms a close
before lashing out violently against them. After Harry drowns,
relationship with George, who becomes a warm paternal figure
Joe regrets running from his responsibilities as the oldest son
in the little boy’s life. It is eventually revealed that Harry is likely
of the family and returns to Bruny Island to comfort Miles. The
the biological son of Uncle Nick rather than Dad, a fact that
novel ends with Joe and Miles setting off together on Joe’s
tortures Dad and ultimately leads him to throw Harry
boat, leaving their painful past behind as they embark on a new
overboard from the fishing boat in the midst of a bitterly cold
adventure.
winter storm. Harry drowns in the ocean despite Miles’s
attempts to save him, and the loss of their beloved little brother Dad/Ste
Dad/Stevven Curren – The father of Harry, Miles, and Joe
devastates Miles and Joe. Curren. Although it is implied that Dad was once a typical
father figure, he succumbs to an alcohol addiction and becomes
Miles Curren – The middle sibling of the Curren family. As the
terribly abusive after the deaths of Mum (his wife) and Uncle
younger brother of Joe and the older brother of Harry, Miles
Nick (his brother-in-law). Throughout the story, Dad is the
must shoulder the responsibilities that his siblings are unwilling
prevailing source of hardship in the lives of Harry, Miles, and
or unable to do. After Uncle Nick’s death, Dad forces Miles to
Joe. Although Dad works hard as an abalone fisherman, he fails
take Nick’s place and man the fishing boat while Dad, Jeff, and
to fully provide for his three sons, ignoring Harry and Miles to
Martin dive for abalone. Miles dreads this job and is terrified by
spend evenings in the local pub and leaving them hungry and
the notion that he, too, will one day have to dive in the dark,
neglected at home. After his fisherman Martin is injured and
turbulent ocean waters that surround Bruny Island. Instead,
forced to take a leave of absence, Dad is increasingly influenced
Miles yearns to grow up to be a craftsman and carve beautiful
by his other fisherman Jeff’s sinister tendencies and begins
furniture like his Granddad. When he is not working, Miles
risking his livelihood to illegally fish in protected waters as he
loves to surf and finds solace away from his difficult home life in
spirals deeper into alcoholism. In addition to his neglect and
the same water whose depths he fears. He has close
impulsive actions, Dad is also physically abusive, breaking Joe’s
relationships with both of his brothers, often escaping with Joe
arm and encouraging Jeff to attack Harry and Miles. While his
on beach trips or spending time at home with Harry. Miles was
addiction and subsequent cruelty initially seem to be rooted in
in the car along with Harry during the accident that killed Mum,
grief, it gradually becomes clear that Dad has been lying about
and now he cares for his little brother in their mother’s
the circumstances of Mum and Nick’s deaths and that his own
absence. Miles feels abandoned and helpless when Joe leaves
self-blame is what causes him to lash out. He confesses to Miles
the island on his boat, as he is left alone to shoulder the burden
that Mum was having an affair with Uncle Nick and implies that
of making sure Harry is safe and fed, despite lacking a stable
Harry and Joe may be Nick’s biological sons rather than his
parental figure. Miles tries his best to shield Harry from Dad’s
own. Dad’s destructive behavior culminates in the ultimate act
ire, displaying immense courage and self-sacrifice by diving in

of cruelty when he throws Harry overboard off the fishing boat Granddad. Eventually, Dad confesses that Mum had been
to his death. having an affair with Uncle Nick and that she was leaving him
George F Fuller
uller – An old man whom Harry Curren inadvertently with Nick, Harry, and Miles in the car when they crashed.
befriends. George, who is scarred by facial deformities, lives in Gr
Granddad
anddad – The late father of Mum and Aunty Jean and
a small woodland shack with his dog Jake. He is ostracized by grandfather of Harry, Miles, and Joe Curren. Before he fell ill
the community due to his appearance and solitary nature, and and died, Granddad was adored by his three grandsons. The
local schoolchildren are convinced that he is a murderous, Curren brothers have sweet memories of their grandfather,
cannibalistic monster. After being led to George by Jake, who was a skilled fisherman and master carpenter. When Joe
however, Harry soon finds that George is a shy, sweet old man was thirteen, Dad broke Joe’s arm and Joe went to live with
who was a friend of Granddad’s and knew Mum when she was Granddad, who decided to leave Joe his house after his death.
young. The pair become fast friends and George serves as a Aunty Jean contests Granddad’s will in order to claim the
grandfatherly presence in the little boy’s life, taking him along house as her own and sell it for a profit, a betrayal that leaves
on adventures, teaching him wilderness skills, and even offering Harry, Miles, and Joe heartbroken as they sort through
Harry and Miles a place to stay after a particularly horrific Granddad’s belongings. As they do so, they find the remnants of
episode of abuse from Dad and Jeff. He and Harry seem to be Mum’s car (which was destroyed in the crash that killed her) in
kindred spirits whose deep understanding of each other their grandfather’s shed. Granddad’s decision to hold onto this
transcends words. As Harry lacks a stable parental figure in his painful memory ultimately helps uncover the details of Mum
life, George is a positive male role model for the boy, treating and Uncle Nick’s deaths, as the shark tooth that Miles finds
him with the love and gentle kindness he craves but does not between the car seats sparks Dad’s memory and leads him to
receive from his father. George is away on a fishing trip when confess the truth about the night of the accident.
Harry drowns near the end of the story but is ultimately the Aunty Jean – Harry, Miles, and Joe Curren’s aunt. Aunty Jean
one to recover his young friend’s body from a reef down the is Granddad’s daughter, Mum’s sister, and Uncle Nick’s wife,
coastline. and is crushed with grief after these three loved ones pass
Uncle Nick – The late husband of Aunty Jean and uncle of away. Jean becomes resentful of Dad, whom she blames for
Harry, Miles, and Joe Curren. Before his death, Uncle Nick was Nick’s death, forcing him to take out a loan to buy her late
an abalone fisherman who worked alongside Dad on the family husband’s share of the family fishing boat. Aunty Jean also
fishing boat. In Nick’s absence, Miles is forced to take his place takes out her pain on Joe, to whom Granddad left his house,
and man the boat while his father and the other fishermen dive contesting the will in order to take back the home that she
for abalone. Uncle Nick was a beloved relative of the Curren believes is rightfully hers as Granddad’s daughter. This selfish
brothers, particularly of Miles, whom Nick taught how to surf. act creates a rift between Jean and the Curren brothers, who
Dad convinces his family and the rest of the community that view their aunt as a mean-spirted, stuffy old woman and dread
Uncle Nick drowned on the same night that Mum died in a car the time they are forced to spend with her.
accident. He eventually reveals, however, that Nick and Mum Jeff – One of the abalone fishermen who works the boat with
had been having an affair and that they were leaving together Dad, Miles, and Martin. After Martin is injured in a shark attack
with Miles and Harry in the car when they crashed. Dad and takes a leave of absence from fishing, Jeff’s influence takes
confesses to Miles that he took Nick’s body away from the hold of Dad as he reinforces his partner’s already destructive
scene of the accident and left Mum there to die alongside Miles behavior. Under Jeff’s urging, Dad begins to poach in protected
and Harry, in fear of anyone finding out about the affair. It is waters and is brought under the suspicion of Fisheries officers.
implied that Harry (and possibly Joe) are Nick’s biological sons Jeff also encourages Dad’s alcoholism, with the pair indulging in
rather than Dad’s, a revelation that tortures their father to the a two-day bender that culminates in Jeff forcing Harry to drink
point that he lashes out violently at the two boys, breaking whiskey and slamming Miles’s head into a coffee table. Jeff
Joe’s arm and throwing Harry overboard from the fishing boat ultimately plays a crucial role in Harry’s death, as he
during a vicious storm. intentionally trips the little boy and causes him to fall
Mum – The late mother of Harry, Miles, and Joe Curren and overboard after Dad shoves him.
the wife of Dad. Harry and Miles were in the car during the Jak
Jakee – George Fuller’s puppy whom Harry Curren meets in the
crash that killed Mum but have blocked out most of their woods on the way back from Stuart Phillips’s house. Jake
memories of the accident. Mum, a loving, nurturing mother, was initially leads Harry to George’s shack and breaks the ice
a light in the lives of her three sons. Harry, Miles, and Joe between the little boy and the old man, allowing them to begin
(along with Mum’s sister Aunty Jean) are left devastated by her a friendship. Harry learns that George saved Jake from an
absence. Harry, who was very young when Mum died, struggles abusive owner, and the dog now leads a happy life and is a
to remember his mother and is glad to find out more about her source of comfort for George and Harry.
from George Fuller, who was an old friend of Mum and
Justin Roberts – A childhood friend whom Miles Curren used

to spend a great deal of time surfing with in the summers. ocean waters of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Western
Justin is the son of Mr. Roberts, whose newfound success as an North America, and Japan. Abalone is prized for its beautiful,
abalone fisherman allows Justin to attend a private school iridescent shell. It is most commonly harvested as a luxury
where he loses touch with Miles. After Harry Curren’s death, resource for jewelry and other decorative objects and is
Miles runs into Justin on the beach and the two young men considered a delicacy in the cuisines of various cultures. Past
effortlessly fall back into a friendly rapport as they surf with the Shallows takes place on Bruny Island just off the coast of
one another, despite their time apart. This encounter gives Tasmania, an Australian state that supplies 25% of the world’s
Miles a momentary escape from the pain of his little brother’s abalone harvest. The men in the Curren family are abalone
death and renews him with the same sense of lighthearted fisherman, braving the frigid ocean to dive for this rare
freedom he felt as a child. commodity.
Mr
Mr.. Roberts/Brian – A successful abalone fisherman who is the Southern Lights – The common name for the aurora australis, a
envy of other men in the community. His son, Justin, was once a natural light display that occurs near Earth’s southernmost
close friend of Miles Curren, and Mr. Roberts’s role as a loving, regions. The southern lights are caused by disturbances in the
supportive father is a stark contrast to Dad’s abusive behavior. magnetosphere due to solar winds and manifest as glowing
One evening, after Dad abandons Miles to drink at the local streaks of color in the night sky.
pub, Mr. Roberts helps the young man moor his fishing boat and
gives him a ride home. Mr. Roberts seems to be aware of Dad’s
mistreatment of the boys, but although he encourages Miles to THEMES
stand up to his father, he does not intervene to help the Curren
brothers. In LitCharts literature guides, each theme gets its own color-
coded icon. These icons make it easy to track where the themes
Stuart Phillips – A friend and peer of Harry Curren who lives in occur most prominently throughout the work. If you don't have
an old, run-down trailer on the outskirts of town. Stuart’s a color printer, you can still use the icons to track themes in
mother runs a roadside berry stand for a living and allows black and white.
Harry to stay with them after a particularly violent episode of
abuse from Dad and Jeff. Stuart’s company is a means of
escape for Harry, who is eager to share his money and
BROTHERHOOD, LOYALTY, AND
belongings with his friend. HARDSHIP
Martin – One of the abalone fishermen who works on the boat Amidst the chaos of their Dad’s alcoholism,
with Dad, Miles, and Jeff. Despite his intimidating appearance, brothers Harry, Miles, and Joe Curren are subject
Martin is one of few adults in the story who treats Miles with to rampant abuse and neglect. As their father’s behavior grows
kindness and respect. He is injured by a shark that is increasingly erratic and their family structure deteriorates in
accidentally reeled onto the boat and is forced to take a leave of the wake of their Mum and Uncle Nick’s deaths, the Curren
absence from fishing. Without Martin there to look out for brothers are forced to become one another’s support system,
Miles, Dad and Jeff’s partnership becomes toxic as they and they remain steadfastly loyal to one another. The infallible
encourage each other’s proclivity for substance abuse, strength of their bond provides a level of solidarity and
violence, and criminality. understanding that is unique to siblings, and the brothers are
able to find solace in each other’s company even in the midst of
traumatic circumstances. The deeply loyal brotherhood
MINOR CHARACTERS
between Harry, Miles, and Joe reflects the inherent resilience
Gary Bones – A local bully who steals the shark tooth necklace of the human spirit in the face of cruelty, while also highlighting
that Miles Curren finds in Granddad’s shed amidst the how some burdens cannot be shouldered alone. With the three
wreckage of Mum’s car. This cruel act causes Gary and Miles to brothers at its core, Past the Shallows shows how hardship can
get into a violent fight on the beach that knocks Miles’s tooth strengthen sibling bonds, and how this brotherhood is a crucial
loose. element of enduring life’s challenges.
Billy – Billy is the brother of George Fuller. Billy was a soldier Despite quintessential moments of conflict and sibling rivalry
who went missing in a war and never came home. Looking at a between Miles and Joe, Miles’s relationship with his older
picture of Billy, Harry thinks about how horrible it would be if brother serves as an escape from his troubled home life and the
anything ever happened to his own brother Miles. forced drudgery of his job on the family fishing boat. Joe (who,
at thirteen, moved out of Dad’s house to live with the boys’
Granddad) is concerned for his brothers’ wellbeing, and often
TERMS takes Miles out to surf and fish in order to give his brother a
temporary escape from his difficult life. These shared serene
Abalone – A type of shellfish that is most abundant in the cold

moments with his older brother are a respite for Miles, overboard, the brothers’ close familial bond remains a source
providing him with a sense of comfort and stability that he does of resilience and comfort for them both as they desperately try
not receive from Dad at home or at work on the boat. While to stay alive in the freezing water.
family is not purely a force of good in the novel—after all, most The novel resists a clean ending, as brotherhood ultimately
of the brothers’ struggles stem from their father, an abusive does not save the day and vanquish evil. Instead, the ending is
alcoholic—the boys’ relationships with one another show how steeped in both heartache and hope, reflecting the realistic
family can also serve as a lifeline in the midst of pain. complexity of family life. While Dad’s abusive nature wreaks
Since quality time with Joe is what buoys Miles in an otherwise havoc on the Curren family and eventually kills Harry, the
heartbreaking life, he is resentful and afraid when his older unyielding loyalty between Miles and Joe is made even
brother builds a boat and plans on leaving Bruny Island to stronger by the tragedy of their little brother’s death. Miles and
escape the painful reality of their disintegrated family. Although Joe’s brotherhood allows them to band together to continue
Joe is nineteen and it is ostensibly normal for him to leave the legacy of Harry’s kind spirit, overcome the painful
home, the value Miles places on their brotherhood turns this memories of their traumatic upbringing, and ultimately break
act into a personal affront that threatens to destabilize Miles’s free of Bruny Island.
sense of security. Miles’s deep distress surrounding Joe’s
departure speaks to how vital Joe’s brotherly friendship has ADDICTION AND ABUSE
been in keeping Miles afloat emotionally, highlighting the way
After the deaths of his brother-in-law Uncle Nick
that family bonds can be a balm for pain and suffering.
and his wife Mum, Dad’s guilt and grief spiral into
Similar to his brotherhood with Joe, Miles’s relationship with alcoholism and the subsequent abuse of his three
his younger brother, Harry, is in many ways characteristic of a sons, Harry, Miles, and Joe. Much like the often-volatile natural
typical bond between siblings. The abuse they both receive landscape of Bruny Island where the Curren family lives, Dad’s
from Dad, however, creates a profound, unspoken loyalty unpredictable, menacing behavior is a looming source of terror
between Miles and Harry that gives each of them a sense of for his three boys. His presence is confusing, particularly for
purpose and a reason to persevere through their mistreatment. Miles and Harry, as they respect him as the family’s provider
Though the youngest of the three brothers, Harry is mature and head of household yet resent the fear and instability he
beyond his years and often makes sweet gestures toward Miles brings to their lives. Through Dad’s character, Parrett
such as buying him a goodie bag at the boat races, caring for illustrates how substance abuse can distort otherwise normal
him when he is sick, and even trying to defend him from Dad’s people into monstrous versions of themselves, and how the
ire. While Miles is sometimes impatient and frustrated by effects of addiction are far-reaching, extending well beyond the
Harry’s naïveté, his little brother’s thoughtful treatment of him addict.
is a nurturing presence that helps fill the void of Mum’s death
Although Dad is a predominantly negative force in his sons’
and Dad’s neglect.
lives, his sporadic tender moments throughout the novel show
Miles returns the favor of Harry’s kindness, remaining loyal and that he is not wholly, inherently evil. Rather, he is a complex,
protective of his little brother even under the looming threat of deeply flawed individual who is plagued by addiction and
violence from Dad. After a particularly harrowing episode of tortured by the demons of his past wrongdoings. Dad is implied
drunken violence from Dad and his equally abusive friend Jeff, to have once been an involved, caring parent, as evidenced by
Miles tenderly packs a bag for Harry and leaves his little Miles’s memory of his father taking care of Harry and brushing
brother at his friend Stuart’s house (where he knows he will be his hair when he was younger. While Dad’s current patterns of
safe) and returns home alone to face the brunt of Dad’s cruelty could potentially be attributed to an innate character
drunken wrath. Despite the abuse that the two younger Curren flaw, this dramatic shift in his demeanor suggests that there
brothers continually face, their brotherly bond gives them the was a time when he genuinely cared for his family.
strength and resilience they need to endure their
However, after Martin, one of Dad’s fishermen, is injured and
circumstances.
must take a leave of absence from working on the fishing boat,
This strong bond of solidarity that Miles and Harry share Dad’s behavior progressively becomes more turbulent and
culminates in Miles facing his phobia of the deep ocean to save criminal. Under the sinister influence of his other fisherman,
Harry after Dad throws him overboard, a moment that parallels Jeff, Dad begins frequenting the local pub more often and
Miles’s childhood memory of Joe saving him when he fell in the grows increasingly more neglectful and sporadically violent
river. Although he is unable to save Harry from drowning, this toward his sons. This progressive moral dissolution shows the
act is the ultimate display of Miles’s steadfast love, courage, and complexity and malleability of Dad’s character as he falls
self-sacrifice as he risks his own life in an attempt to rescue his deeper into his alcoholism. Even in the midst of this
little brother. Although family is the cause of Harry and Miles’s mistreatment, Dad still shows slivers of compassion and
hardship in this circumstance, as Dad is the one to throw Harry concern for his sons, as when he apologetically brings Miles fish

and chips for dinner after an alcohol-fueled incident of violent Nick’s body at the scene of the car crash and lying about his
abuse. This rare display of care further suggests that Dad is a brother-in-law’s fate, knowing that he did not actually drown.
nuanced character beneath his addiction. The dissolution of the Curren family as they cope with losing
The transformative power of Dad’s alcoholism has a three of their loved ones suggests that assigning blame after a
detrimental impact not only his own psyche, but on the entire tragedy is destructive and unproductive, as it will only breed
structure of the Curren family. The fear of Dad’s brutality resentment and betrayal.
redefines Harry, Miles, and Joe’s lives, which were once safe In reaction to the deaths of her sister, husband, and father,
and content, and all three boys are driven toward various Aunty Jean spirals into a vicious cycle of bitterness and blaming
outlets of escapism. When Joe is thirteen, he goes to live with others that leads to the destruction of her relationships with
Granddad after Dad breaks his arm in a fit of drunken rage. The Dad, Harry, Miles, and Joe. After Uncle Nick’s death, Aunty
fear and trauma Joe experiences at the hands of his father Jean forces Dad to take out a loan in order to buy Nick’s share
affect him to the point that he hand-carves a boat in hopes of of the family boat, which puts a significant strain on their
leaving Bruny Island. The great lengths to which Joe is willing to relationship. Although she does not know that Nick actually
go in order to escape Dad’s mistreatment illustrate the died in the crash with Mum, nor does she know the full extent
profound, lasting impact of his father’s addiction-fueled abuse. of Dad’s involvement, she blames Dad anyway because she
Without their older brother in the house to watch over them, believes that he encouraged Nick to go out on the boat on the
Harry and Miles are left to fend for themselves. Both boys’ lives night that he allegedly drowned. This bitterness destroys the
are fundamentally defined by Dad’s abuse as they adapt to his rapport between Aunty Jean and Dad to the point that she
unpredictable mood swings and unreliability, too afraid to ask refuses to even enter the family home.
their father for food or even to cross his path to use the The resentment Aunty Jean feels for Dad in the wake of Uncle
bathroom in their own house. Amidst this instability, Harry and Nick’s death also spills over into her relationships with Harry,
Miles both search for sources of escape from their home life. Miles, and Joe. After Granddad passes away and leaves his
Miles’s love of surfing and Harry’s relationships with George house to Joe, Aunty Jean contests the will and takes back the
Fuller and his dog Jake are attempts to fill the void left by their house to sell it, a betrayal that causes an unforgivable rift
father’s neglect and the subsequent collapse of their family. between her and the Curren brothers, who are sentimentally
While the two younger boys can’t carve a boat and sail away attached to their grandfather’s home. Although Granddad
like Joe can, they clearly long for escape from their father and wanted Joe to have the house, Aunty Jean feels that Joe is
yet are forced to center their lives around him and his stealing the property that she believes to be rightfully hers as
addiction. Granddad’s daughter. Aunty Jean’s shift in character suggests
Although once a typical father figure, Dad’s alcoholism eats that assigning blame in the midst of tragedy can devastate both
away at him until he becomes a different person altogether—a the individual and the family.
warped, twisted version of his former self, who instills a Like Aunty Jean, Dad also experiences a profound change in
constant sense of dread in his three sons. Dad’s abuse of Harry, character after the deaths of Mum and Uncle Nick. While Dad’s
Miles, and Joe shows the detrimental effects that addiction can descent into violence is initially presented as a reaction to the
have on the family structure. Though the silver lining is faint, loss of his wife and brother-in-law, it is eventually revealed that
Dad’s relentless abuse ultimately serves as the catalyst for the his self-blame surrounding the circumstances of their deaths is
three boys’ unbridled thirst for adventure in the outside world. what fuels the rage that destroys his relationships with Harry,
Miles, and Joe. Near the end of the novel, it is implied that Mum
TRAGEDY AND BLAME and Uncle Nick were having an illicit relationship, and that
Harry (and possibly Joe) are actually Nick’s biological sons
Throughout Past the Shallows, the Curren family
rather than Dad’s. Dad confesses to Miles that Mum was
copes with the deaths of beloved family members
leaving him (with Nick, Harry, and Miles in the car) on the night
Mum, Uncle Nick, and Granddad. Harry, Miles and
of the accident, and that he “had to take [Nick] away” from the
Joe are told that Mum died in a car accident and that Uncle
scene of the crash in order to prevent people from finding out
Nick drowned on the same night. It is gradually implied,
about Mum’s infidelity. Dad’s full involvement in Nick and
however, that Mum and Uncle Nick were having an affair, and
Mum’s deaths remains something of a mystery for his sons, as
that Dad has been lying about the night of the accident and the
well as for the reader, clouded by the secrets that he has long
circumstances of Nick’s death. The losses of these characters
kept from his family. In the context of Dad’s alcoholism-fueled
and the secrets and blame associated with their deaths have
abuse throughout the story, this revelation shows how grief,
varying effects on the rest of the family. The Curren brothers
secrecy, and guilt form a destructive combination. In this case,
are grief-stricken, Aunty Jean is resentful, and Dad is tortured
Dad blames himself more than anyone else, but that blame still
by the blame he places on Mum for cheating on him.
has devastating consequences.
Additionally, he is wracked with the guilt of tampering with

Dad’s destructiveness culminates at the end of the novel when take undue responsibility for themselves and each other. Other
he pins the blame for Mum leaving on Harry and throws the adults in town, such as Mr. Roberts and Stuart’s mother, have
young boy overboard from the fishing boat in a fit of rage. inklings that Dad is abusive, but they fail to take initiative in
Harry drowns to death in the ocean as a result of Dad’s saving the boys from their dismal circumstances. Thus, with no
unbearable guilt, an action that epitomizes Dad’s desperate mother, an inept father, and no one to intervene on their behalf,
attempts to rid himself of self-blame but ultimately proves to the Curren brothers are forced to take care of one another as
be futile and deeply destructive. Whereas Aunty Jean destroys de facto parents despite their young ages.
her relationships by focusing on blame, Dad literally destroys While Harry, Miles, and Joe endure the painful, confusing
his own son. journey of growing up in a dysfunctional family, they do their
While the dysfunction that plagues the Curren family initially best to look out for one another. As the oldest and only legal
appears to be rooted in grief over the deaths of Mum, Uncle adult of the three boys, Joe tries to set a positive example for
Nick, and Granddad, the true insidious nature of the family’s his younger brothers. He often takes Miles out surfing and
dissolution becomes apparent as they begin to point fingers at fishing to take his little brother’s mind off of Dad’s
one another. The gradual destruction of the relationships mistreatment. The responsibility becomes too much for Joe to
among Dad, Aunty Jean, and the Curren brothers reveals that shoulder, however, and he flees Bruny Island on his boat,
hasty accusations in the face of tragedy are not just unhelpful, pleading with Miles to understand that he is “only nineteen.”
but also extremely harmful. Yet unlike other members of the Like Joe, Miles also has an unfair level of responsibility placed
Curren family, Miles and Joe maintain their sense of loyal upon him, as Dad expects him to forgo his schooling to work on
solidarity by placing due responsibility on Dad as an oppressor, the family’s fishing boat after their fisherman Martin (one of the
rather than allowing their struggles and grief to strain the close few adults who is kind to Miles) is injured. Miles suffers at the
bond they share. hands of Dad and his other fisherman, Jeff, who only
encourages Dad’s irresponsibility and cruelty rather than
FATHER FIGURES AND RESPONSIBILITY looking out for the brothers. In addition, Dad’s neglect forces
Miles to take on the full burden of caring for Harry. These
In Past the Shallows, brothers Harry, Miles, and Joe
unfair circumstances place a huge amount of emotional stress
Curren cope with the ramifications of their
on Joe and Miles, robbing them of the innocent childhoods they
alcoholic father’s irresponsibility. After the deaths
once experienced under the care of Uncle Nick and Granddad.
of Mum, Uncle Nick, and Granddad, the Curren boys are left
Neither brother is ready to be a grown adult, but they must
without a trustworthy adult to understand and guide them.
take on that role in order to survive.
Each of the three brothers flounders without a stable father
figure, as they are all forced to take on undue responsibility for Although Miles and Joe act as surrogate father figures for
one another and make sense of what it means to be men in the Harry, their little brother is still largely mistreated and left to
world without a consistent example. This ongoing struggle his own devices without Mum or other relatives in his life to
suggests the importance of positive male role models in the make up for Dad’s neglect. He inadvertently befriends George
lives of young boys and the detrimental effects of forcing Fuller, a misunderstood pariah of their small fishing community
children to grow up too quickly. who quickly becomes a kindly, grandfatherly figure in Harry’s
life. He finds out that the old man had been a friend of
Before their deaths, Uncle Nick and Granddad were
Granddad’s, and George offers Harry the goodhearted
instrumental nurturing, paternal figures in the lives of Harry,
company and one-on-one quality time that he has been lacking
Miles, and Joe. Uncle Nick taught Miles how to surf and
from his own father. He even teaches Harry to fish, an activity
Granddad imparted his talents for fishing and carpentry to his
that the little boy had always hoped Granddad would teach him
grandsons. Joe fled Dad’s house to live with his grandfather at
before he died. Harry’s willingness to befriend a complete
age thirteen, and Miles hopes to grow up to be “just like”
stranger shows just how desperate he is for a caring,
Granddad and emulate the old man’s talent for crafting
affectionate male figure in his life and how deeply Dad’s abuse
beautiful furniture. The unconditional kindness and
has impacted him.
understanding with which the Curren boys’ uncle and
grandfather treated them makes the loss of these two male role Though Miles, Joe, and George all try to nurture and provide
models all the more painful as Harry, Miles, and Joe try to keep for Harry, the lack of a true father figure in the boy’s life
that same love alive through their bond as brothers. ultimately leads to his demise, as Dad throws Harry off the
fishing boat to drown in the midst of a deadly winter storm.
The boys are left in Dad’s care after Mum, Uncle Nick, and
This callous, murderous act of cruelty shows just how
Granddad pass away. Their father rapidly spirals into
irreplaceable a loving paternal figure is in a child’s life and,
alcoholism, which manifests in the violent abuse of his three
conversely, the deadly impact of an abusive father despite
sons. He fails to be a supportive father figure for Harry, Miles,
other positive outside influences. No matter how much
and Joe, forcing them to grow up before they are ready as they

responsibility his brothers try to take for Harry, they are unable been raised on the island, they have developed a sense of
to protect him in the end, which demonstrates that children reverence and fear toward its grandiosity. Abalone, the region’s
can’t become effective parental figures, no matter how much main resource, symbolizes the generations of people who have
they might wish to. The novel ends on a bittersweet note, lived and died on the island and serves as a reminder of
however, as their little brother’s death causes Joe to return to humanity’s fragility, as they depend upon nature’s fickle cycles
Bruny Island to be with Miles. The loss of Harry gives Joe the for their livelihood. Harry’s solo explorations in nature also
necessary push to come into his own as a man and become make him acutely aware of this reality despite his young age, as
exactly the strong male figure that his devastated, traumatized holding an abalone shell in his hand makes him confront his
brother needs. own mortality and place in the grand scheme of life. He realizes
that, much like Dad’s violent mood swings, nature is an
THE DUALITY OF NATURE incomprehensible, rampant force that impacts people’s lives
without rhyme or reason. Harry marvels at the mysticism of his
Past the Shallows takes place amidst the awe-
homeland, remarking that the island is “as old as the world.”
inspiring and often brutal seaside landscape of
Bruny Island off the coast of Tasmania, Australia. While the brothers grapple with this ongoing realization of
The turbulent ocean waters and the rugged ecosystem of the Bruny Island’s power, they are intimidated by nature even as
island serve as both the means of the family’s livelihood as they find joy in its beauty. Harry is terrified of the water and
abalone fishermen and as ever-present, unreliable dangers. For made seasick by excursions on the family’s fishing boat, while
Harry, Miles, and Joe Curren, the natural world is Miles dreads the idea that he will one day have to venture into
simultaneously a foreboding, almost mythical presence and a the dark, treacherous ocean to dive for abalone like his father.
beloved outlet of escape from their troubled home life. The Despite their fondness for the surroundings they know and
stunning yet perilous setting of the novel reflects humanity’s love, Harry and Miles both have an innate awareness of
relationship with the environment more broadly. Parrett nature’s dark potential and know that they risk self-destruction
suggests that nature is both a comfort and a powerful threat every time they journey into the beauty of the island’s
for humans, while the natural world is wholly indifferent to the landscape. Nature is ultimately uncaring and indiscriminate in
fates of the people who inhabit it. its actions, claiming Harry’s life as the little boy is thrown
overboard and drowns in the icy cold waters of a winter storm.
As Harry, Miles, and Joe cope with the grief of Mum’s death
and the trauma of their alcoholic father and dysfunctional Although the Curren brothers find emotional comfort and
family, each of the three brothers finds solace in a deep safety in nature, its duality as a mysterious, dangerous force
reverence and connection with nature. For Joe, the water is remains at the forefront of their minds and highlights their
literally an escape from his painful upbringing, as he hand- willingness to risk self-destruction in order to find escape in
carves a wooden boat to live on and sail around the world after Bruny Island’s environment. They value nature over their own
he is uprooted from Granddad’s house. Miles is likewise drawn lives, and they are willing to face their physical inferiority and
to the ocean, likening the surrounding cliffs to majestic human limitations through their love of surfing and exploring
“guardians standing tall” and acting as though he “could stay out their precarious surroundings. The novel celebrates this sense
in the water forever” even after his brothers have returned to of insignificance rather than fighting against it, advocating for a
shore. The ocean holds a sense of freedom and possibility for respectful attitude toward nature’s grandiosity and a healthy
Joe and Miles, and the two brothers instinctively flee from balance of fear, awe, and admiration.
Dad’s wrath to the beach where they spend hours surfing,
fishing, and camping. Similarly, Harry finds joy and purpose
through his connection to animals, often combing the beach for
SYMBOLS
“treasures” and small creatures even though he is afraid of the Symbols appear in teal text throughout the Summary and
water. He is also drawn to George Fuller’s dog Jake and is quick Analysis sections of this LitChart.
to befriend the animal, sneaking off to find respite from the
loneliness of his house while Dad and Miles are gone at work.
For all the boys, then, the natural world is a peaceful refuge WATER
from their otherwise chaotic lives. Although the Curren brothers come from a long
Despite finding comfort in nature, the Curren brothers are also line of abalone fishermen and have been raised on
able to sense the immense power and enigmatic, ancient roots an island, they have a complicated attitude toward the water,
of Bruny Island. Although Harry, Miles, and Joe have grown up which parallels their tumultuous relationship with Dad, an
loving the beach, the wild indigenous landscape also poses a abusive alcoholic. Although water is the source of the family’s
dangerous threat as it remains indifferent to the boys, who are livelihood and is an outlet of escape for Joe and Miles (who love
small and insignificant in comparison. As the brothers have to surf), it is also a powerful, mysterious force which the boys

believe took the life of their beloved Uncle Nick. As a result, fear of Dad’s erratic behavior, the sun’s rays are a bright
Miles is afraid to dive in deep water and Harry refuses to set presence that imbues the boys with happy memories of their
foot in the ocean altogether. Similarly, Dad’s role as a father Mum. They often notice the light and feel comforted by it as
figure is to provide and nurture, yet he is also a violent force they endure the island’s brutal elements, just as they are
that continually threatens the family’s safety. Whereas, for comforted by Mum’s love even in her absence. This is
Miles, his father starts out as a normal, loving parent and the particularly evident when Harry’s fear of the dark is quelled by
ocean begins as a lighthearted outlet of escape that is “just for the sight of the southern lights outside his bedroom window as
fun,” Dad and the water slowly become tandem sinister forces he remembers seeing them with his mother in the past. For the
that ultimately claim the most important figure in Mile’s Curren brothers, the presence of the light that reflects off of
life—his little brother Harry. Just as Miles is forced to protect the dark, turbulent ocean water serves as a both a literal source
Harry from Dad’s cruelty and neglect, he also desperately tries of warmth in the frigid winter and a figurative reminder of
to save his little brother from the ocean’s bitterly cold grasp optimism, strength, and renewal.
after Dad throws him overboard. Although Harry drowns to
death, this harrowing experience does not scare Miles and Joe
away from the water, and they are still determined to surf and QUO
QUOTES
TES
spend time on Joe’s boat after losing Harry. While the ocean is
Note: all page numbers for the quotes below refer to the
an ongoing representation of the boys’ fraught relationship
with Dad, it also comes to reflects Miles and Joe’s inner Washington Square Press edition of Past the Shallows
published in 2011.
strength as the brothers sail away from Bruny Island in Joe’s
boat. Ultimately, Miles and Joe are able to find freedom in the
very thing that caused so much destruction, and they refuse to Chapter 1 Quotes
succumb to the blame, fear, and abuse that plagued their father. Water that was always there. Always everywhere. The
sound and the smell and the cold waves making Harry different.
THE SHARK TOOTH 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
While the Curren brothers clean out Granddad’s would be there always, right inside him.
old house, Miles makes a shocking discovery: their
grandfather kept the wreckage of Mum’s car left behind in the
accident that killed her. Between the car seats, Miles finds a Related Characters: Mum, Dad/Steven Curren, Joe
shark tooth on a string that puzzles and haunts him, as he Curren, Miles Curren, Harry Curren
believes that whomever left the shark tooth in the car could be
a clue in understanding the circumstances of Mum’s death. Just Related Themes:
as Miles’s hazy memory of the accident is gradually pieced
together through the novel, the tooth’s significance becomes Related Symbols:
clearer as the story progresses. Beyond its function as a simple
necklace, the shark tooth holds much deeper meaning—it is Page Number: 3
revealed to be tangible evidence of Mum’s affair with Uncle Explanation and Analysis
Nick and of the fact that Nick was in the car with Mum, Miles,
and Harry during the accident. The shark tooth is especially At the beginning of the novel, Harry spends a day on Cloudy
significant for Dad, who views it as an externalized Bay beach with his brothers Miles and Joe. Whereas his
representation of Nick as Mum’s true love (and, likely, the real older brothers love to surf and spend time in the water
father of Harry and Joe) as well as the jealousy and together as an escape from the abuse of their alcoholic
condemnation he still harbors toward his late brother-in-law. father, Harry is terrified of the water and easily made
The shark tooth ultimately represents the fragmentation of the seasick. This passage is the first instance of water being
Curren family and the destructive potential of blame in the used as symbolic representation of the boys’ relationship to
midst of tragedy, as the painful emotions of seeing the object Dad. Joe and Miles have a more nuanced relationship with
around Harry’s neck cause Dad to project his rage toward Nick their father, as they fear Dad in his current state but still
onto Harry and throw the little boy overboard to his death. have memories of him prior to Mum’s death as a relatively
normal, functional parent. This ambivalence parallels Miles’s
attitude toward the water, as he loves spending time in the
LIGHT ocean but is horrified at the thought of diving for abalone in
While Harry, Miles, and Joe’s trepidation toward its unpredictable depths. Harry, on the other hand, is too
Bruny Island’s unpredictable water parallels their

Chapter 2 Quotes
young to recall much of anything before Mum passed away
and is utterly terrified of Dad’s violent mood swings, just as First day of school holidays. First day he must man the
he is wholly consumed by his phobia of the water. boat alone while the men go down. Old enough now, he must
take his place. Just like his brother before him, he must fill the
gap Uncle Nick left.
Harry picked up an abalone shell, the edges loose and

dusty in his hands. And every cell in his body stopped. Felt Related Characters: Granddad, Jeff, Martin, Dad/Steven
it. This place. Felt the people who had been here before, Curren, Uncle Nick, Joe Curren, Miles Curren
breathing and standing live where he stood. People who were
dead now. Long gone. And Harry understood it, right down in Related Themes:
his guts, that time ran on forever and that one day he would die.
Page Number: 9
Related Characters: Miles Curren, Harry Curren, Explanation and Analysis

Granddad, Uncle Nick, Mum, Joe Curren After the death of the Curren brothers’ Uncle Nick, Joe and
Miles are expected to begin working alongside Dad, an
Related Themes: abalone fisherman, in their uncle’s place. While Joe
ultimately rejects this role in favor of becoming a carpenter
Page Number: 5 like his Granddad, Miles is made to man the fishing boat
Explanation and Analysis while Dad and his fishermen Martin and Jeff dive for
abalone. This obligation forces Miles prematurely to take on
During a day on Cloudy Bay beach with his brothers Miles an adult level of responsibility, a particularly unfair
and Joe, Harry runs off by himself to collect “treasures” expectation considering Dad’s own poor example as an
along the shoreline while his older brothers surf. He irresponsible, neglectful father figure. As the middle sibling
wanders into the sand dunes and finds an empty abalone in the Curren family, Miles is put in the unfortunate position
shell that imbues him with an instant sensorial connection of shouldering the work that Harry is not old enough to do,
to his environment. Aside from serving as a trigger for and that Joe can no longer be forced to do as a legal adult.
Harry’s personal connection with nature, the abalone shell Though lost without a stable male role model and reluctant
is relevant as a broader representation of human beings’ to take on the burden of an adult job, Miles’s acceptance of
relationship with their natural surroundings. Abalone, his obligation shows that he is willing to face his fear of deep
considered a precious luxury resource, is the heart and soul water and essentially surrender his childhood innocence in
of the small fishing town that calls Bruny Island home. The order to support his family as they cope with the loss of
Curren family, along with the rest of the community, has Uncle Nick.
depended upon abalone as their source of purpose and
livelihood for generations. Harry’s association of the shell
with “the people who had been here before” suggests the
timeless importance of abalone (and, more broadly, of There were things that no one would teach you—things
nature) to humanity’s survival. 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
In addition to its practical significance, the abalone shell also
water. He could feel it. And he knew not to trust it.
makes Harry acutely aware of his own mortality. This
moment is striking relative to Harry’s age—although he is
just a young boy, he has a clear understanding of the Related Characters: Jeff, Martin, Dad/Steven Curren,
immense scope and inevitability of death. Harry also has an Uncle Nick, Miles Curren
awareness of his own relative insignificance in the grand
scheme of the cycle of life on Bruny Island as he marvels at Related Themes:
the infinite nature of time. This maturity of insight is likely
due to the fact that Harry was forced to confront the Related Symbols:
realities of death at a young age, having lost his Mum, Uncle
Nick, and Granddad in quick succession. Page Number: 12
Explanation and Analysis

In the wake of Uncle Nick’s death, Miles is forced to fill the

void of his uncle, an abalone fisherman, on the family’s boat. to confront the unromantic reality of nature as a cold,
While aquatic activities like surfing and fishing bring Miles a indiscriminate force. Just as the ocean claimed Uncle Nick
sense of joyful escape from Dad’s abuse, his relationship as its victim, so too the fishermen claim the abalone.
with the water is complicated. He is terrified at the notion Miles’s detached view of the abalone also holds implications
that he, too, will one day have to dive into the deep ocean about his self-concept—his transition away from empathy
waters for abalone like Dad, Martin, and Jeff. Miles’s for the shellfish mirrors his own reality, as he is forced to
ambivalence reflects the complicated relationship that suppress any concerns for himself in order to fulfill Dad’s
Bruny Island’s inhabitants share with the ocean—while it expectations and take care of his little brother Harry.
endows the small fishing town with valuable resources, the Additionally, this moment evidences how Miles, once a child
island’s immense, treacherous environment is ultimately full of compassionate sensitivity, has taken on a casually
impartial toward the human beings who work amidst its jaded attitude toward death after the tragic losses of his
violent waters and craggy coastline. beloved family members Mum, Uncle Nick, and Granddad.
The water here additionally represents Miles’s fraught
relationship with Dad. Although he respects his father as
the provider for their family, Miles is tormented by Dad’s Chapter 7 Quotes
substance abuse and unpredictable bouts of alcohol-
And if you didn’t know better, you’d think that no one lived
induced violence. Similarly, Miles has a deep reverence for
here anymore. That all these places were abandoned. But
the ocean but also distrusts it, knowing how destructive it
people were in there somewhere, hidden and burrowed in.
can be. Just as a mastery of sailing and fishing can only come
They were there.
from intuition and first-hand experience, Miles and his
brothers are only able to cope with Dad’s abuse by
gradually learning how to better predict, avoid, and endure Related Characters: Dad/Steven Curren, Harry Curren,
the changing tides of their father’s erratic behavior. Joe Curren, Miles Curren
Related Themes:
Chapter 5 Quotes
Page Number: 41
He used to feel sorry for the abs when he was young. The
way they pulsed and moved in the tubs, sensing the bright light Explanation and Analysis
and heat. But he couldn’t think about them like that now. He After a day of hard work on the fishing boat, Miles
was only careful not to cut or bruise them, because once abs accompanies his older brother Joe on a surfing trip. On the
started to bleed, they kept on bleeding until all the liquid inside van ride to the beach, Miles notices the familiar barren
was gone. They just dried up and died. landscape of his hometown peppered with ramshackle
houses and rusty farm equipment. The Curren family, along
Related Characters: Granddad, Uncle Nick, Mum, Harry with the rest of their small fishing community on Bruny
Curren, Jeff, Martin, Dad/Steven Curren, Miles Curren Island, are implied to be a working poor family constantly
teetering on the brink of destitution. This bleak
Related Themes: socioeconomic reality takes on a sense of injustice
considering the brutal conditions that Dad and the other
Page Number: 30-31 local abalone fishermen endure to make a living. The root
cause of this collective financial struggle, however, is
Explanation and Analysis entrenched in random natural forces rather than human
During Miles’s winter break from school, he is expected to oppression. While the waters of Bruny Island sometimes
man his family’s boat for the first time while Dad and his yield an abundant abalone harvest, the natural ebbs and
fishermen Martin and Jeff dive for abalone. As he gathers flows of the ocean result in periods of diminished success
the “abs” to be sorted and processed, Miles reflects on the for the island’s fishermen. This reality reflects the
sympathy he once had for the creatures that are so inherently fickle temperament of the natural environment
abundantly harvested in the small fishing town he calls as both a nurturing source of livelihood and an indifferent
home. His transition away from feeling sorry for the abalone presence alongside the human race.
marks a loss of innocence as his newfound responsibility
forces him to take on the impartiality of a fisherman. Seeing
the shellfish so nonchalantly caught and killed causes Miles

Chapter 9 Quotes Chapter 11 Quotes

It was fully formed, more than half a yard long, maybe only “Don’t you get stuck here with your dad,” he said. “Don’t
days away from being born. It would have survived if Jeff had you let him…You’re too young to be out there working, Miles.
just let it go, let it slide off the back of the boat. It had made it It’s not right.”
this far, battling its siblings, killing and feeding off them. Miles felt the words sink down right inside him.
Waiting. It would have been born strong, ready to hunt, ready
“You’ve had it rough enough,” he said.
to fight.
Related Characters: Mr. Roberts/Brian (speaker), Justin

Related Characters: Dad/Steven Curren, Martin, Jeff,
Roberts, Dad/Steven Curren, Miles Curren
Miles Curren
Related Themes:
Related Themes:
Page Number: 72
Page Number: 51
After a day of fishing, Dad leaves Miles alone to clean the
When Dad accidentally reels a shark onto his line, the
boat and take the abalone to the cannery while he goes off
enormous animal nearly capsizes the boat, ruins their
to drink at the local pub. Mr. Roberts, the father of Miles’s
equipment, and injures Martin. Despite protests from
childhood friend Justin Roberts, sees Miles struggling and
Martin, Jeff shoots the shark with a rifle in order to prevent
offers to help him moor the boat and give him a ride home.
it from causing further damage. Jeff goes on to needlessly
As Mr. Roberts drops Miles off, he warns him not to become
decapitate the shark and cut into its pregnant womb,
trapped in his current life trajectory. This incident is an early
stabbing the baby that was still alive inside its mother and
indication of how serious Dad’s alcoholism is becoming, as
tossing it at Miles. This passage exemplifies Jeff’s irrational,
he opts to spend his evening drinking rather than helping his
emotionally-charged behavior and proclivity for violence.
son. While Dad shows very little care toward his sons, Mr.
His presence is distinctly opposite the level-headed,
Roberts is able to perceive just how deeply the deaths of
fatherly responsibility of Martin, who threw himself over
Miles’s loved ones have affected him and extend his
Miles in order to protect him from the shark attack.
sympathies to the young man as if he were his own son.
This incident also demonstrates the harsh reality of nature
The kindness of Mr. Roberts highlights just how
for fisherman on Bruny Island. Although the ocean provides
dysfunctional the relationship between Miles and Dad is.
men like Dad, Martin, and Jeff with their sense of purpose
Mr. Roberts extends fatherly compassion toward Miles
and livelihood, it is an unpredictable force that harbors
without question, whereas Miles’s own father abandons
dangers like the shark beneath its depths. Miles also notices
him to fend for himself. Mr. Roberts’s comments to Miles
that the one live baby in the shark’s womb had attacked and
also imply that he (and likely other adults in town) are at
eaten its siblings in order to survive, a brutal contrast to the
least vaguely aware of Dad’s abusive behavior, yet he fails to
unflinching love and loyalty that the Curren brothers have
actively intervene on Mile’s behalf by standing up to Dad or
for one another. In spite of these bleak realities of nature,
contacting authorities about his unfit parenting. This reality
Miles still has sympathy for the shark and its babies, likely
shows that, although the Curren brothers are able to glean
due to the losses of Mum, Uncle Nick, and Granddad that
slivers of paternal love in their relationships with other men
have made him acutely aware of death and its tragic
in the community, these adults fall short of taking full
consequences. Miles’s reflection that the baby shark was
responsibility for helping the boys, and their support is no
strong and “would have survived” without Jeff’s cruel
substitute for a genuine father figure.
intervention suggests that underneath the jaded exterior he
sometimes displays, Miles’s grief has actually made him
exceptionally sensitive toward the preventable death of any
living creature.
Chapter 13 Quotes
“What am I meant to do? What am I meant to do?”
And he heard her voice rise up, familiar tears.
“I grew up in that house, Miles. Don’t I deserve something?”

Related Characters: Aunty Jean (speaker), Joe Curren, have on a family unit in the wake of tragedy. Aunty Jean’s
Harry Curren, Mum, Granddad, Miles Curren resentment over the untimely deaths of her father, sister,
and husband causes her to unfairly takes Granddad’s house
Related Themes: away, a decision that ultimately ruins her relationship with
the boys and separates Harry and Miles from their older
Page Number: 78 brother Joe, who is their closest approximation to a father
figure.
Harry’s reaction toward Granddad’s empty house and
Aunty Jean, Mum’s late sister, occasionally looks after the
discarded belongings show how deeply the little boy has
Curren brothers. One afternoon, after feeding Miles and
been affected by the deaths of his loved ones. Standing
Harry lunch and giving them haircuts, she has an emotional
among Granddad’s things, he is struck by how loss renders
breakdown in front of the boys. Aunty Jean’s outburst is in
once important things irrelevant, and therefore how easily a
reference to the fact that she contested Granddad’s will in
person’s memory can be erased from the world they once
order to take back her childhood home, which her father left
inhabited. This realization is deeply upsetting to Harry, who
to Joe. Her emotionally-fraught decision to do so suggests
worries that Joe will similarly vanish from his life once he
that she has let her grief consume her to the point that she
has left the island to live on his own.
is willing to betray her own family in order to feel vindicated
in the losses of her sister, father, and husband. By letting her
grief transform into a need for vengeance, Aunty Jean
shows how focusing on blame after a tragedy will only make Chapter 17 Quotes
things worse. The description of Aunty Jean’s tears as Maybe that’s why Joe and Miles liked it so much. And he
“familiar” implies that she is often inappropriately vocal knew that Granddad would have taken him. It was just that he
about her perceived grievances. This passage is also was too little, too small to go, when Granddad had been alive.
additional evidence of how Miles and Harry have been And if Granddad hadn’t died then he definitely would have
forced to grow up and take responsibility beyond their taken Harry fishing, too. And it would have been good, like this
years, as Aunty Jean tries to involve the young boys in her was.
familial drama and force them to choose sides.
Related Characters: Uncle Nick, Dad/Steven Curren, Miles
Curren, Joe Curren, George Fuller, Granddad, Harry
Chapter 14 Quotes Curren
But Harry stayed where he was. He stayed among the piles
of Granddad’s things left on the lawn—all the things that were Related Themes:
no longer needed, no longer useful—and he wished that Joe
would stay. Related Symbols:
Page Number: 102

Related Characters: Aunty Jean, Miles Curren, Joe Curren,
Granddad, Harry Curren Explanation and Analysis
In lieu of a close relationship with Dad, Harry forms a
Related Themes:
relationship with George Fuller, a local hermit who turns
Page Number: 85 out to be a sweet, grandfatherly figure for the little boy.
George teaches Harry many of the skills that Dad has failed
Explanation and Analysis to teach him, and that his uncle and grandfather were
After the death of the Curren brothers’ grandfather, their unable to impart upon him before they passed away.
Aunty Jean takes back the house that Granddad had left to Despite Harry’s deep fear of the water, George takes him
Joe. This displaces Joe out of his home and pushes him to fishing and Harry is surprised to find that he enjoys the
leave Bruny Island and live on his boat as he travels the tranquility of the experience. This moment serves as Harry’s
world. As the boys clean out Granddad’s house so that it can realization of nature’s dual capacity as both a destructive
be sold, they feel sentimental toward the belongings that force and a source of peace and comfort, a conclusion that
their grandfather left behind. The situation itself is wrought his older brothers Miles and Joe have also arrived at
with pain and indicates the destructive force that blame can through their shared love of surfing and fishing.

Chapter 24 Quotes
The simple joy of this scene also underscores the trauma
Harry has experienced in his young life. The deaths of Uncle Then they heard Dad yelling from inside. Yelling at them, at
Nick and Granddad have had a significant impact upon him, everyone. Yelling at no one. And Miles could hear the words.
as they passed away before he was able to learn important They came through the brown walls, through the air, and
lessons from them. Despite his entire family being abalone cracked open the night: “I never wanted you.”
fishermen, Harry was never given the chance to develop a
similar affinity for the water. This passage also holds Related Characters: Dad/Steven Curren (speaker), Mum,
significant insight about Dad’s addiction, as it implies that, Uncle Nick, Joe Curren, Jeff, Miles Curren, Harry Curren
although he is a career fisherman, his violent alcoholism has
prevented him from taking the time to teach his youngest Related Themes:
son how to fish. While Harry has only known George for a
short time, George has already taken more of an interest in Page Number: 135
the little boy than his own father does.
After indulging in a two-day alcohol bender, Dad and Jeff
Chapter 22 Quotes are holed up in the Curren family living room. When Harry
sneaks out of his bedroom and crosses their path to use the
He lived for this, for these moments when everything
bathroom, Jeff forces Harry to drink whiskey at Dad’s
stops except your heart beating and time bends and
encouragement and the incident quickly spirals into a
ripples—moves past your eyes frame by frame and you feel
violent episode of Jeff slamming Miles’s head onto the
beyond time and before time and no one can touch you.
coffee table. Harry and Miles flee the house and hear Dad
yelling that he “never wanted” them as they frantically climb
Related Characters: Dad/Steven Curren, Joe Curren, out of their bedroom window and into the night. This
Miles Curren disturbing scene highlights just how severely Dad’s moral
character has been degraded by the self-blame he feels over
Related Themes: the death of Uncle Nick and his subsequent descent into
alcoholism. While it is implied that Dad was once a positive
Related Symbols: father figure, his addiction has transformed him into a
monstrous version of himself who encourages another man
Page Number: 124 to hurt his sons.
Explanation and Analysis This moment also serves to show just how significant the
loss of Mum has been in Harry and Miles’s lives. Whereas
After having a difficult argument about the future, Miles and
they once led normal childhoods with loving parents, Mum’s
Joe decide to go surfing at a notoriously dangerous beach
death has left the two boys without a functioning parental
called Southport Bluff. Miles is hesitant to enter the water,
figure to take responsibility for them. In the absence of Joe,
feeling that he is childish and pathetic compared to Joe, who
who has just left Bruny Island on his boat, Harry and Miles
surfs the intimidating waves with expertise. He eventually
are left with no one to help them and nowhere to go,
convinces himself to surf and Joe cheers him on
causing them to internalize Dad’s words and believe that
enthusiastically from the shore, showing the strength of
they are truly alone and unwanted.
their close brotherly bond despite their conflict earlier that
day. Miles’s attitude toward surfing in this passage reflects
his complex relationship with nature—although he dreads
Chapter 27 Quotes
working on the family fishing boat and is terrified of diving
into the deep ocean for abalone, the water takes on an And it nearly made Harry cry now, the way Miles’s eyelid
entirely different context when he is experiencing it freely in was all purple and cut—the bruise on the side of his face coming
the company of his beloved older brother. In this passage, up bad. Harry put his hand in his pocket and felt for the sock
the power of the ocean is not a source of fear, but one of that held his leftover money. He pulled it out.
empowerment that allows Miles to feel temporarily “You should take this,” he said. “You might need it.”
invincible and free. The time he spends with Joe in the
Miles shook his head. “You keep it,” he said and he tried to smile.
water is his sole outlet of relief from grief over his lost loved
ones as well as his troubled home life with Dad, an abusive
alcoholic.

Related Characters: Miles Curren, Harry Curren (speaker), safety, placing his little brother’s wellbeing above his own.
Aunty Jean, Mum, Stuart Phillips, George Fuller, Jeff, Dad/ This passage shows that Miles and Harry have developed a
Steven Curren father-son relationship out of necessity, despite their
relatively close proximity in age as brothers. Although this
Related Themes: situation is disturbing and unfair, it brings out the best in
Miles, whose deep-rooted love and sense of loyalty for
Page Number: 152-153 Harry allows him to find strength and motivation in
overcoming the hardship of Dad’s cruelty.
After fleeing Dad and Jeff’s violent abuse, Harry and Miles
stay at George Fuller’s house. Miles eventually decides to Chapter 31 Quotes
leave Harry with his schoolmate Stuart Phillips, knowing
Harry will be safe there with his friend and his mother. Harry leaned his head back against the chair and thought
Harry offers Miles the last of his pocket money, but Miles that if Miles got lost, if Miles never came home, Harry’s insides
insists that his little brother keep it. This passage indicates would go wrong and they might never come right again. If Miles
just how strong a bond Harry and Miles share, as they got lost.
display selfless concern for each other even in the
aftermath of a traumatic incident. Their brotherhood is a Related Characters: Mum, George Fuller, Miles Curren,
source of comfort as they cope with the trauma of Dad and Harry Curren
Jeff’s mistreatment. The exchange also suggests how
difficult a position Dad’s addiction places his sons in, as they Related Themes:
are forced to look out for each other as pseudo-parental
figures in lieu of a caring father. Harry’s concern for Miles is Page Number: 173
especially noteworthy considering his young age and is
almost maternal in its sensitivity, reinforcing Aunty Jean’s
sentiment earlier in the novel that Harry’s kind, thoughtful Having wandered off alone to George Fuller’s shack, Harry
nature reminds her of Mum. waits for his friend at the kitchen table and senses the
portrait of George’s younger brother Billy staring at him.
Billy was a soldier who was lost in battle and never returned
home, a story that has haunted Harry since George told it to
…Harry didn’t see him come back. There was just the
him. Since Miles has been Harry’s closest companion and
backpack with some clothes left by the door of the trailer
only consistent source of care and affection since Mum
and inside, near the top, were some chocolates and the bright
died, he seemingly had not confronted the terrible
orange dart gun from his Bertie Beetle goodie bag.
possibility that he could lose his older brother until he heard
about Billy’s disappearance. Harry’s distress over the
Related Characters: Harry Curren, Miles Curren, Stuart thought of losing Miles suggests that their brotherhood is a
Phillips, George Fuller, Jeff, Dad/Steven Curren source of immense comfort for him and even necessary for
his survival. Without a traditional family structure to
Related Themes: support him, Miles is the sole source of stability that Miles
can rely upon. While this passage is touching in its
Page Number: 153 implication of the strong bond between Harry and Miles, it
Explanation and Analysis also foreshadows that the two brothers may potentially be
separated as the story progresses.
Miles and Harry run away from the Curren family house in
order to escape Dad and Jeff’s violent mistreatment. After
spending a night at George Fuller’s shack, Miles drops Chapter 35 Quotes
Harry off to stay at his friend Stuart Phillips’s house,
knowing that his little brother will be safe from Dad’s ire …he looked so young and small, like no time had ever
there. This act, though simple, is deeply courageous and passed by since he was the baby in the room and Joe had told
selfless—Miles knows that, without Harry, he will have to Miles to be nice to him and help Mum out. And Miles had
return to Dad’s house alone and bear the brunt of his abuse. thought he wouldn’t like it. But Harry had a way about him. A
He makes this sacrifice solely out of concern for Harry’s way that made you promise to take care of him.

Related Characters: Jeff, Dad/Steven Curren, Mum, Joe around Harry’s neck as the one that belonged to Uncle Nick.
Curren, Harry Curren, Miles Curren It is implied that Harry is actually Uncle Nick’s biological
son, as Dad tells him that Mum was leaving “because of you.”
Related Themes: This realization causes him to lose control of himself
entirely and commit the ultimate act of violence by
Page Number: 187 throwing Harry overboard from the boat and into the
deadly winter storm waves. Dad’s cruelty in this instance is
the final shift in his ongoing descent into violent addiction
One morning, Dad inexplicably wakes Miles and Harry up and subsequent transition from a typical father into a
before dawn and forces the boys to come out on the fishing warped, twisted version of his former self.
boat with him and Jeff in the midst of a violent winter storm.
This passage also marks a shift in Dad’s ongoing struggle
As they prepare to leave, Miles gives Harry his own coat to
with self-blame in the wake of Mum and Uncle Nick’s
make sure that his little brother is warm and safe from the
deaths. He soon confesses to Miles that Mum and Nick had
frigid weather. He is struck by how small Harry looks and
been having an affair, that Nick had been in the car with
remembers feeling unsure of how he would feel about
them when it crashed, and that he had removed his brother-
having a little brother when Harry was born. This memory
in-law’s body from the scene of the accident to cover up the
shows how significantly Miles’s relationship with Harry has
shame of Mum’s infidelity. In spite of his clear admission of
changed over time, as he has been forced to take on a much
guilt, Dad projects his own self-blame onto Mum and Uncle
more paternal, protective role toward Harry since the
Nick’s actions, as well as onto Harry for being the implied
innocent days of his youth when he had a more
illegitimate son of Mum and Uncle Nick. He opts to literally
conventional relationship with his brothers. His reflection
destroy the boy he raised as his son by throwing him into
that Harry possesses “a way that made you promise to take
the water (where he proceeds to drown to death) rather
care of him” suggests that, although caring for his little
than fully come to terms with his own involvement in Nick’s
brother is stressful, Miles love Harry and is more than
disappearance.
willing to sacrifice his own wellbeing to keep him safe.
Chapter 36 Quotes Chapter 37 Quotes

But ultimately it wasn’t up to you. This ocean could hold
He just kept starting at Harry. And his hand moved away
you down for as long as it liked, and Miles knew it.
from Harry’s hair, moved down to the string around his neck.
And he cupped it in his palm—a white pointer’s tooth.
“It’s his,” he said, and his face went pale. “His.” Related Characters: Uncle Nick, Mum, Dad/Steven Curren,
Harry Curren, Miles Curren
He let the tooth go. He stared down at Harry.
“She was leaving, because of him. Because of you.” Related Themes:
Related Characters: Dad/Steven Curren (speaker), Jeff, Related Symbols:

Miles Curren, Uncle Nick, Mum, Harry Curren
Page Number: 204-205
Related Themes:
Related Symbols: After Dad throws Harry overboard into the frigid water and
confesses the truth about the circumstances of Mum and
Page Number: 198 Uncle Nick’s deaths, Miles jumps in after Harry in an
attempt to save his little brother. This moment marks
Explanation and Analysis Miles’s confrontation with his ultimate fear: diving into deep
After a near-death incident in which Dad and Jeff’s air water. Although Miles finds great joy in surfing and fishing,
supply is cut off as they dive for abalone, Dad irrationally water in this dangerous, unpredictable context terrifies him.
lashes out—first at Miles, then at Harry for attempting to His surrender to the ocean’s vast power suggests the
defend his older brother. This moment leads up to the duality of the natural world he loves, as the water has
climax of the novel, as Dad recognizes the shark tooth always served as a great comfort for him but now

indiscriminately holds him under as he desperately tries to violent grasp.

save Harry from drowning. Miles’s willingness to face his
utmost fear suggests just how deeply his loyalty for Harry
runs, as he is quick to risk his own life for his little brother Chapter 39 Quotes
despite knowing that neither of them are likely to survive
He had been drifting for a lifetime and his mind had lost its
the bitterly cold storm. In this way, their deep brotherhood
way. It was dissolving and he had forgotten about Harry,
is a source of strength and personal growth for Miles, even
forgotten about all the things that came before. There was only
as it puts him in harm’s way.
this vastness, the swing of a giant pendulum—water receding
then flooding back. And he was part of it. Part of the deep
water, part of the waves. Part of the rocks and reefs along the
There was a black emptiness inside him and it was all that shore.
he could see. He tried to imagine a fire in the darkness, and
at first it was just one blue flame too small to feel. But he willed
Related Characters: Uncle Nick, Mum, Dad/Steven Curren,
it on, felt the first flicker of warmth as it grew. Then it raged,
Harry Curren, Miles Curren
turned into a ball of fire, orange and red and hungry. It
devoured his stomach, moved up to his lungs, his back. Moved Related Themes:
into his heart. He shared it with Harry through his skin.
Related Symbols:
Related Characters: Mum, Dad/Steven Curren, Harry
Curren, Miles Curren Page Number: 213
Related Themes: Explanation and Analysis

After Dad throws Harry overboard from the fishing boat
Related Symbols: into the winter storm, Miles jumps in after his little brother
and tries desperately to save him from drowning. After a
Page Number: 208 long struggle to keep himself and Harry afloat, Miles begins
to drift into a hypothermic delirium where he hears voices
Explanation and Analysis and feels himself starting to lose consciousness. This
As Miles attempts to save Harry from drowning in the passage shows the ripple effects of Dad’s self-blame over
freezing cold ocean, he begins to succumb to the vast Mum and Uncle Nick’s deaths, his subsequent addiction,
expanse of the water whose strength threatens to pull him and the violence that stemmed from his alcoholism. All of
under. He imagines a fire moving through his body and into these factors have culminated in Miles and Harry’s
Harry in the vague hope that his persistence will imbue precarious fight to stay alive. Although Harry is the one
them both with the warmth and strength they need to thrown into the water, it is because of Dad that Miles is also
survive. This moment is a testament to Miles’s undying put in harm’s way as he feels a moral obligation to save
dedication to keeping Harry safe, as he is more concerned Harry. The situation is also a struggle between two
for his little brother in this dire moment than he is for powerful forces—the unfeeling natural world and Miles’s
himself. It also represents the ongoing ambivalence that deep love for Harry. As Harry ultimately drowns to death
Miles feels toward natural elements, as even under the (and Miles nearly does, as well), this moment is a testament
immediate threat of drowning, he finds comfort in an image to nature’s ultimate indifference toward humanity. Notably,
of fire. Miles does not experience distress as he confronts this
Beyond its more literal implications, this passage also indifference; rather, he feels calm as he surrenders to its
illuminates Miles’s disparate relationships with his parents. overwhelming inevitability.
As water is an ongoing metaphor for the boys’ tumultuous
relationship for Dad and light represents the legacy of
Mum’s loving presence, the meeting of these two natural
elements is deeply symbolic. Just as Mum’s memory has
given Miles hope throughout Dad’s unpredictable bouts of
cruelty, so too does the image of a bright fire allow Miles to
feel somewhat optimistic even as he is adrift in the ocean’s

Chapter 41 Quotes
He listened to Joe talk about all the places they would go, Related Themes:
the tropical islands and clear warm water, the big bright lights
of new cities. The free open space of ocean. And he knew that Related Symbols:
Joe was going to take him with him, now. Wherever he went.
He leaned his head down against his brother’s shoulder. And he Page Number: 228
let himself cry.
One day, a short while after Harry’s death, Miles stands out
Related Characters: Granddad, Dad/Steven Curren, Harry on the deck of Joe’s boat and observes the coastline that
Curren, Joe Curren, Miles Curren was wrecked in the violent swell that took his little brother’s
life. Despite the harrowing sight of this ravaged landscape,
Related Themes:
Miles decides to go surfing on the beach. Though surfing
has always been a beloved pastime for Miles, returning to
Related Symbols:
the water so soon after Harry’s death and his own near-
drowning is a subtle act of courage and rebellion. He is now
Page Number: 224-225
deeply acquainted with the ocean’s destructive potential,
Explanation and Analysis yet he still finds joy and freedom in its waves. Miles’s ability
to find a small moment of happiness in the midst of his grief
After Dad throws Harry overboard to his death, Miles and
is also a testament to his moral character. Whereas Dad’s
Joe are left devastated by the loss of their beloved little
internalized self-blame over Mum and Uncle Nick’s deaths
brother. Unsure how to proceed in the wake of the trauma,
transformed him into a violent, murderous individual,
they stay in Joe’s boat moored close to Granddad’s old
Miles’s strength of character prevails as he refuses to
house. Miles, who has been in shock since Harry’s death,
succumb to guilt over failing to save Harry.
finally allows himself to cry when he and Joe go to Dad’s
house to gather their little brother’s belongings. In this
passage, Joe’s presence is distinctly paternal—a stark
contrast to the abuse Miles and Harry suffered at the hands
Chapter 43 Quotes
of Dad in the same house. Although Miles harbors guilt over And Miles loved that light.
not being able to save Harry from drowning, it is clear that It made the dark water sparkle, turned the white spray
Joe does not blame him, and that their brother’s death has golden—made the ocean a giant mirror reflecting the sky. Even
brought Miles and Joe closer together. It is also evident that the leaves on the crack wattle shone in the light.
the two older Curren brothers have maintained their
It made everything come to life.
reverence for nature and plan to use the ocean as a means
of escape from Bruny Island, even though this powerful
natural force is what claimed Harry’s life. Rather than Related Characters: Mum, Harry Curren, Jake, George
allowing themselves to be overcome by hardship, guilt, or Fuller, Joe Curren, Miles Curren
fear, this moment is a clear representation of how Miles and
Joe’s brotherly bond and shared love of the water help them Related Themes:
cope with tragedy in a way that fosters healing rather than
further destruction. Related Symbols:
Page Number: 233

Chapter 42 Quotes Explanation and Analysis
Miles let the rip that ran with the bluff carry him. He Miles and Joe meet George Fuller and his dog Jake at
enjoyed the ride, felt his hands slipping through the cool water, Cloudy Bay to have their own personal funeral ceremony
body floating free. And there was this feeling in him like when it for Harry. As Miles and Joe make their way to the beach in
had all just been for fun, the water. Joe’s boat, Miles notices the sunlight sparkling on the
ocean’s surface. As the novel draws to a close, this passage
Related Characters: Uncle Nick, Mum, Dad/Steven Curren, is a crucial moment in which the narrative is brought full
Harry Curren, Miles Curren circle. Having struggled with a phobia of deep water

throughout the story and nearly drowned to death trying to Explanation and Analysis
save Harry, Miles has faced his ultimate fear and can now
appreciate the ocean’s beauty. After holding a makeshift funeral ceremony and burying
Harry’s beach treasures in Cloudy Bay’s sand dunes, Miles
The passage is also significant in its underlying symbolism of and Joe say goodbye to George Fuller and Jake, then set off
Miles’s relationships with his parents. Having suffered the in Joe’s boat. Since Dad has seemingly disappeared in
ultimate loss of Harry’s life at the hands of father, Miles and shame after Harry’s death, Miles and Joe are setting off to
Joe ironically feel a sense of cathartic freedom knowing that travel the world and live on their own, free from their
Dad cannot do any more harm to them than he has already father’s sinister influence. The first sentence in this passage
done. After all this pain, they are free from his grasp. This is a repetition of the novel’s opening line, reflecting the
reality is symbolically reflected in Miles’s observation of the narrative’s full-circle journey from beginning to end as the
revitalizing light (akin to Mum’s loving spirit) reflecting off of two older Curren brothers are vindicated in their suffering.
the deep, unpredictable water (akin to Dad’s chaotic It is only when the ongoing struggle between the Curren
nature), reflecting how even the darkest and most chaotic of brothers and their abusive father comes to a tragic close
forces can be made better by focusing on fleeting glimmers that the inner strength of Miles and Joe is able to fully
of positivity. manifest.
Although the fates of Miles and Joe are left open-ended, the
imagery of the “black and cold and roaring” water leading
Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, the brothers out to warmth and newness represents their
comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling ability to overcome the darkness of Dad’s horrible deeds in
out an invisible path, a new line for them to follow. order to forge a new path for themselves. Rather than
To somewhere warm. succumbing to a fear of the unpredictable ocean or to their
To somewhere new. own guilt over not being able to save Harry, Miles and Joe
are ultimately brought closer by the trauma of their father’s
abuse and their little brother’s death. The novel ends
Related Characters: Dad/Steven Curren, Jake, George optimistically, as Joe makes peace with his responsibility as
Fuller, Harry Curren, Joe Curren, Miles Curren a father figure for Miles and the two brothers are able to
commiserate with each other as they grieve for Harry. The
Related Themes: comfort and support of Miles and Joe’s brotherly bond
allows them to endure their shared hardships and brave the
Related Symbols: unknown as they set off on a new adventure.
Page Number: 238

SUMMARY AND ANAL

ANALYSIS
YSIS
The color-coded icons under each analysis entry make it easy to track where the themes occur most prominently throughout the
work. Each icon corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart.
CHAPTER 1
Joe, Miles, and Harry Curren are brothers living in a remote As the story begins, the Curren brothers are characterized as a
fishing town on Bruny Island off the southeastern coast of tightly-knit trio who enjoy their time together at the beach. Harry is
Tasmania, Australia. One day, Joe and Miles are preparing to revealed to be especially insightful despite being the youngest of the
surf on Cloudy Bay beach while Harry looks out at the ocean. three, as he is deeply perceptive about the power and breadth of the
Harry, the youngest of the three, reflects on the omnipresent, ocean’s waters. Although clearly mature for his age, Harry’s skittish
persistent nature of the water. He asks his brothers what he reaction toward Miles’s comment about the shark egg reinforces his
should look for on the beach that day and Miles teases him relative innocence and naïveté compared to his older brothers.
about finding a shark egg. Unsure if his brother is joking, Harry
runs off down the beach.
As he runs along the shoreline, Harry observes a cormorant Harry’s concern for the cormorant indicates his compassion for
bird gliding close to the water’s surface, noticing the animals as well as an awareness of family’s importance for the
peculiarity of seeing a solitary bird without its family. He resists individual. While he, too, has voluntarily separated from his family
the urge to touch the bird and worries that it might be sick or (having dashed away from his brothers to wander the beach on his
lost. Harry then ventures into the dunes to hunt for driftwood own), Harry associates the bird’s solitude with a state of illness or
or other treasures. confusion.
Picking up an abalone shell, Harry experiences a sudden Harry’s appreciation for his own personal lineage and that of his
awareness of Bruny Island’s rich history and of his own environment is another indication of his unusually mature mindset.
mortality, reflecting on all the people who have stood in the Whereas his brothers are content to surf, Harry is preoccupied by
same spot before him and since died. This realization unsettles the deeper, metaphysical significance of the beach. Additionally, his
Harry and he drops the shell and runs back to the beach. concern for his own mortality implies that he may be more well-
acquainted with death than the average young child.
Back at the beach, Harry waits for his older brothers to come Harry is awestruck and unsettled by the grand power of the
back in from surfing. Joe returns to shore first and they have a environment that surrounds them, but his older brothers are more
picnic together. Eating his sandwich, Harry reflects on how focused on the entertainment value and escapism that nature
ancient the natural landscape of Bruny Island is. Joe does not allows. Their tendency to ignore Harry suggests that they gravitate
pay attention to him, his mind still focused on surfing with more toward their external lives, while Harry’s focus is inward.
Miles.
©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 21

CHAPTER 2
On the first day of his winter break from school, Miles prepares Miles, forced to work on the boat rather than enjoy his vacation, is
to man his family’s fishing boat, Lady Ida, alone for the first time beginning his initiation into manhood against his will. The death of
while Dad and his two fishermen, Martin and Jeff, dive for Uncle Nick has clearly had a deep impact on the structure of the
abalone. Miles has grown old enough to follow in his older Curren family, as Miles is forced to surrender the freedom and
brother Joe’s footsteps and help out in the aftermath of his childhood innocence a school break usually fosters in order to take
Uncle Nick’s death. Miles and the men pile into a dinghy boat on an adult role in his uncle’s place.
and venture off to Lady Ida.
The dinghy reaches the point where Miles believes Uncle Nick This passage reveals the tragic circumstances of Uncle Nick’s death
must have drowned. He recalls the night his uncle died, as well as the self-blame Dad feels surrounding the loss. The water
remembering that Nick was worried about the then-new is portrayed as a dark, sinister force that took Nick away before his
fishing boat during the winter swell. One especially dark night, natural time, perhaps explaining Harry’s awe and trepidation
Dad grew frustrated with Nick’s fretting and told him to either toward the ocean’s power in the first chapter. “The crash” that Miles
check the boat’s mooring or stop talking about the boat. Uncle remembers happening on the same night Uncle Nick drowned is an
Nick went out to check on the boat and presumably drowned. unexplained detail that foreshadows further mysterious
No traces of his body or clothing were ever found. The night circumstances at play in Nick’s death.
Uncle Nick died was also the night of “the crash” when
“everything changed,” causing nearly everyone in town to
forget about his disappearance. Dad, however, never forgave
himself for Nick’s death.
Martin encourages Miles as the young man prepares to steer There is a fatherly element to Martin’s encouragement, implying
the fishing boat. Miles watches the sun rise over the island and that Miles may have a closer relationship with the fisherman than
notices how angry and sinister the current looks as it surges with Dad, who is essentially forcing Miles to work on the boat
into the hidden, menacing rocks below the water’s surface. He against his will. Miles’s skepticism toward the water’s danger
muses that the large Bruny Hazards rocks may be former suggests that fishermen on Bruny Island have had to develop an
islands worn away by the elements. Reflecting on the mysteries acute awareness of nature’s brutal potential in order to survive. His
of nature, Miles believes that the water is inherently frank awareness of this reality despite his inexperience makes sense,
untrustworthy, and that one can only learn about it through given that his uncle drowned to death.
direct experience and intuition.
CHAPTER 3
The brothers’ Aunty Jean takes Harry to a boat race festival, Fern Tree is a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania’s capital city. The change
although Harry wishes that Joe would take him instead. The car in scenery from small-town Bruny Island to a large city leaves an
ride makes Harry uneasy and carsick, so he tries to focus on the impressive impact on Harry as he takes in this exciting new
radio. They arrive at the boat races in Fern Tree and Harry environment. His wish to have Joe accompany reflects their close
marvels at the fair rides and game stalls set up to celebrate the brotherly bond.
boat races.

Harry longs to go on a ride called the Gee Whizzer but knows Harry’s reluctance to be at the fair with Aunty Jean, as opposed to
that Aunty Jean will not want to accompany him. Instead, he his brothers or friends, suggests that he is dissatisfied with his aunt
tries a game involving throwing coins into glass bottles. Harry as a caregiver. Although Jean should presumably set a responsible
gets upset when the man running the stall tells him that his example for Harry, she encourages her nephew to take money that
winning toss did not count because it bounced off another doesn’t belong to him. This moment subtly suggests that Aunty Jean
bottle. Embarrassed, he walks away from the stall and happens may have an ingrained sense of entitlement.
to find a twenty-dollar bill on the ground. Aunty Jean tells him
to pocket the money before someone claims that they dropped
it.
After Harry takes the money, he fantasizes about the goodie Harry’s anxious reaction to the wood-chopping competition further
bags he will spend it on as he reluctantly accompanies Aunty shows that he is out of his element amidst the unfamiliar sights and
Jean to a wood-chopping competition at the fair. The noise and sounds of a festival in a big city. This sensitivity seems to be an
commotion of the event make Harry feels anxious and innate quality that also makes Harry unusually thoughtful and
nauseous, so Aunty Jean allows him to leave for some fresh air. selfless, preferring to spend his money on his brother and friend
Able to relax and enjoy himself away from the crowd, Harry rather than saving it all for himself.
decides to spend all but $4.50 of the twenty dollars on goodie
bags and treats for Miles, his friend Stuart, and himself.
On the way back to the wood-chopping competition, Harry This passage suggests that Mum is inexplicably absent in the Curren
stops by an animal show and sees a Best in Show display of a brothers’ lives, since she was the one to bring Harry to the festival in
mother goat and her babies. He remembers a past year coming previous years. Beyond this implied trauma, Harry’s memory of
to the show with Mum when they had played with baby goats playing with the baby goats is further evidence of his intrinsic love of
and laughed. The man running the stall offers to let Harry hold animals and nature.
one, but he declines.
CHAPTER 4
After the boat races, Harry and Aunty Jean go out to lunch in As Aunty Jean weeps at the memory of her sister, the reader can
Fern Tree. Harry offers to pay for their meal with the $4.50 he deduce that Mum died at some point in the past, perhaps tragically.
has left from his twenty-dollar bill. Touched at the offer, Aunty Jean’s public display of emotion suggests that she has raw,
Jean muses that Harry is just like his mum and begins to cry. unresolved feelings about Mum’s death, while Harry would prefer
Her emotional reaction makes Harry uncomfortable, so he not to confront the pain of losing his mother.
goes to the bathroom and takes his time washing his hands to
let Aunty Jean compose herself.
After arriving back on Bruny Island, Aunty Jean leaves the Having lost both her sister and her husband, it is clear that Aunty
groceries on the porch and refuses to go inside to visit. She and Jean harbors hard feelings toward Dad and that grief has had a
the boys’ father have been feuding since Uncle Nick died and significant impact on the Curren family. Dad’s cold behavior toward
she forced Dad to take out another loan in order to buy Nick’s Harry suggests that the loss of Mum and Uncle Nick likely had
share of the boat. Dad pays no attention to Harry when he detrimental effects on him, as well.
comes inside the house and tells him about the groceries.

Harry is ecstatic to give Miles the goodie bag from the fair, but Harry’s sweet gesture shows his thoughtfulness and deep love for
Miles warns him to keep his voice down since Dad has a his older brother. Miles, however, is unable to muster up innocent
headache. Harry notices that Miles’s hands are swollen and joy over the goodie bags, as he has been forced to sacrifice his own
blistered from his day on the fishing boat. After the boys youthful pastimes to work on the fishing boat. Miles’s sentiment
unpack the groceries in the kitchen and Miles offers Dad that Harry’s seasickness makes him lucky emphasizes the dismal
another beer, Harry excitedly digs into his own goodie bag. working conditions he is made to endure and brings the boys’
Miles is too exhausted to open his and tells Harry that he is father’s judgment into question.
lucky he gets seasick because he will never have to work on the
boat.
CHAPTER 5
During a day of fishing, Miles struggles to steer the boat while Miles dreads working on the boat and fears diving, but he is also
Dad, Martin, and Jeff dive for abalone. As he looks out at the able to appreciate the stunning natural beauty of his environment.
water, Miles marvels at how sublime and ancient the Miles’s shift from sympathy to indifference toward the abalone
surrounding landmarks are. He retrieves a catch bag full of the suggests that the losses of Mum and Uncle Nick have left him jaded,
“abs” that floats up to the surface and reflects on how he used and that his newfound responsibility forces him to suppress his
to feel sorry for the creatures when he was a young boy. emotions.
Martin resurfaces from the dive and skillfully separates the Miles’s admiration of Martin’s skill implies that he looks up to the
abalone from their shells using a shucking knife. Jeff resurfaces fisherman as a male role model. His paranoia over Dad’s lengthy
as well, and Miles begins to worry because Dad has been dive indicates that Uncle Nick’s death has made him constantly
underwater for a long time. Miles dreads the day that he, too, aware of the ocean’s dangerous potential and afraid of prematurely
will have to venture into the ocean’s depths, remembering the losing yet another loved one.
terror he felt from “the weight of all that water” during his one
and only dive. Finally, Dad comes back up with two full catch
bags of abalone, panting with exhaustion but exhilarated at his
successful catch.
CHAPTER 6
Harry sneaks out of the house to give his friend Stuart the In the same vein as Harry’s loyal brotherhood with Miles and Joe,
goodie bag he had gotten for him at the fair. Stuart lives in an Harry also values Stuart enough to trek through the woods to
old trailer with his mother, who sells berries from a roadside deliver the goodie bag to him. It is implied that Stuart’s mother is a
stall. When Harry arrives at his friend’s trailer, he realizes that single parent working to support her son and that the young boy
Stuart and his mother have gone out to Huonville to watch over likely lacks a stable father figure. This reality could explain the bond
the stall (which is usually left to run on the honor system) between Stuart and Harry, who also lives in a single-parent
amidst the busy traffic before and after the boat races. He household.
leaves Stuart’s goodie bag by the front door and heads back
toward home.
On his way back, Harry finds a dead bandicoot along the side of Joe’s hobby of reassembling roadkill skeletons is similar to Miles’s
the road and wonders if he should take it to his brother Joe, detached attitude toward the abalone in the previous chapter. His
who has a hobby of collecting roadkill and reassembling the unusual nonchalance toward roadkill suggests that the losses of his
animals’ skeletons. He is interrupted by a friendly puppy who loved ones have desensitized him toward death. The contrast
comes to sniff the bandicoot carcass. The dog is “unable to hide between this dead bandicoot and the lively puppy represents
its joy” and seems to beckon Harry to follow as it walks away nature’s dual forces of death and rebirth.
from the road.

Harry entices the puppy to play fetch and begins to chase it as While Harry finds joy and escapism in his environment, this passage
it runs into a clearing. He stops in his tracks when he sees a shows the complexity of nature and the risk of placing trust in its
wooden shack and realizes it belongs to George Fuller, a man unpredictability. Despite the puppy’s lighthearted innocence and
whom the local schoolchildren believe to be a monster who instant companionship with Harry, the animal leads him to a
eats people and may have murdered his own parents. Suddenly, potentially dangerous situation. George’s unsettling recognition of
the door to the shack creaks open and Harry sprints away in Harry is a mystery that implies he is somehow connected to the
terror, looking back to see George waving at him. Harry trips little boy and may be a different person than what rumors suggest.
over something sharp and hears someone call his name as he
falls to the ground. Once he gets up and is a safe distance from
the shack, he wonders how George could possibly know his
name.
CHAPTER 7
After Miles finishes his day of work on the fishing boat, Joe is For Miles, Joe’s presence is an escape from the drudgery of working
waiting to pick him up. Miles gets into Joe’s van and the two on the boat, which shows how crucial brotherhood is for his overall
brothers take off to go surfing. During the car ride, Miles looks sense of well-being. Beyond the impact of the fishing industry on
out the window at the grim rural landscape with its familiar Miles as an individual, it also takes a toll on the community. The
worn-down shacks and rusty farm and fishing equipment. The economic depression of the small fishing town reflects the high risk
brothers arrive at the beach and Miles gleefully runs ahead to of enduring nature’s unpredictability in order to earn a living.
rush into the water and surf, with Joe cheering him on from Although the ocean is the source of livelihood for Bruny Island’s
shore. fisherman, the unreliability of the abalone harvest also creates
collective financial instability for the community.
After their surf session, the brothers go fishing and Joe tells This passage further develops the conflict that exists among
Miles that the boat he has been building is almost finished. Joe, members of the Curren family. In addition to blaming Dad for Uncle
who has lived with Granddad since he was thirteen, is being Nick’s death, Aunty Jean also takes out her grief over the loss of
forced to leave the house that Granddad left to him because Granddad on Joe. Jean’s decision to take back her father’s house
Aunty Jean contested the will. Miles is upset because the boat threatens to uproot the Curren brothers’ sense of stability. As Joe is
will “take Joe away” and comments that Aunty Jean is a “fucking Miles’s only source of relief from his unwanted responsibilities, the
bitch.” Joe agrees but assures Miles that Aunty Jean will set notion of his older brother moving away is distressing.
aside money for him and Harry.
Knowing that it is time for Joe to leave Bruny Island, Miles The narration implies that Miles and Harry are mistreated by Dad
decides not to confide in his brother about his and Harry’s at home, a revelation that suggests Joe may be a stand-in father
troubled home life or the bad conditions of working on the figure for his two younger brothers. This moment also introduces
fishing boat. Instead, he offers to help Joe pack because he the idea that Dad’s behavior may be more sinister than has
wants to stay at Granddad’s house over the weekend. previously been revealed, a change that will later be linked to his
substance abuse.

CHAPTER 8
Early one morning, Miles is coughing “from somewhere deep” Harry’s concern for Miles’s wellbeing is yet another example of his
as he gets ready to leave the house for a day of work on the mature, thoughtful nature. Although Harry wants his brother to stay
fishing boat. Noticing his dark circles and puffy eyes, a home and keep him company, Miles’s adult responsibilities force
concerned Harry asks Miles if he is sick in hopes that his him to work on the boat even at the risk of his health.
brother will stay home so that Harry can take care of him and
they can watch television together.
Miles ignores Harry and heads out with Dad, still coughing. The fact that Miles is made to work when he is sick implies that Dad
After Miles leaves, Harry is unable to fall back asleep and either does not know about Mile’s illness or does not care, hinting at
resolves that he will soon go out looking for the puppy who his indifference and lack of responsibility as a parent.
approached him along the road and led him to George Fuller’s
house.
CHAPTER 9
One day on the boat, the men have finished their fishing early While Dad, Jeff, and Martin are clearly skilled at their work, Miles
and Miles daydreams about surfing with Joe after they get back struggles to keep up with the experienced fishermen and does not
to the wharf. He is interrupted when Martin spots Atlantic receive much guidance from them. Miles again finds a sense of
salmon in the water and they stop the boat to catch the fish. comfort and escapism from his work in both his relationship with
Dad and Jeff amass a large catch while Miles scrambles to Joe and their shared love of surfing.
unhook the salmon and Martin kills each fish one by one.
Suddenly, Dad reels in a giant mako shark that has bitten onto The sudden shock of this shark encounter exemplifies the duality of
the salmon on his line. The shark crashes onto the deck and nature, as the fishermen rapidly shift from rejoicing in their high-
throws the fishing boat off balance, sending Miles flying into yield salmon catch to a state of frenzied panic over the shark. In
the railing and causing water to pour into the boat. Martin tries spite of this terror, Martin puts himself in harm’s way to defend
to yank Miles away from the shark as it thrashes up against the Miles in a strong display of protective responsibility.
young boy and pins him to the railing, but the animal’s
enormous tail hits Martin’s legs and he falls on top of Miles.
Miles can feel the shark’s teeth brushing against his skin and is
sure that he will be bitten.
Dad yells that the boat is going to capsize, but Jeff shoots the The shark attack causes immense chaos and destruction to the
shark in the head to prevent the animal’s wild thrashing from fishing boat, highlighting nature’s ability to wreak indiscriminate
tipping them over. Jeff laughs hysterically even as the shark’s havoc on humanity. Whereas the ocean is the source of the
teeth rip into his shins, shooting the animal again. The sound of fishermen’s livelihood, it is also their undoing, as they lose their
the rifle temporarily deafens Miles, and he stands in shock as catch and sustain serious damage to their equipment in the midst of
he watches Dad scrambling to rescue the abalone, salmon, and the mayhem.
fishing equipment that had fallen off the boat amidst the chaos.
He looks down at his body and realizes that the shark has not
hurt him at all.

Miles watches in disgust as Jeff unnecessarily guts and Miles’s disgusted reaction to Jeff’s unnecessary brutality reflects his
mutilates the dead shark. He is especially disturbed when Jeff deeply held reverence for animals and nature, as he clearly does not
cuts into the pregnant animal’s womb and stabs the live baby feel the same blind vendetta against the shark despite the damage it
shark inside. Miles catches the dead baby and holds it in his caused. Miles seems to have an ingrained respect for life, likely due
arms, thinking of how strong it must have been to have killed to the tragic losses he has experienced, and he is deeply disturbed
and fed off its other two siblings in the womb and how it would by how nonchalantly Jeff disposes of the shark and its baby.
have survived if Jeff had just let it go into the water.
Miles, still deaf from the gunshots, suddenly feels Dad hit him Dad’s callous violence toward Miles is a stark contrast to the
from behind. His father flings the baby shark into the water and behavior of Martin, who sacrificed his own safety and sustained a
slaps Miles in the face, forcing him to take the wheel of the ship serious injury in order to protect Miles. Dad, it seems, has no
and steer them back to shore. Miles looks over to see Martin instinctive drive to comfort his own son. Martin’s wounded leg is
slumped against the wall of the boat’s cabin, his leg broken and significant on several levels—it highlights Dad’s own unwillingness
mutilated by the shark. to protect Miles, viscerally represents Martin’s role as a responsible
father figure, and serves as a reminder of nature’s impartiality
toward human beings.
Back on land, Jeff goes off to a pub while Miles and Dad take Jeff’s casual abandonment of his fellow crew, in tandem with
Martin to the hospital. Miles realizes that he will have to skip Martin’s warning to Miles, foreshadows further reckless, negligent
school next term and work on the boat with Dad and Jeff until behavior on Jeff’s part and hints that Dad will not be a sufficient
Martin can return, and Martin cryptically warns him to “watch protector against him. Along with a sense of dread at having to fill in
Jeff” before trailing off. When they arrive at Huonville Hospital, for Martin, the experience of being at the hospital reawakens a
Miles reflects on seeing Granddad in the same hospital when sense of guilt in Miles for his own perceived lack of courage during
he was sick. He regrets that he was too afraid to approach the Granddad’s illness.
bed or hold Granddad’s hand during his one visit before the old
man died.
CHAPTER 10
Harry goes looking for the puppy he met on the road near Harry is generally an anxious, skittish little boy, yet he is willing to
George Fuller’s house. He calls out to the dog but does not find brave the uncertainty of nature in order to search for the puppy. His
it and decides to venture farther into the woods. Reaching the love and inherent trust of animals is so deeply ingrained that he is
end of the trees, Harry spots the puppy on the veranda of even willing to let the dog pull him toward the rumored danger of
George’s shack. George steps outside, waking the puppy and George’s shack.
causing it to bark and run toward Harry. Harry is afraid that
George will notice him and considers sprinting away but
relents and allows puppy to pull him toward the shack.
The puppy leads Harry to George, who tells him that the dog’s The town’s characterization of George as a monster is revealed to
name is Jake and that he is six months old. George’s deformed be baseless, as Harry finds out that he is a kind old man who was a
face makes speech and facial expression difficult, but Harry is friend of his grandfather. The fact that Harry is quick to share
able to understand him. George invites him inside and Harry is personal details with George, along with George’s willingness to
surprised to find that the inside of the shack is not scary, but listen, implies that Dad does not provide him with the same
bright and clean—even nicer than his own house. He notices a understanding and that the little boy is desperate for a
vase of fresh white lilies on the table. Harry talks to George compassionate paternal figure.
about dogs and his family over tea and the man seems to listen
and understand. He finds out that George knew Granddad
years ago when “everyone knew everyone around here.”

George tells Harry that he found Jake abandoned and nearly George further subverts the assumptions that have been cast upon
dead on the road near the house of Daryl Jarratt, a man who him by the town, revealing that he shares Harry’s love of animals.
lives nearby. Daryl’s dogs lead neglected lives chained up George’s behavior is the opposite of Dad and Jeff’s cold indifference
outside where they viciously bark at passersby. Harry thinks toward the shark in the previous chapter. By contrast, his gentle
about how lucky Jake is that George saved him. After their goodwill toward Jake serves as a positive example of manhood for
conversation, Harry leaves but tells George that he might come Harry.
back another day.
CHAPTER 11
The day after the shark incident, Miles washes down the fishing Miles’s disbelief of the previous day’s events speaks to the cyclical
boat after work. He muses at how normal the day seems aside nature of the environment, as the mayhem of the shark attack has
from Martin’s absence, with his sore ribs and the bullet hole in passed just as quickly as it occurred. Dad, however, seems to be
the deck the only remnants of yesterday’s chaos. Miles points frustrated at yesterday’s setback. His decision to go out drinking
out to Dad that the boat’s engine is sputtering, secretly hoping rather than help Miles suggests that he relies on alcohol as a crutch
it is broken so that they will be prevented from going out the and prioritizes this habit over his son.
next day. Dad, frustrated at an unsuccessful day of diving, snaps
at Miles that he does not have a choice of when they go out. He
storms off to a nearby pub, leaving Miles to moor the boat
alone.
After struggling to move the fishing boat to the mooring site, Whereas Dad leaves Miles to fend for himself, Mr. Roberts takes it
Miles cannot get the dinghy to start up. Mr. Roberts, another upon himself to help the young boy. This moment characterizes Mr.
abalone fisherman, pulls up in his new, luxurious dive boat and Roberts as a stand-in paternal figure, making it obvious just how
helps him tow the dinghy. Miles lies to Mr. Roberts and tells him neglectful and irresponsible Dad is by comparison.
that he had asked to finish up on his own, rather than admitting
that Dad’s erratic behavior forced him to do so.
Back at the wharf, Miles accepts a ride from Mr. Roberts Again, Mr. Roberts takes responsibility for helping Miles, serving as a
because he does not want to go into the pub to find Dad. Most de facto father when Dad abandons him. Mr. Roberts’s success as a
of the other locals resent Mr. Roberts because of his success as fisherman and reliability as a father only further highlight Dad’s
a fisherman and his relatively affluent lifestyle, but Miles abuse and neglect.
admires him for his savvy business strategies. As they drive,
Miles asks about Mr. Roberts’s son Justin (who now attends
private school), remembering how they used to be friends and
surf together.
Passing a tight bend near the river, Miles sees fresh white lilies This passage provides hints as to the circumstances surrounding
tied to a tree and the sight causes him to choke on the breath Mum’s death, as it is implied that she was killed in a car crash and
mint in his mouth. Mr. Roberts pulls over and they sit in the car that Miles was in the car during the accident.
while Miles recovers. He tells Miles that he never passes this
spot without thinking of Miles’s mum, sympathizing that “it
must have been bloody terrible.”

Miles replies that he does not remember the accident, but he Mr. Roberts acknowledges the trauma Miles has experienced and
spends the rest of the drive reflecting on how amazing it is that seems to be at least vaguely aware of Dad’s abuse, but he does not
the tree has survived the crash that left a permanent scar in its take responsibility in helping Miles, beyond the ride home and a few
bark. When Mr. Roberts drops Miles off at his house, he tells words of encouragement. This speaks to the general complicity of
the young man that he should not let Dad force him to work. many adults in the Curren brothers’ lives, who witness Dad’s
mistreatment but fail to intervene on the boys’ behalf.
CHAPTER 12
Harry is worried about Miles, who looks tired and is coughing The forced responsibility of working on the family fishing boat has
“all the time.” Although Aunty Jean says that milk is not good for taken its toll on Miles, as his health and energy levels are clearly
a cold, he decides to make Miles hot cocoa to comfort him. suffering. Harry’s perception of this shows the unusually mature and
Harry looks forward to lighting a fire and watching afternoon thoughtful concern he has for his beloved older brother, and his
cartoons with Miles, but his brother is fast asleep and will not actions suggests that without a strong father figure to care for Miles,
wake up when he brings him the cup of cocoa. even a small child like Harry has to take on responsibilities far
beyond his years.
CHAPTER 13
Miles and Harry visit Aunty Jean, whose house is completely Harry and Miles have a close bond, but Miles’s frustration with his
white and pristine. Miles is frustrated as Harry picks over his little brother shows that they also have an element of sibling rivalry.
food, impatient to finish and leave so that there will be time to Miles’s desire to rush through lunch to go surfing with Joe is a
surf with Joe. After lunch, Harry accepts Aunty Jean’s offer of testament to how his relationship with his brother, in tandem with
tea and she tells the boys that they both need a haircut. Miles their shared love of the outdoors, is a universal escape from all of
realizes that he and Harry are stuck there. life’s unpleasant obligations.
As Aunty Jean cuts Harry’s hair, Miles thinks about how she is Aunty Jean’s decision to contest Granddad’s will and sell the house
“like an old lady” and nothing like Mum, even though they were has created a rift between her and her nephews. Her resentment
sisters. He resents his aunt and hopes that her arthritis causes surrounding the deaths of her father, sister, and husband has
her to suffer. Aunty Jean tells Miles to get a towel from the strained the bonds between the remaining members of the Curren
linen closet and inside he uncovers a big wooden box full of family to the point that Miles dreads being around his aunt, which
baby clothes and blankets that he has never seen before. As shows how fixating on blame can make tragic circumstances even
Aunty Jean talks on and on about selling Granddad’s house, worse. The unused baby clothes vaguely imply that Jean may have
Miles wonders about the box and keeps thinking about how the also experienced hardship related to infertility or miscarriage,
baby things were “perfect and clean and never used.” further compounding the other tragedies she has experienced.
After Aunty Jean gives both the boys awful haircuts, Miles is Miles’s memory of Dad brushing Harry’s hair suggests that he was
amused at how they both look like “freshly shorn sheep.” Unlike likely a typical, loving father before Mum and Uncle Nick passed
Aunty Jean, Mum had believed Harry’s distinctive curly hair away. Like Aunty Jean’s changed behavior, Dad’s current abusive,
was lucky and never cut it short. Miles remembers that Dad neglectful state seems to be rooted in tragedy.
had even brushed Harry’s hair years ago, and he vows that this
is the last time he will let Aunty Jean give them haircuts.

CHAPTER 14
Miles and Harry help Joe clean out the shed at Granddad’s Since Joe went to live with Granddad at the age of thirteen, he was
house. The “keep” pile of things grows much larger than the likely closer to his grandfather than his younger brothers were.
“throw away” pile as Miles fights Joe to hold onto most of Miles’s greater sentimentality over Granddad’s belongings is likely
Granddad’s belongings. Harry agrees with Miles but stays quiet rooted in the guilt he feels over not visiting with his grandfather
and waits timidly for instructions on what to move. When Joe when he was sick in the hospital.
goes to drop off the first load at the dump, Harry notices that
Miles has not come out of the shed for a long time and goes in
to look for him.
Inside the shed, Harry finds Miles sitting on the detached The discovery of the car seats and shark tooth necklace adds an
backseat from Mum’s wrecked car. Although Harry was young additional layer of mystery to Mum’s death—it is unclear why
when the accident happened, he has fond memories of the old Granddad kept the car parts or where the tooth came from. This
car’s interior. Between the seats, Miles finds a white pointer passage suggests that there is more to the car accident than the
shark’s tooth attached to a string. When Joe returns from the Curren brothers (or the reader) are presently aware of.
dump, they show him the seats and the other parts Granddad
kept from Mum’s car, but they hide the shark tooth.
Overwhelmed by the discovery, Joe suggests that they should Given that Harry has memories of riding in Mum’s car, he likely
take a break and have lunch. Harry asks what they should do remembers his mother and grandfather well but does not know how
with the remnants of Mum’s car, knowing that Miles will insist to express his grief. Joe’s decision to leave Bruny Island on his boat
on keeping them. On their way to the house, Joe pauses on the threatens to further destabilize Harry’s life, as he adores his older
veranda and comments that Granddad should not have kept brother and Joe’s protective presence helps to uphold a sense of
the car parts. While Miles and Joe go inside to have lunch, normalcy.
Harry stays outside among Granddad’s old things and wishes
that Joe would stay on Bruny Island.
CHAPTER 15
The brothers continue the process of cleaning out Granddad’s This passage shows the complex and varied reactions of different
shed and Harry rides along with Joe to take a load of junk to the members of the same family toward tragedy. Whereas Joe and
dump. As they pull out of the driveway, Miles sits forlornly on Harry are reluctant to express their feelings, Miles is openly upset
the porch and Harry knows that he will not go through about Granddad’s death and resentful of Aunty Jean for taking the
Granddad’s belongings while they are gone because he wants house away from Joe. Jean, on the other hand, is consumed by
to keep the house, whereas Joe is not as sentimentally bitterness, claiming her father’s house not out of sentimentality, but
attached. Aunty Jean is set on selling Granddad’s house for the sake of earning a profit.
because the family “could all do with the money.”
On the way to the dump, Joe senses that Harry is upset and Harry’s desire to confide in Joe reflects his older brother’s role as a
assures him that he will be coming back to Bruny Island after he fatherly confidante figure. As the oldest Curren brother, Joe knows
travels around on the boat he is building. He tells Harry that his that leaving Bruny Island will mean forfeiting the parental
first stop will be Samoa in the South Pacific. Suddenly, Harry responsibility for his two younger brothers that has been forced
has the urge to tell Joe about the afternoon he spent with upon him by circumstance.
George Fuller and his dog Jake. He wants to ask Joe if he
knows George, since George knew Granddad.

Instead, Harry suggests to Joe that Granddad may have kept This passage is significant in the piecing together what occurred on
Mum’s car because “he thought he might find something.” the night of Mum’s death. Harry, like Miles, was in the car during the
Alarmed at this suggestion, Joe pulls over the van and asks accident that killed Mum. Although Miles brushes off Harry’s
Harry what he means, and Harry replies that maybe there had comments about Granddad, this revelation implies that their
been a man in the car. Joe rationalizes that Harry suffered head grandfather may have had unresolved suspicions about the
trauma during the car crash that killed Mum, and that he must accident’s circumstances.
be talking about the paramedic at the scene of the accident.
CHAPTER 16
Rather than work on the task of cleaning out Granddad’s Miles does not remember the night of the car accident; finding the
house, Miles walks down to Lady Bay beach and looks at the car seats and shark tooth in Granddad’s shed seems to have made
shark tooth he found between the seats of Mum’s wrecked car. him suspicious of the crash and Mum’s death. His instinctive
He mulls over whether he has ever seen the tooth before or to fixation on the tooth implies that this object may hold an answer.
whom it could have belonged but cannot come up with any
memory of it.
Suddenly, a bully named Gary Bones approaches Miles on the Miles is generally a kind, respectful young man, yet this incident of
beach and snatches the shark tooth out of his hand. Miles impulsive violence shows that he has been deeply affected by
impulsively sprints after Gary and jumps onto the larger boy’s Mum’s death, to the point that he is willing to lash out when the
back, sending Gary crashing down on top of him. They both fall potential clue as to what happened to her is taken from him. Miles’s
into the water, and Gary’s forehead slams into Miles’s face and behavior here also has echoes of Dad’s violent ways, which suggests
bloodies his nose. Gary’s father’s fishing rod is broken in the how powerful father figures can be in shaping a person’s identity.
tussle.
Fearing that Gary will lash out about the broken rod and beat Although Gary is a bully, the tragic, mysterious circumstances of
him up, Miles tells Gary about finding the shark tooth and how Mum’s death seem to evoke his sympathy.
he wants to keep it because it may have something to do with
his Mum. Gary relents and drops the tooth in the sand.
After the fight, Miles inspects his bloody, swollen face and plays Joe and Miles, while extremely close, still have typical moments of
with a tooth that has come loose from the impact of Gary’s sibling conflict. Having found the shark tooth, Miles is deeply
head. Joe returns from the dump with Harry and asks what unsettled by the idea that Mum’s death may not have been as
happened to Miles’s face, not believing his brother’s lie that he straightforward as he thought, and the young man grasps for
fell. Upset, Miles exclaims that the crash that killed Mum was someone or something to blame.
not an accident—he says that she wanted to die and crashed on
purpose.
Joe is furious and refutes this accusation, telling Miles that Joe, unaware of the shark tooth, does not feel the need to blame the
Mum had a high blood pressure condition and that a sudden tragedy on anyone or anything—rather, he seems to believe that the
heart attack caused her to lose control of the car. Harry crash was truly an accident. This gap in understanding causes such
overhears this argument, but Miles does not care and tries to an emotional rift between the two brothers that Miles has a rare
pretend that his little brother does not exist. moment of forgoing his concern for Harry.

CHAPTER 17
One day while Miles and Dad are working on the fishing boat, Though Harry has come to trust George and enjoys the old man’s
Harry goes to visit George Fuller. George is not home when he company, his phobia of the water makes him hesitant to go out on
arrives at the shack, so Harry decides to look around the the boat. This mindset contrasts with the obligatory routine of Dad
property for him. Finally, he hears Jake and is lead down to the and Miles, who must brave the dangerous ocean on a daily basis in
bay by the sound of the dog’s bark. George climbs into his order to earn a living.
dinghy boat and invites Harry to come along, but the young boy
is afraid of the water and gets seasick easily.
Harry remembers the first time he went out on Dad’s fishing Harry’s relationship with nature again contrasts with how his family
boat. Harry clung to the railing and threw up from the motion views the ocean. Whereas the water is a source of anxiety and
of the boat, and Uncle Nick joked that he would never be a physical illness for Harry, it provides his male elders with their
fisherman. George decides not to go out in the dinghy, after all, livelihood and sense of purpose. These difference perspectives
and instead teaches Harry how to fish. highlight the ocean’s inherent duality.
Harry is reluctant to join George because he is afraid of Harry’s ignorance of fishing shows the lack of a strong male role
breaking the rod or embarrassing himself. Despite being raised model in his life. Despite abalone fishing being his family’s
by a family of abalone fisherman, no one has ever taught him multigenerational vocation, no one has ever taken the initiative to
how to fish. He takes a rod but hopes that he will not catch teach him. George, in this instance, fills in as a surrogate father
anything. When a fish does bite his line, Harry is afraid, but figure and gently encourages Harry to face his fear of the water.
George helps him reel it in.
George catches four more fish while Harry is content to hold Experiencing the serenity of fishing with George, Harry is able to
onto his own fishing rod and look out at the water while understand the sense of peace, freedom, and escape that Miles and
George hums songs. Amidst this peace, Harry understands for Joe find in their outdoor adventures together. Again, Dad’s
the first time why Joe and Miles like to fish. Harry believes that incompetence coupled with the loss of Uncle Nick and Granddad
if Granddad were still alive, he would have taken him fishing have left Harry without a father figure, a role that George is content
when he was old enough. Back at the shack, George makes a to fill for his young friend.
meal out of their catch and Harry thinks that the fish is the
most delicious thing he has ever tasted.
CHAPTER 18
After a day of fishing, Dad leaves Miles alone to clean the boat Hearkening back to Dad’s prior abandonment of Miles, he again
and take the abalone to the cannery. Since Martin has been out shirks his fatherly duties and leaves his young son alone to finish
of commission after the shark incident, Jeff has been their afternoon chores. Jeff’s presence has clearly had a detrimental
persuading Dad to come with him in the afternoons to illegally effect on Dad without Martin there to balance out the situation,
poach for abalone outside of the designated fishing zone. As and he forgoes his responsibilities while slipping further into
Miles goes to the cannery on his own, he remembers Dad’s degeneracy.
warning that if they lose the boat, he will end up like most of the
other kids in town who drop out of high school to work at the
cannery.

Later that evening, Dad picks Miles up and begins driving The surreal, dreamlike quality of this passage emphasizes Miles’s
erratically down the center of the road. Miles sees an oncoming terror and disbelief at Dad’s erratic behavior. Since Miles was in the
truck and is afraid they will collide with it, but its headlights car during the accident that killed Mum, Dad knows that his son has
suddenly vanish. He wants to yell at Dad to pull over, but his lingering trauma surrounding car crashes. His decision to drive
father remains unfazed and continues speeding ahead. As they recklessly in spite of this knowledge shows his negligence and
fly past the truck, Miles sees that its headlights seemed to complete lack of concern for Miles’s wellbeing, while also suggesting
disappear because it had hit an enormous bull. He is disturbed that he may be driving under the influence of alcohol.
that neither the truck driver nor Dad attempted to slow down.
CHAPTER 19
Harry goes on a hike with George Fuller and Jake and they pick Harry’s preoccupation with George’s parents and confession of his
apples from an orchard. From their vantage point atop a small own familial struggles reveals how deeply the deaths of Mum, Uncle
hill, Harry spots the dilapidated remnants of the small farm Nick, and Granddad have affected the Curren family, and
where George grew up. As they enjoy a picnic, Harry asks particularly how Dad’s grief has ruined his relationships with his
George whether he remembers his parents. George answers sons. George further establishes himself as a grandfather figure for
yes and Harry admits that sometimes he can’t remember his Harry, patiently listening to his young friend and indulging him in
own Mum and that he does not think Dad likes him very much. stories of the mother he struggles to remember.
George shares memories of Harry’s mother from when he
knew her as a young girl.
After their picnic, Harry, George, and Jake return to George’s Harry’s hesitance to accept the apples implies that Dad’s abuse is
shack. George offers Harry a bag of the apples they picked extremely volatile behind closed doors, to the point that he would
earlier that day, but Harry turns them down because he knows lash out if Harry came home with the fruit. As a surrogate
Dad will ask where they came from. George slips two apples in grandfather to Harry, hiding the apples in the little boy’s pockets is
Harry’s jacket pockets and the young boy enjoys one on his way George’s act of rebellion against Dad’s cruelty.
home. He is glad that George showed him where he grew up
and reflects that he and George must be “real friends” now.
CHAPTER 20
Two Fisheries officers come to the Curren family’s house While the Curren brothers view Dad as an infallible force, he is not
looking for Dad. Harry hesitantly answers the door and the exempt from scrutiny, as his irresponsibility has put the family and
officers ask if his parents are home. Harry replies that his Mum their livelihood at risk. Harry’s decision to go exploring after the visit
is dead and that his Dad is working on the fishing boat, and the suggests that he is stressed and confused by the officers’
officers seem surprised that such a young boy is home alone. accusations, and that the outdoors are an outlet of escape from his
They inform Harry that they need to speak with Dad because difficult home life.
his fishing license is invalid due to fines and infringements.
After the officers leave, Harry decides that he will go out until
Miles gets home from work.
CHAPTER 21
After a day of work on the boat, Miles goes to Granddad’s Miles’s observation of the marks and wear around his grandfather’s
house. The boys’ sorting has left the house nearly empty, but house have significance beyond his grief over Granddad. They
Miles notices personalized signs of wear that their family has represent the innocent times before tragedy struck the Currens,
left behind—scratched floorboards, stains, and Harry’s beach reminding Miles of the functional family he used to have before it
specimens lining the windowsills. Joe had told Harry to choose was fragmented by resentment, bitterness, and blame.
three “treasures” for the boat, but Harry had been unable to
part with any of them.

Miles notices the notches carved into the kitchen door that had Miles mourns Granddad not merely because he was a loving
marked the growth of Mum, Aunty Jean, Miles, and his presence in his life, but because his grandfather was his primary role
brothers. He goes out to Granddad’s workshop and, seeing the model. It is clear that Miles idolized Granddad’s talents and that he
supple wood collected in the corner, remembers the furniture now lacks a male figure in his life to look up to and emulate.
that Granddad used to carve. Miles resolves to become a
craftsman who makes beautiful furniture rather than a
carpenter who builds houses and boat fixtures like Joe.
Miles has a flashback to collecting wood with Granddad before Again, Granddad is portrayed as a wise and competent paternal
he died. As they loaded timber into the back of his Granddad’s figure for Miles. Granddad’s childhood memories of the dense huon
truck, he told Miles about the huon pine trees that “used to be forests on Bruny Island parallel Miles’s own memories of his
everywhere” when he was young, and Miles thought how the grandfather and the rest of the family. Just as pine trees have
huge trees would never grow back the same way. Miles spotted dwindled and will never grow back the same way, so too has the
a small piece of celery top wood that he planned to sculpt as a Curren family been irreparably diminished by tragedy.
good luck token for Joe’s boat. Back in the present, Miles
realizes that whoever buys Granddad’s house will probably
think that the lumber in the workshop is just firewood.
CHAPTER 22
Miles watches from a cliff as Joe surfs the dangerous, rocky Miles is acutely aware of own insignificance relative to both nature’s
waters of Southport Bluff and remembers seeing Joe get supreme power and the competence of his older brother. He clearly
pummeled by the waves here in the past. Miles thinks to looks up to Joe and envies his brother’s superior abilities, despite
himself that he cannot surf in this difficult area because he is their close relationship.
small, immature, and “nothing” compared to his older brother.
Earlier that day, Joe had yelled at Miles, telling his younger Miles and Joe have a tight-knit brotherhood, but the dissolution of
brother that he was going to get stuck on Bruny Island working their family combined with Dad’s ongoing mistreatment strains
for Dad and taking care of Harry. Miles feels that he is even their close relationship, showing that brotherhood is not
“screaming on the inside” with frustration. He decides that he necessarily a cure-all. Once again, Miles turns to the ocean as a
will surf after all and Joe cheers him on as he paddles into the means of escape and is able to feel safe and clear-headed as he
ocean. Miles feels invincible as he surfs the main break of a surfs, demonstrating how nature can be peaceful even at its most
steep wave, forgetting his troubles and resolving that it is time powerful.
to break free and “make something of his own.”
After their surf session, Miles and Joe feel lighthearted and Despite their different reactions, this moment is emotional for both
laugh as they get changed to return home. But once they are Miles and Joe, as the brothers are distraught at the thought of
back in the van, Joe becomes serious and tells Miles that he is separating from each other. Whereas Miles feels as though he is
planning on leaving Bruny Island on his boat the next day to losing his closest companion, Joe is guilty knowing that he will be
avoid the approaching swell. Miles is speechless as Joe asks him leaving Miles and Harry to fend for themselves in the neglectful care
to tell Harry for him. Joe begins to cry, and Miles wonders why of Dad.
his older brother should be the one to feel emotional since he
does not have to stay behind to live with Dad, work on the boat,
and take care of Harry.

Joe drops Miles off at Dad’s house and tells him that he will be Although Joe cares deeply for Harry and Miles, he feels conflicted
leaving early the next morning. Miles realizes that Joe is toward the de facto father role he has been forced to take on due to
already prepared to leave that night and that his brother had Mum’s death and Dad’s unfit parenting. He ultimately cannot bear
planned their afternoon together as a way of saying goodbye. the pressure of caring for his younger brothers and decides he must
Joe assures Miles that he will be back and pleads with him to flee his unwanted responsibilities. That even Joe isn’t able to solve
realize that he is “only nineteen.” Miles feels as though he and Miles and Harry’s problems shows just how devastating this kind of
Harry will never get away from Bruny Island. tragedy and neglect can be.
CHAPTER 23
Miles searches through the meager contents of Dad’s kitchen The juxtaposition of Dad’s empty cabinets with Miles’s memory of
cupboards, looking for something to prepare Harry for dinner. the delicious hot potatoes shows just how severely their lives have
He decides to make mashed potatoes and remembers when deteriorated since Mum’s tragic death. Since Dad has clearly
Mum used to take them up to Huonville to get hot potatoes neglected to make sure his sons are provided for, Miles must take on
with cheese, coleslaw, herbs, and butter from the Potato Man. the responsibility of feeding himself and Harry.
Miles carefully splits their portions equally and serves Harry on Miles’s painstaking efforts to make sure Harry is fed and happy
a small plate so that the meal looks more substantial. He plans shows just how deeply he cares for his little brother. The love he has
to let Harry use the last of the milk for cocoa after dinner. for Harry seems to imbue Miles with a sense of purpose on which he
While they eat, Harry tells Miles about the Fisheries officers focuses amidst the chaos of their home life.
who came to the door looking for Dad.
CHAPTER 24
Miles and Harry stay out of the house past midnight to avoid Harry’s fear to use the bathroom in his own house indicates just
Dad and Jeff, who have been drinking for two days straight. how severe Dad’s addiction has become under the influence of Jeff,
Back in their bedroom, Harry needs to use the bathroom but is as the little boy risks abuse just by crossing their paths.
afraid to cross Dad and Jeff’s path in the living room. He ducks
out quickly in hopes that they will not notice him.
As Harry passes into the kitchen, Jeff calls him “the littlest Dad’s alcoholism has progressed to the point that he has lost all
retard” and tells him to have a drink. Harry assumes that Jeff is sense of what it means to be a father. He has begun to emulate
offering him is a glass of Coke but realizes it is alcohol. Dad tells Jeff’s disturbing behavior, which Martin previously warned Miles
Harry to drink it anyway as Jeff traps the little boy in a about. Rather than defending Harry against Jeff, Dad forfeits all
headlock. Miles dashes out of their bedroom to defend his responsibility and encourages the violence against his son.
brother but Jeff pushes the glass of whiskey against Harry’s
mouth and forces him to drink.
Miles tries to lunge at Jeff, but Jeff trips him and his head Miles’s unflinching loyalty for his brother is a stark contrast to Dad’s
crashes into the coffee table. Miles feels blood running into his complacency. Whereas Dad is indifferent to Jeff’s violence, Miles is
eye socket and Jeff steps on his hand, crushing it with his heavy willing to put himself in harm’s way to defend his little brother.
boot. He cries out for Dad’s help, but his father does not
respond.

Harry, sick from the whiskey, vomits on Jeff’s arm that is still Based on Miles’s memory of Dad breaking Joe’s arm, it is clear that
holding him in a headlock. The distraction frees Miles’s hand their father’s descent into alcoholism has been long and arduous.
from under Jeff’s foot. Dad stands up and focuses on Miles, Joe’s reasoning for going to live with Granddad is revealed, further
giving his son the same look that he gave Joe six years ago on solidifying the brothers’ grandfather as a stand-in father figure
the night he broke Joe’s arm. Dad had told Joe that he was “just amidst Dad’s violent abuse. It is unclear who Dad was referring to
like him” and Joe had replied, “I’m glad,” prompting Dad to when he told Joe that he was “just like him,” but it is clear that there
throw him across the kitchen. That was the last night Joe ever are secrets being kept in the Curren family and that Dad harbors
spent in Dad’s house, going to live with Granddad instead. inexplicable, destructive blame toward Joe.
Miles looks down at the bloodstains on the carpet as the Again, Dad seems to blame his sons for the pain that tortures him
wound on his head continues dripping. Dad and Jeff both seem and drives him to drink. He confirms that he has no desire to be a
to lose interest and slump back down into their respective father and clearly does not feel any sense of responsibility for Harry
seats, and Miles takes the opportunity to escape with Harry out and Miles.
their bedroom window. As they run away from the house and
into the woods, they hear Dad angrily yelling “I never wanted
you.”
Miles and Harry continue to run away from Dad’s house along In lieu of a kind, caring father, Miles and Harry are forced to rely on
the riverbank. Harry suggests that they go to George Fuller’s each other. They find solidarity and comfort in each other’s
shack and Miles incredulously asks how Harry knows the man. company as they cope with the horrific abuse they just suffered.
Harry explains that he has been visiting George to play with Harry’s suggestion that they stay with George shows just how
Jake, and that George had been friends with Granddad and integral a role the old man has come to play in the little boy’s life.
knew Mum when she was young. Miles at first rejects Harry’s Harry essentially views George as a grandfather to whom he can
idea to go to George’s house but does not know where else to turn in times of trouble.
go since Joe is gone. Harry pats Miles’s shoulder and assures
him that they will be all right. Eventually Miles gives in and
allows his little brother to lead him to George’s.
CHAPTER 25
Miles and Harry hear Jake barking as they approach George George is rumored to be a monstrous person, yet Harry’s love of the
Fuller’s shack. George waves the boys inside and Harry enters old man allows Miles to see past his appearance. The warm,
without hesitation as Miles follows slowly. Seeing George’s face welcoming atmosphere of George’s home is a stark contrast to the
up close for the first time, Miles realizes that his deformities horrors of the house Miles and Harry have just fled, and George
are not shocking and that he is “just an old man.” He is surprised does not hesitate to take responsibility for keeping the boys safe.
to see how neat and clean the inside of George’s house is.
Harry acts as though he is comfortably at home, tending the
wood heater and sitting with Jake as if their terrible night with
Dad and Jeff had never happened.
George gently disinfects and dresses the cut on Miles’s George’s tender care of Miles’s wound further highlights how
forehead, then serves tea to the two boys. Harry notices that terribly Dad and Jeff treated the boys, and how simple gestures of
George’s teacups look like the ones Mum used to have, which kindness stand out significantly in the lives of Harry and Miles.
Aunty Jean now displays in a cabinet but never uses.

After they drink their tea, George lays out a pillow, sleeping George’s loving treatment of Miles and Harry reminds Miles of their
bag, and sleeping mat for Miles and Harry. Miles notices that grandfather, who was also a warm paternal figure in their lives
Harry seems to have “an understanding” with George that before he died. George happily creates a safe environment for the
transcends words, as the old man has difficulty speaking due to boys to sleep, likely because he knew Granddad and feels an
his facial deformities. Miles, Harry, and Jake burrow together in inherent protectiveness toward his old friend’s grandsons.
the sleeping back and George lights his pipe. The smell of the
tobacco transports Miles back to a childhood memory of
playing with Matchbox cars in Granddad’s house as his
grandfather listened to the radio and puffed on his pipe.
CHAPTER 26
As he and Harry sleep on George Fuller’s floor, Miles dreams Miles’s dream starts out as a comforting memory of Granddad, but
about the wooden toolbox Granddad carved for him when he it quickly turns to a distressing scene where Mum behaves bizarrely.
was a little boy. In the dream, Granddad tells him that he will be It is unclear whether this part of the dream is based on a memory or
old enough to have his own tools soon, when he turns five. Still is merely a figment of Miles’s imagination. In any case, the image of
dreaming, he cradles the toolbox on the drive home as Mum Miles leading Mum back after she abandoned him reflects his deep
sings along with the radio. Suddenly, Mum pulls over and leaves desire to have her back in his life, as Dad and Jeff’s abuse has
Miles in the car as she walks into the dark forest. He chases seemingly made Mum’s absence even more painful for him.
after Mum and finds her leaning against a tree, crying. She tells Granddad’s mention of Miles growing old enough to use his own
him: “I left here once. But I came back,” and Miles takes her tools also reinforces the idea that strong role models are necessary
hand and leads her back to the car. as children mature and gain agency.
In the morning, Miles wakes up and cannot find George or Jake Harry’s eager devouring of the bread causes Miles to realize just
anywhere around the property. Harry helps himself to bread how deprived their everyday lives are. His simple desire for a reliable
and butter for breakfast and tells Miles that his eye looks bad. food supply indicates Dad’s irresponsibility as a father, as he fails to
Miles wonders how George’s milk was left on the rural meet even the basic needs of his sons.
property with no icebox outside and wishes that Dad would get
groceries delivered so that he and Harry could know when
food is coming.
After Harry eats his bread, Miles straightens up the house and Miles’s is reluctant to confirm Harry’s suspicion because he knows
tells him that they should be going, although Harry replies that just how significantly Joe’s absence will affect Harry. This reality is a
George would not mind if they stayed. On Miles’s way out the testament to the close bond that the three brothers share.
door, Harry asks if Joe is gone and Miles cannot bring himself
to answer his little brother.
CHAPTER 27
Harry follows Miles out of George’s house and up the road. He Miles’s decision to leave Harry at Stuart’s house is a selfless act of
asks Miles where they are going but Miles continues on love, as he knows that leaving his little brother with Stuart will
without answering, so Harry stops and waits for his brother to ensure his safety but will leave Miles alone to bear the brunt of
notice and turn back. Harry expects Miles to be angry, but Dad’s mistreatment.
instead he looks scared and tells Harry that he is taking him to
Stuart’s house.

When they arrive at Stuart’s house, Miles lies to Stuart’s This passage is a clear example of Miles and Harry’s loyalty for each
mother and says that he hit his head on the boat when she asks other, as they are both more concerned with each other’s wellbeing
about the lump above his eye. Miles tells Harry that he will than they are with their own. Miles also takes on more of a paternal
bring him some clothes later and Harry offers him the few role in this instance, perhaps to make up for Joe’s absence. His
dollars leftover from the money he found at the boat races with thoughtful packing of Harry’s bag shows that he is dedicated to
Aunty Jean. Miles tells him to keep it and later drops off a alleviating as much of his little brother’s suffering as possible.
backpack full of clothes, chocolates, and the dart gun from
Harry’s goodie bag.
CHAPTER 28
Miles walks slowly on his way back to Dad’s house, observing Though Dad’s absence is a brief reprieve for Miles, being alone in
the worn-down remnants of houses and farms that sit away the house forces him to confront the evidence of Dad and Jeff’s
from the road. Dad’s pickup truck is gone when Miles arrives at alcohol bender and the subsequent abuse he and Harry suffered.
the house and he stands in the living room looking at the full The fact that Dad left the house in disarray shows that he is
ashtrays, the empty alcohol bottles, and the carpet still stained avoiding the consequences of his actions rather than admitting
with his own blood. culpability.
Miles notices a ray of sunlight from the window reflecting off a Like Granddad, Uncle Nick was somewhat of a paternal figure in
framed photograph of Mum. He picks up the photo and Miles’s life. Nick’s presence was particularly significant for Miles
remembers the day it was taken on Cloudy Bay. Mum and because he was the one who introduced him to surfing, a pastime
Uncle Nick had brought him to the beach and Nick took Miles that Miles now relies on for mental clarity and relief from Dad’s
surfing on his longboard. Miles remembers Uncle Nick telling mistreatment. The image of this lighthearted photograph amidst the
him that he was safe and feeling nothing but the water rolling remnants of Dad and Jeff’s violence highlights the destructive
gently beneath them. Miles waved to Mum and she waved back impact of Mum and Uncle Nick’s deaths on the Curren family, as
as he and Uncle Nick came out of the wave. Snapping out of the well as the symbolic connection between Mum and the beauty of
memory, Miles sets down the photo and gets started cleaning the natural world.
the house before Dad returns home.
CHAPTER 29
Dad brings home fish and chips for dinner. Miles tells him that Although Dad has been terribly cruel to his sons, this passage shows
Harry is staying at Stuart’s house, but Dad does not respond or that he is not wholly evil, but rather has been ravaged and morally
even look at Miles. He checks in the refrigerator for beer but degraded by addiction. His peace offering of fish and chips, coupled
finds that he and Jeff have already drunk it all. Dad with his inability to look at Miles, suggests that he is remorseful for
nonchalantly tells Miles that there are potato cakes to eat with his actions.
their meal, but Miles is reluctant to take any food because Dad
usually never gets him expensive fish.
Miles hesitantly puts some fish and chips on his plate and sits Dad’s nonchalance toward Miles seems callous, but his refusal to
down in the living room to eat with Dad. His father is still look at his son implies that his behavior is rooted in guilt rather than
unable to look at him, averting his eyes from the bandage on indifference. Despite this, Miles is still afraid of his father and avoids
Miles’s forehead. They watch a gameshow together and Dad pressing the issue of the Fisheries officers, as he is acutely aware of
makes small talk about the fishing boat. Miles wants to ask Dad’s potential for volatility.
about the Fisheries officers who came to the house but decides
not to, in hopes that Harry’s absence will diffuse Dad’s anger
over the next few days.

CHAPTER 30
Harry goes shopping with Stuart and his mother and considers Stuart’s mother’s willingness to take Harry in and include him in
spending the last of his money on some ice cream. He figures their day-to-day activities suggests that she may be aware of his
that the storeowner, a strict woman named Mrs. Martin, troubled home life. Despite this, she (like Mr. Roberts) does not take
probably knows of him and Dad even though he has never had active responsibility in protecting the boys from Dad’s
enough money to shop here by himself. He ducks behind a shelf mistreatment.
to avoid her and sees a shelf full of different teas.
Harry spots the same variety of English breakfast tea that he Harry’s consideration of George amidst his own troubles exemplifies
knows George Fuller likes. He decides he wants to buy it for his thoughtful nature and shows that the old man has become a
George although the $3.25 price is nearly all the money he has beloved friend and grandfatherly figure for Harry. This moment
left. Harry tells Stuart’s mother the tea is for Aunty Jean and makes it clear that having loving guidance can also lead children to
buys the tin along with two bags of candy for himself and behave lovingly themselves.
Stuart.
After they finish shopping, Harry rides with Stuart and his Again, Stuart’s mother seems to have an inkling as to Harry’s
mother back toward their trailer. Harry tells Stuart’s mother troubles, yet she does not push the issue beyond offering to let him
that she can drop him off near the bridge, and she looks stay. This passage is another example of how adults outside of the
concerned and suggests that he come home with them. Harry Curren family are somewhat complicit in Dad’s abuse, as they fail to
declines, telling her that Dad has probably left lunch for him at take proper responsibility for helping the boys out of their toxic
home. He gives Stuart his dart gun to hold onto and gets out of situation.
the car. After waving goodbye, Harry runs down the road
toward George’s house.
CHAPTER 31
Running down the familiar path to George Fuller’s house, Harry immediately jumps to the conclusion that George and Jake
Harry is excited to give George the tea he bought for him and have left permanently, suggesting that the little boy does not feel
have lunch in the warm shack. But when he arrives at the secure even in his closest relationships. The tragic deaths of Mum,
house, George and Jake are nowhere to be found. The house Uncle Nick, and Granddad have made Harry somewhat paranoid
feels to Harry as if it has been empty for a long time and will be over losing other loved ones in his life.
forever, and he worries that he might never see his friends
again.
Harry dismisses his own worry as he sees George’s pipe, Jake’s Miles and Harry clearly adore each other, but Harry is still worried
blanket, and their other belongings around the house. He that he does not live up to his older brother’s expectations. This is
thinks that George is probably down at the jetty and will be similar to Miles’s relationship with Joe, as Miles often feels inferior
back soon. In the meantime, Harry decides to take some of the in his older brother’s shadow. Despite these anxieties, the brothers
kindling from outside and build a fire in George’s wood heater. still find warmth and security in one another.
He reflects on the times he tried to help Miles chop kindling
with a hatchet and how useless he would feel when his brother
seemed disappointed in his abilities.

After piling the kindling and some newspaper in the wood Billy’s disappearance may partially explain why George was so open
heater, Harry sweeps the floor, sets the tea on the table, and to befriending Harry when the little boy first came to his shack. The
sits waiting for George and Jake. He looks forward to lighting loss of his younger brother likely created a lasting a void in George’s
the fire and helping George carry his fishing gear inside. Sitting life—one that he was glad to fill with Harry’s company. The time
at the table, Harry feels the framed photograph of George’s George spends with Harry is an outlet for him to express the
brother Billy “staring” at him as he eats some candy. George brotherly love that was taken away from him when Billy went
had told him about how Billy was a soldier who went missing in missing, which indicates that brotherly love and parental love,
a war and never came home. After hearing this story, Harry had though different, share some important similarities.
walked to the town war memorial on his own and found Billy’s
name.
Looking at the photo of Billy, Harry thinks of how he would Though Harry is young and relatively naïve, the painful losses of his
never feel right again if anything ever happened to Miles. Still loved ones have given him a deep awareness of life’s fragility. He is
sitting at the table, Harry begins to drift off to sleep and wishes able to recognize the importance of his relationship with Miles, as
that he had the company of his brother or George. When he their bond is what allows him to feel safe and motivates him to
wakes, it is late, and he decides to give up on waiting for persevere in the face of hardship.
George. Harry runs out of the house toward the road and
knows that George will be glad he was there when he sees the
firewood in the heater and the tea on the table.
CHAPTER 32
Miles and Dad drive home from a day of fishing on the boat. The incoming storm foreshadows destruction for Bruny Island’s
That day, Miles realized that Joe was right about the swell fisherman as well as for Joe, who is likely trying to cross the
coming and that his brother will be lucky to make it across the formidable Bass Strait that separates Tasmania and Australia.
strait before the storm hits. Few boats had gone out, but Dad Dad’s decision to force Miles to work in spite of the violent swell is
made them stay on the water all day. Exhausted from the long further evidence of his irresponsibility and carelessness toward his
day, Miles is lulled to sleep by the warmth and soft rumbling of son’s safety.
Dad’s pickup truck.
Asleep in the passenger seat, Miles dreams that he and Harry This dream is based on Miles’s memories of the car accident that
are snugly tucked into the backseat of Mum’s car with bags of killed Mum, as it was previously revealed that he and Harry were in
clothes packed all around them. He tries to stay awake to see the car during the crash. The bags of clothes (as opposed to luggage)
the city lights as they drive through Hobart, but he falls asleep imply that Mum, Miles, and Harry may have been leaving in a hurry,
in the comforting warmth of the car. Suddenly he feels or for a long period of time.
something pull tight around his neck and chest as the bags of
clothes crash down around him.
Miles is abruptly awoken from his dream as Dad blares his car Rather than showing concern for why his young son is alone and
horn. Harry is standing frozen in the middle of the road in front wandering in the woods, Dad’s first instinct is to lash out at Harry.
of Dad’s pickup truck, having just run out from George Fuller’s He seems to be in denial of the fact that his own violence is what
place. Dad slams on the brakes and the truck slides to a stop on drove Miles and Harry to flee in the first place. This behavior shows
the gravel road. He gets out of the car and shakes Harry as he the transformative nature of Dad’s addiction, as his alcohol abuse
yells at him, demanding to know what he is doing out in the has caused him to forfeit any semblance of responsibility and
middle of nowhere. Harry replies that there was a dog he compassion as a father.
wanted to play with and braces himself to be hit. Instead, Dad
goes quiet, looks at Harry with a dead expression, and lets him
go.

Miles rushes over to ask Harry if he is okay. His little brother As usual, Miles is willing to take responsibility for Harry when Dad is
says nothing but grabs onto his arm. On the drive home, Dad not. Although Dad seemed somewhat remorseful for his actions
remains silent with a blank expression. He makes eggs on toast when Miles first returned home, his cold behavior indicates that he
for the boys when they arrive at home and goes to watch is still harboring blame toward his sons and that this blame is part
television, saying nothing to Miles and Harry for the rest of the of what interferes with his ability to be an effective father.
night.
CHAPTER 33
Harry looks out his bedroom window, but it is too dark outside Although seemingly insignificant, the lack of curtains on Harry’s
to see anything but his own reflection. No one ever bothered to window actually reflects the much deeper problem of parental
put curtains back up after they fell down long ago, despite neglect that Miles and Harry face. Like Mr. Roberts and Stuart’s
Aunty Jean continually saying something needed to be done. mother, Aunty Jean does not intervene on Miles and Harry’s behalf
Harry does not mind because he likes to see the sky as soon as beyond empty platitudes.
he wakes up.
After Miles finishes washing the dinner dishes, he sits on the Miles’s stern attitude toward Harry comes from a place of love.
edge of Harry’s bed and asks why he did not stay at Stuart’s like Knowing that no one else will step in to take care of Harry, Miles is
they agreed. Harry apologizes and suggests that they go see if willing to take on a fatherly authority over his little brother. Harry,
George Fuller is back the next day, if the water is too rough for sensing that his brother is looking out for his best interests, heeds
Miles and Dad to go out on the boat. Miles lectures Harry that Miles’s warning.
he is lucky Dad did not “go crazy” and that he should stay home
instead of spending time with George. He tells Harry that
George is probably gone because he is fishing down the coast,
and Harry agrees to stay home.
CHAPTER 34
Harry lies awake in bed, afraid of the darkness that seems to be Harry previously admitted that he struggles to remember Mum, yet
closing in around him. He looks for the sky out his bedroom the southern lights remind him of her presence. Whereas older
window and focuses on the soft light emanating from the stars. members of the Curren family are caught up in cycles of blame and
As Harry continues to look outside, he marvels at the southern bitterness surrounding Mum’s death, Harry focuses on the few pure,
lights that begin to “breathe life” into the sky. He had forgotten untainted memories he has of his mother. The lights, much like her
about this natural occurrence, having not seen the lights since love and kindness, comfort Harry and show him how to experience
Mum died. The bright colors light up the sky until Harry falls peace even in the midst of turmoil.
asleep.
CHAPTER 35
Miles wakes up to find Dad sitting at the end of Harry’s bed. It Dad has not had a change of heart since finding Harry alone in the
is still pitch-black outside, but he tells the boys to get up and middle of the road. He clearly does not see the error of his ways and
Miles quickly gets dressed and goes out into the living room still refuses to accept his responsibility as a father, hence his
where Dad is waiting. His father asks where Harry is, and Miles decision to wake up his young son at an unreasonable hour.
replies that he is still sleeping. Dad goes back into the bedroom,
turns on the lights, and rips the duvet off of Harry, repeating his
command to get up.

Miles tells a groggy Harry that he thinks he will have to come As usual, Miles is forced to step in as a parental figure for Harry as
out on the fishing boat with them today. He gathers warm Dad leaves the boys alone to get themselves dressed and ready.
clothes for Harry as his little brother begs him to convince Dad Whereas working on the boat is a normal routine for Miles, the mere
not to make him go on the boat because he is afraid of the thought of the ocean petrifies Harry, showing the very different
water and prone to seasickness. Miles assures him it will be relationships the two brothers have with the water. Harry’s terror
okay and gives him his own jacket when Harry starts to cry that here also reinforces the idea that nature can be unpredictable and
he left his parka at Stuart’s house. violent, even though it’s also a supportive force in both boys’ lives.
Miles gives Harry the shark tooth he found in Mum’s car seat Miles is forced to take on an unfair level of responsibility for Harry,
for good luck. He notices how young and small Harry looks and but he does not mind helping to raise him. Their brotherly bond
reflects on when his little brother was a baby, musing that makes Miles feel as though he is being called to take care of Harry,
something about Harry made Miles feel compelled to take care and fulfilling that duty imbues him with a sense of purpose.
of him.
The boys hurry outside into the rain and violent wind, but The violent storm outside parallels Dad’s volatile abuse—just as
Harry hesitates outside the door of Dad’s pickup truck. He Harry and Miles are forced to endure their father’s mistreatment,
suggests that he stay behind but Dad orders him to “get in the they will have to brave this brutal winter swell. The different roles
bloody car.” As they drive to the wharf, Miles wonders how long that Dad and Miles play in Harry’s life are especially clear here, as
Dad had been waiting in their bedroom at the foot of his Harry leans on his brother (literally) for comfort while Dad forces
brother’s bed. Harry suddenly begins to hiccup until Dad slams them into dangerous weather and lashes out in anger.
the horn with his fist and yells at him. Terrified, Harry squeezes
close to Miles and stays quiet for the rest of the drive.
When they arrive at the wharf, Miles sees Mr. Roberts but It is not clear exactly why Dad and Jeff decide to go out on the
cannot wave because Dad is watching. Jeff appears and water in the middle of a raging storm, nor why Miles and Harry need
comments to Dad that the ocean is “wild.” Miles helps Harry to come along. This reflects Jeff and Dad’s irresponsibility and
into the dinghy and holds onto him as they ride through the impulsivity, as they are willing to risk the boys’ lives and their own
rough water and icy cold winds from the incoming swell. safety without clear rhyme or reason, even though they know how
unpredictable the ocean can be.
Miles, Harry, Dad, and Jeff reach the fishing boat and seem to Miles, like Harry, is terrified of deep water, but he puts his own
be inside a “bubble of fluorescent light” that bounces off the anxieties aside to focus on easing his brother’s nerves. His advice to
deck as they move away from land. Jeff comments to Harry focus on the stars shows that nature can simultaneously be a source
that he will have to be tied up on the outside of the boat’s of both fear and comfort. At the same time, the mention of light as a
railings if he gets seasick and that he had better hold on tight. protective force recalls the boys’ mother and their struggle to regain
Miles tries to comfort his little brother, telling him to focus on some semblance of the security they felt when she was alive.
the stars to take his mind off the water.

As the sun rises, Miles can see that they are headed toward the The intimidating landscape of The Last Islands seems otherworldly
three figures of The Last Islands on the horizon. Noticing the in its grandeur, but Miles and Harry feel a sense of freedom rather
rough cliffs and rocky beaches, he feels that they are moving than fear as they gaze out at the coastline. The abuse they suffer
toward “the end of the earth.” Dad anchors the boat on the side from Dad allows them to commiserate with the lady who fled
of the Flat Witch, the smallest of the three islands. While Dad society, understanding that nature, while brutal, can offer a
and Jeff dive for abalone, Miles tells Harry a folktale about a complete break from society and its associated hardships. This
lady who supposedly fled society to live in the wilderness on realization foreshadows a possible escape for Miles and Harry.
Flat Witch. He muses that there was enough shellfish for a
person to survive on the rustic island. Harry remarks that the
lady “must have just had enough of everything.”
Miles’s story is interrupted by the sound of metal screeching Though Dad and Jeff have hurt Miles terribly, he does not let blame
and the smell of smoke. Miles realizes that the air pumps and consume him. Rather than taking the opportunity to enact revenge,
engine on the boat have stopped, meaning that Dad and Jeff’s Miles still has inherent respect for Dad and Jeff’s lives and
air supply has been cut off. He tries and fails to start the boat desperately scrambles to save them, even severely burning his
and rips the red-hot metal cover off of the engine, feeling his hands in an attempt to start the engine.
skin burn and blister. Realizing that the air supply has been cut
off for at least sixty seconds, Miles is still unable to start the
engine or the emergency generator for the air pumps.
Feeling helpless, Miles realizes that there is nothing he can do Having already lost Mum, Uncle Nick, and Granddad, the thought
to save Dad and Jeff. He considers fleeing the boat and of Dad drowning overwhelms Miles. His distress shows that, despite
swimming for land because he knows Dad and Jeff will blame Dad’s cruelty, he still cares for his father and does not allow
him for the engine if they are able to come back up alive. But resentment to cloud his feelings. Dad, by contrast, would
Miles knows that he and Harry would be swept away by the undoubtedly blame Miles for the engine failing, and that blame
strong current and hurled against the rocks if they jumped would only make a bad situation more destructive still.
overboard. Distraught, Miles throws up over the side of the
boat while Harry tugs on his arm, telling him, “it’s Dad.”
CHAPTER 36
Dad and Jeff resurface from the ocean and Miles helps his Dad seemingly blames his sons for all of his life’s tragedies and
father drag Jeff onto the deck. Having been deprived of oxygen failures. As a result, though Miles is clearly not at fault for the boat’s
in the deep water, blood pours out of Jeff’s nose and ears and engine failing, Dad is quick to condemn him. His ongoing addiction
one of Dad’s eyes is full of blood and bulging out of its socket. and abusive nature have made his default temperament one of
Miles tries to explain that the engine gave out, but Dad shoves impulsive anger rather than reasonable objectivity.
him against the boat’s railing in a fit of rage.
Miles falls overboard into the freezing water and struggles to Miles frantically tried to save Dad and Jeff while they were
pull himself up, but Dad is holding him under. The swell rolls underwater, but Dad’s temper does not allow him to consider the
back and Miles gasps for air with Dad’s hand still clenching his possibility that the incident was a random accident. Instead, he
throat. Dad tells Miles “that’s what it feels like” and shoves him blames Miles to the point that he wants his son to experience the
under again. Just as Miles begins to feel lightheaded, same horrifying feeling of drowning. Again, senseless blame leads to
something pulls him out of the water. further pain.

Back on the deck, Harry furiously punches and kicks Dad, Harry is well aware of Dad’s potential for violence, and his decision
demanding that he let Miles go. Dad is laughing as though the to retaliate against his father in defense of Miles shows his infallible
terrifying incident is funny. Once Miles is back up, Harry runs loyalty to his older brother. Dad is more culpable for the engine
for the radio in the boat’s cabin to call for help. Dad picks Harry failure than anyone else, since the boat belongs to him and he was
up and shakes him as he drags him out to the deck, calling him the one who decided to go out in the middle of a storm. Despite this
an idiot for making their presence known in protected waters obvious fact, he projects his own self-blame onto Miles and Harry,
and telling him that “you always fuck everything up.” Dad slams lashing out in violence against his sons who have done nothing
the Harry against the boat rails and pulls his hair until he stops wrong.
resisting.
As Dad pins Harry against the railing, he notices the shark This passage is a significant piece of the puzzle in making sense of
tooth around his neck that Miles gave him to wear earlier. Mum’s death. Dad suggests that the tooth belonged to another man
Realizing whom the tooth once belonged to, Dad tells Harry who caused Mum to leave. This coincides with Miles’s memory of
that “she was leaving, because of him. Because of you.” In a rare being in Mum’s car surrounded by bags of clothes—she was likely
moment of provocation, Harry responds: “I’m glad.” leaving Dad permanently on the night of the accident. His addition
of “because of you” subtly implies that Harry is likely the other
man’s son rather than Dad’s. Harry’s response of “I’m glad” is the
same response that Joe delivered to Dad when his father told him
that he was “just like him” and broke Joe’s arm. This parallel could
signify that Joe, too, is the son of the other man.
Furious at Harry’s defiance, Dad shoves him overboard just as The water parallels Dad’s emotions here—just as his violent anger
an enormous wave swells over the boat. Harry tries to run but has reached its climax, so has the storm finally taken hold of the
Jeff pulls him down by his leg. The boat tips violently as a giant boat. His decision to throw Harry overboard is the culmination of
surge of water crashes over the sides and onto the deck. Miles his internalized self-blame and abusive behavior, as he risks
is thrown into the railing and tries to hold on until the boat irreparably fragmenting his family by putting Harry’s life in jeopardy.
regains its balance. But when he looks back, he only sees Dad
and Harry is nowhere to be found.
CHAPTER 37
After Harry tumbles overboard, Miles stands in shock before Miles’s eagerness to jump overboard after Harry is a testament to
he is able to scream Harry’s name. He sees Harry’s arm reach the unbridled love and loyalty he has for his little brother, as Miles is
out of the current and he tries to climb the railing to jump in willing to risk his own life to save him.
after his brother, but Dad holds him back.

As Dad restrains Miles, he asks him if he remembers the night This revelation explains the true reason why Dad has been so
of Mum’s accident. He tells Miles that Mum was leaving him for tortured over Mum and Uncle Nick’s deaths—he is guilty, rather
another man and says that “they were dead when I found the than grief-stricken. Dad’s admission implies that Mum and Nick
car.” Miles is sickened by the victimized look on Dad’s face. He were having an affair. Nick (who was presumably the one to leave
pleads with Miles, saying: “I had to take him away” because the shark tooth in Mum’s car) did not drown, but rather died in the
“everyone would have known.” Miles screams Harry’s name car crash with her. It is unclear whether Dad had any involvement in
again and tries to break free of his father’s grip. Dad tells Miles the accident beyond taking Uncle Nick’s body away, nor is it certain
“you’re my son” and finally lets him go. whether Nick was already dead when Dad found him or if Dad killed
him after the fact. The fact that Dad was already there at the scene
could suggest that he was the one to force Mum’s car off the road.
Additionally, it seems that Miles may be Dad’s only biological son
out of the three Curren brothers. The idea that Miles may not be
biologically related to Harry and Joe adds a layer of complexity to
their brotherly bond, suggesting that true brotherhood is based on
love and trust rather than blood.
Miles leaps into the ocean and the freezing cold water robs him Again, Miles displays immense courage and loyalty in his willingness
of his breath. He finds Harry’s limp body and pulls them both up to jump in after Harry. Although he is well aware of the danger that
to the surface. Miles clutches his little brother with one arm the frigid water and sharp rocks pose, he sacrifices his own safety in
and tries to act as a buffer between Harry and the jagged rocks order to shield Harry.
of Flat Witch. He tries to swim under the water with Harry to
get through the channel and back to land, but the rough waves
throw them off course and cause Miles to lose his grip on his
brother.
Harry regains consciousness and calls out to Miles as he bobs Though Miles is able to face his fear of deep water for the sake of his
above the water. Miles spots a new set of massive waves younger brother, Harry’s phobia of the water is only intensified by
forming and swims toward his brother as fast as he can. Harry his direct exposure to its powerful depths.
grabs onto Miles as his brother tries to swim past the break,
sobbing and pleading with him not to take him underwater.
Miles can see the six-foot wave that ravaged their fishing boat Miles feels utterly insignificant and helpless compared to the giant
growing in size and strength. Having swum out farther to sea, storm wave and vast ocean that threatens to engulf the brothers.
he cannnot see any land. Miles tries his best to keep himself Miles is terrified of drowning and realizes that he must work hard to
and Harry afloat, treading the freezing water as slowly as stay conscious, yet his love for Harry allows him to stay calm and
possible to conserve energy and stay awake. Harry, worried focus on reassuring his little brother. This moment shows that while
about sharks, tells him he is scared, and Miles reassures him brotherhood may not solve all problems, it can nonetheless be a
that they just have to wait. source of strength even in the most devastating situations.

Harry asks whether Dad is coming for them and Miles can feel Even though Dad was the one to push Harry overboard, the little
his little brother shivering violently as they float in the bitterly boy still remains naïvely hopeful that his father will save him and
cold ocean. Miles realizes that Harry did not put on the warm Miles. Miles, who knows that Dad will not be rescuing them, focuses
woolen sweater he laid out for him that morning and berates all of his energy on trying to keep his little brother alive. This
himself internally for not checking to make sure he was wearing conviction shows that Miles is more of a parental figure to Harry
it before they left. He assures Harry that they will be all right than their own father. The fact that Miles immediately blames
and tries to imagine a flame welling inside him and dispersing himself for Harry’s being cold also demonstrates how tempting it is
its warmth throughout his body, through his skin, and into to look for blame even within senseless tragedy.
Harry.
The freezing water causes to Miles fall into a delirious, Miles’s regression into memories of his youth and hallucinations of
dreamlike state. He remembers falling into the river as a young Mum’s voice show that he has been affected by her death on a deep,
child. Joe saved him, carried him home, and brought him hot subconscious level. Even in the direst circumstances, he finds
cocoa as Mum tucked him in by the warm fireplace. Miles hears comfort in his mother’s loving presence. Additionally, the memory of
Mum’s voice softly in the distance, telling him not to go to sleep, Joe saving him from the river parallels his own heroic attempt to
as he feels himself sinking down into a warm light. Her voice save Harry and reflects the deep bond that links all three of the
comes back louder and asks where her baby, Harry, is. Miles Curren brothers.
then hears Harry’s voice telling him he is no longer afraid of the
water and visualizes his brother’s forehead touching his. A cold
splash of water shakes Miles out of his dream and he wakes to
find Harry gone.
CHAPTER 38
In a reality separate from Harry and Miles’s perilous position It is unclear whether Harry, like Miles, is dreaming, or if this passage
adrift in the ocean, Harry chases after Jake through a forest. implies that Harry has passed away and is transitioning from life
They follow George up a hill and Harry can see a rich, into death. Regardless, George’s presence in this vision suggests that
untouched landscape below full of forests, mountains, and his friendship has thoroughly filled the void in Harry’s life left by
valleys. He sees water that seems to go on through “the whole grief and mistreatment. Harry’s observation of the ocean’s beauty is
world,” flowing into rivers, lakes, and oceans that look white and also significant, as he is finally able to make peace with the water he
gold in the light. Harry feels that he is flying like a bird, and that has feared for his entire life.
he is free.
CHAPTER 39
Miles enters into a state of total delirium as he floats alone in Throughout the story, Miles has struggled between a phobia of deep
the water. He perceives himself to be suspended in an orange water and a beloved pastime of surfing. This passage marks the end
light that will soon dissipate into darkness. Miles feels that he of his polarized relationship with the water, as he is forced to
has “been drifting for a lifetime” as Harry and the rest of his surrender himself into a passive state, wherein he is unable to fear
material life dissolve into the vastness of the deep water. He or love the water. Rather, he is only able to recognize its immense,
senses himself becoming incorporated into the ocean and can all-encompassing presence. In this moment, Miles feels that he has
no longer perceive the boundary between his consciousness been integrated with the ocean as opposed to fighting against it.
and his surroundings. Miles stops resisting the waves, feeling
ready to succumb to drowning as he sinks away from light and
air.

CHAPTER 40
Miles suddenly feels water spew from his mouth as he is lifted The reader is able to understand Joe before Miles does and infer
out of the ocean. He cannot open his eyes because he feels that that Harry drowned in the ocean and was found on a reef. Joe’s
the world is “too far out of reach.” Miles wakes up in a hospital apology suggests that he does not blame Miles for Harry’s death,
bed, feeling incredibly thirsty and twitching as spasms of cold although Miles will likely blame himself for being unable to save
and pain ripple throughout his hypothermic body. He sees Joe their little brother.
looking down at him and tries to make sense of his brother
apologizing and telling him that “he looked peaceful,” and that
“they found him on one of the reefs out near Acton.”
In his delirium, Miles suddenly understands that Joe is talking Miles’s intense reaction to the news of Harry’s death shows how
about Harry—that his little brother drowned in the water important a role his little brother played in his life. The magnitude of
before he could be saved with Miles. Thrown into shock, Miles this tragedy disrupts Miles down to the core of his being, to the
begins screaming uncontrollably and feels as though he is point that he cannot even begin to blame himself because he loses
having an out-of-body experience where he can see and hear a touch with his own body and sense of reality.
boy lying on the bed, who cannot be him. The sound of his own
screams becomes gradually fainter as he loses consciousness
and falls into a warm sleep.
Miles has another dream that is infused with his own This is another iteration of the dream Miles had in Chapter 32
memories, visualizing the night of the car accident that killed when he fell asleep in the passenger seat of Dad’s car. The repetition
Mum just as he did when he fell asleep in Dad’s truck. He again of this memory implies that it holds deep significance for Miles
sees Harry in the seat next to him and the bags of clothes which his subconscious is grasping to interpret.
around him as he feels himself drifting off to sleep.
The memory takes a diversion from his prior dream as a man In light of Dad’s harrowing confession about Mum and Uncle Nick’s
gets into the car and strokes Harry’s cheek. Miles realizes that illicit relationship and his involvement in their deaths, Miles’s
the man is Uncle Nick, whom Mum refers to as “my darling.” He memories of the accident finally come into focus. He realizes what
then goes through the same experience of falling asleep before the reader likely picked up on several chapters before but that he
he can see the city lights, feeling something tighten around his was too preoccupied to fully comprehend—that Nick was in the car
neck and chest, and feeling crushed under the weight of the with them during the crash. Nick’s kindness toward Miles, even
bags. Everything becomes “quiet and black” until he hears though Miles was not his own son, also shows how important loving
Harry cry. father figures can be even in the absence of a biological relationship.
Miles awakens from his nightmare to see Joe asleep on the The violent storm was ultimately what claimed Harry’s life and took
chair next to his hospital bed. Joe asks if he needs anything, but him away from his brothers, yet those same rough waters were also
all Miles can say is “you came back.” Joe tells him that he had what caused Joe to turn back and be reunited with Miles when his
been unable to leave because the wind was too strong and younger brother needed him the most. Again, the narrative
prevented his boat from getting through the strait. underscores the inherent duality of the natural world.

Still reeling from his disturbing, memory-infused dream, Miles Miles verbally confirms what the reader has already inferred and
tells Joe that Uncle Nick was in the car on the night of the crash shares this revelation with his older brother. Joe’s own absence from
and that Dad was at the scene of the accident. He remembers the car on the night of the accident remains a mystery. That Miles
that their father took Nick away and left him, Mum, and Harry cares for Harry even in the immediate aftermath of the crash shows
there. Miles called out for Mum, but she never answered, and how their brotherly bond turns into a somewhat parental one as
Miles wrapped Harry with a blanket and tried to stay awake soon as their mother is gone.
amidst the wreckage.
CHAPTER 41
After Miles is released from the hospital, he stays with Joe on In the wake of Harry’s death, Joe gives up on his notion of sailing
his boat. Unsure of what to do or where to go, they moor Joe’s away alone and instead commits to staying with Miles. His
boat close to Granddad’s now-empty house at Lady Bay and willingness to do so reflects that Joe no longer feels the need to run
spend time on the veranda. Miles enjoys the feeling of the boat from his responsibilities as an older brother and stand-in father
that Joe has spent years building since he first started his figure.
carpentry apprenticeship.
Joe sits at boat’s kitchenette table, charting their path away Having lost Mum, Uncle Nick, and Granddad prior to Harry’s death,
from Bruny Island. Miles tells Joe that he is coming with him to Miles is cynical at the idea of attending a funeral for Harry. He feels
Dad’s house and feels sick on the van ride there. Harry’s alienated by his close proximity to the tragedy, having desperately
funeral is that Friday and he will be buried in the same tried to save Harry from drowning before he ultimately died.
cemetery as Mum and Granddad. Harry dreads seeing Aunty
Jean and other relatives there, knowing that they will cry and
offer up empty condolences.
As they pull up to Dad’s house, Miles wonders what happened Joe does not hesitate to assign blame to Dad. Their father seems to
to Dad. Joe answers that he does not know, but that he hopes have fled the house in shame, though it is unclear whether he feels
their father is dead. They enter the house and Miles feels that it guilty over causing Harry’s death or is just afraid that he will be held
has been a long time since anyone was there. He takes the responsible. Having thrown Harry overboard to his death, Dad
photo of Mum from the day at Cloudy Bay when Uncle Nick committed the ultimate act of violence and irreparably fragmented
first took him surfing. Miles knows now that he was right to feel the Curren family. His avoidance of facing Miles and Joe shows that
suspicious on that day the photo was taken, when he saw Nick Dad has not changed his ways—he is still the same cruel, negligent
hug Mum, and Mum laugh and push him away. Miles asks Joe if father he has been for a long time.
he looks like Mum and his brother replies that he does.
Miles enters the bedroom he shared with Harry and finds that Again, Miles feels utterly alienated in his grief over Harry, as he was
it is exactly how they left it. He collapses on Harry’s bed and the last one to be with his little brother before he drowned. Although
tells Joe that he does not want to go to the funeral. Joe George and Stuart were close with Harry, Miles is convinced that
encourages him to go anyway, telling him that George Fuller, they (nor Joe) cannot fully understand the trauma he is
Stuart, and Harry’s classmates will be there. Miles tells Joe that experiencing.
he is staying here with Harry. He feels that Joe cannot
understand that Harry might come back the way Mum did
sometimes when he and Harry could not sleep.

Lost in a moment of grief, Miles says that he did not mean to fall Joe seems to regret his previous decision to leave Bruny Island. It is
asleep. Joe puts his arm tightly around Miles and tries to possible that he blames himself, as well as Dad, for Harry’s death,
distract him by telling him about all the tropical islands and big since Miles and Harry may have left their father’s house to stay with
cities they will travel to, now that they are free to roam. Miles Joe if he had remained in town. Joe is now fully committed to taking
knows that Joe will take him along on the boat everywhere he responsibility for Miles, delivering an unspoken promise to his
goes from now on. He leans against Joe’s shoulder and allows younger brother that he will not abandon him again and also
himself to cry. demonstrating how blame, when handled maturely, can also be a
way to work toward healing.
CHAPTER 42
Miles looks out over the bay from the deck of Joe’s boat, Miles is intimately aware of the recent storm’s destruction, having
marveling at the destruction of the storm that took Harry’s life. nearly drowned as he lost Harry in the waves. Still, the sight of the
Joe says it was the biggest swell he had ever seen and that it ravaged coastline is humbling. Despite this destruction, Miles still
altered the entire coastline. Miles sees small waves starting to feels inherently pulled toward the water and does not shy away
form around the reef and can feel the water within him. from its magnetism.
Miles runs down the beach with his surfboard and spots the Miles’s decision to surf suggests that his traumatic experience has
silhouette of his old friend Justin Roberts surfing amidst the diminished, rather than deepened, his fear of the water. Though he
bright light reflecting off the water. Miles surfs alongside him, is fully aware of the ocean’s violent potential, he still finds happiness
remembering the countless summer days of his youth he spent and escapism through surfing. Additionally, reconnecting with
at the beach with Justin and how the water had been “just for Justin allows him to feel at peace with his past memories rather
fun” back then. He remembers Mum and Harry waiting in the than haunted by tragedy.
car to pick them up at sundown each evening and dropping
Justin off at his house, only to meet up again the next day.
As they surf together, Miles and Justin pick up where they left Again, Justin’s presence helps Miles feel connected to the positive
off years ago with no awkwardness, talking about the waves aspects of his past as opposed to solely focusing on his traumatic
“just like always.” Justin lets Miles ride the new board his father experiences.
got for him and they reminisce about their past adventures.
As they part ways at the end of the day, Justin tells Miles he is This passage marks Miles’s acceptance of Mum and Harry’s deaths.
sorry about Harry. Miles wants to say goodbye and thank Though he wishes that he could have them back, he recognizes that
Justin but finds himself unable to do so. He waves as Justin he must move on from the past in order to survive. The juxtaposition
walks away and he can feel the memory of Mum and Harry of Mum and Harry waiting for Miles with Joe doing the same in the
waiting for him in the car, telling him to hurry up so they can get present suggests that, while the brothers have experienced immense
fish and chips for dinner. Miles wants them to stay with them tragedy, they have not lost everything. Although Harry is no longer
but is interrupted by the sound of a car horn. He turns to see with them, the two older Curren brothers remain strong in their
Joe waiting for him in his van. loyal bond and may forge a happier family life going forward.

CHAPTER 43
A morning fog hovers around the trees and rolls out over the This makeshift funeral ceremony is a somber occasion, yet Miles
water around Bruny Island. Miles admires the winter light that seems to feel relatively lighthearted and accepting of his
sparkles and reflects off the surface of the dark water, feeling circumstances. This is a stark contrast to how Dad coped with the
that it revitalizes everything. Miles and Joe meet George Fuller tragedy in his life, having harbored immense self-blame and
and Jake at Cloudy Bay, where they walk together to the dunes resentment that manifested in violence. The surrounding natural
and dig a hole in the sand, preparing to bury Harry’s beloved landscape serves as an additional comfort for Miles rather than a
collection of beach treasures that he kept on the windowsills, source of anxiety, suggesting that he has made peace with Bruny
mantelpieces, and veranda at Granddad’s house. Island’s harsh environment and the duality it represents.
Miles looks at the dried shark egg in Harry’s collection and This passage is a flashback to the novel’s first chapter, this time told
remembers the day he teased Harry about finding one on this from Miles’s perspective rather than Harry’s. It is now clear that
very beach. While Harry had run off to the dunes, Miles stayed Miles spent so much time in the water that day not out of
in the water for ages until he finally found a shark egg floating selfishness, but in an effort to find a precious treasure for his little
at the surface. As Miles and his brothers ate their picnic on the brother.
beach at the end of the day, he pulled the shark egg from under
his towel and gave it to Harry.
Joe touches Miles’s arm and pulls him away from his memory. Miles’s sentimental attachment to the cuttlefish suggests that while
Miles puts Harry’s treasures—shells, rocks, driftwood, bones, he is willing to face the reality of Harry’s death, he wants to hold
and petrified sea creatures—into the hole in the sand but keeps onto positive memories of his little brother. The ancient shells used
the cuttlefish cartilage into which Harry carved his name. Joe to mark the burial site signify the mortality of human beings in
fills the hole and marks the spot with “ancient” white shells that contrast with the seemingly infinite cycles of the natural world.
they collected from the dunes along the way.
After their makeshift ceremony, Joe and Miles shake George’s Though the thought of George discovering Harry’s body is tragic,
hand goodbye. The old man pulls Miles into a hug and tells him Miles seems comforted by the notion that his little brother was
not to look back. Miles understands, knowing that he will not found by someone who cared deeply for him. George’s warm hug
come back to Bruny Island for a long time. George offers Miles and offering of the shark tooth show that he is glad to be a
the shark tooth necklace that Miles gave to Harry as a gesture grandfatherly figure for the older Curren brothers in Harry’s
of good luck, and Miles realizes that George had been the one absence, if only for a fleeting moment.
to find Harry’s dead body.
George waves goodbye and Jake barks as Miles and Joe set off The novel ends on an ambiguous yet optimistic note. While Harry’s
for their boat in the dinghy. Miles looks back at Cloudy Bay and death is undeniably tragic, the loss has brought Joe and Miles closer
reflects that this beach is the only place on Bruny Island he will together as brothers and allowed them to overcome their hardships
miss, since it has always seemed special and brighter than the together. Joe and Miles refuse to be broken by Dad’s cruelty or
rest. He is comforted by his belief that Harry will be free to stay scared away by the destructive potential of the ocean. Rather than
on Cloudy and “run along this beach until the end of time.” Past running from his responsibilities the way his own father did, Joe is
the shallows, the dark, roaring water forges a new path for committed to taking care of Miles as the brothers set off to find a
Miles and Joe as they embark on a new adventure. new path in life.

To cite any of the quotes from Past the Shallows covered in the
HOW T
TO
O CITE Quotes section of this LitChart:
To cite this LitChart: MLA
MLA Parrett, Favel. Past the Shallows. Washington Square Press. 2011.
Kunkle, Jenn. "Past the Shallows." LitCharts. LitCharts LLC, 6 Apr CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL
2019. Web. 21 Apr 2020.
Parrett, Favel. Past the Shallows. New York: Washington Square
CHICA
CHICAGO
GO MANU
MANUAL
AL Press. 2011.
Kunkle, Jenn. "Past the Shallows." LitCharts LLC, April 6, 2019.
Retrieved April 21, 2020. https://www.litcharts.com/lit/past-the-
shallows.

Past The Shallows LitChart

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Past The Shallows LitChart

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Past The Shallows LitChart

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Get hundreds more LitCharts at www.litcharts.

Past the Shallows

HISTORICAL CONTEXT EXTRA CREDIT

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 1

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 2

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 3

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 4

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 5

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 6

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 7

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 8

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 9

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 10

Harry picked up an abalone shell, the edges loose and

Related Characters: Miles Curren, Harry Curren, Explanation and Analysis

Explanation and Analysis

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 11

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 12

Chapter 9 Quotes Chapter 11 Quotes

Related Characters: Mr. Roberts/Brian (speaker), Justin

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 13

Page Number: 102

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 14

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 15

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 16

Chapter 36 Quotes Chapter 37 Quotes

Related Characters: Dad/Steven Curren (speaker), Jeff, Related Symbols:

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 17

indiscriminately holds him under as he desperately tries to violent grasp.

Related Themes: Explanation and Analysis

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 18

Page Number: 233

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 19

Page Number: 238

©2020 LitCharts LLC v.007 www.LitCharts.com Page 20

SUMMARY AND ANAL

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 21

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 22

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 23

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 24

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 25

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 26

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 27

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 28

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 29

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 30

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 31

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 32

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 33

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 34

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 35

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 36

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 37

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 38

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 39

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 40

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 41

©2020 LitCharts LLC www.LitCharts.com Page 42