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Summary
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Blueback, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Nature, Belonging, and Conservation
Family and Love
Greed and Environmental Destruction
The Ocean and Life’s Mysteries
Time, Change, and Continuity
Summary
Analysis
Early in the morning, Abel puts on his wetsuit. His mother is already waiting in the dinghy. Abel gets into the boat, untethers it, and pushes them away from the jetty. As the dinghy sails out onto the water, the cold air wakes Abel up. Abel’s mother, who is tanned from the sun, tells him to get his gear ready. Abel grabs his diving gear along with a bag and a screwdriver.
The opening of the novel depicts a familiar routine for Abel, the main character, and his mother. Abel is used to sailing and diving underwater, and he and his mother seem to spend a lot of time outdoors. This first scene establishes that Abel and his mother are comfortable out in nature, especially on the water.
Themes
Abel’s mother steers the dinghy around Robbers Head. Then she anchors the boat, tells Abel to stay close, and dives into the sea. After putting on his diving gear, Abel follows her. The underwater world is full of seaweed, fish, starfish, and bright coral. Abel, who is 10 years old, loves diving. His mother often says he’s a natural diver because he swam inside her womb for nine months before he was born. Now, Abel admires his mother as she glides through the water. He’s learned everything he knows from her.
Abel feels at home underwater. His love for the sea is evident in his eagerness to dive and his appreciation of the ocean’s beauty. His mother’s saying also implies that Abel truly does belong in the water, as though he were born to swim in the ocean. As much as Abel loves the sea, he also loves his mother. He views her as wise, skillful, and beautiful, and they have a close, affectionate relationship.
Themes
Abel and his mother dive deeper to where abalone cling tightly to large boulders. They harvest some of the abalone, using their screwdrivers to pry the shellfish off the rock. They leave plenty of abalone behind to continue breeding. As they work, a colorful variety of reef fish swim around them.
Abel and his mother take resources from the reef sustainably, without depleting the abalone population. Their care for the underwater ecosystem demonstrates their respect for the sea, which helps maintain the beautiful, healthy diversity of the ocean.
Themes
Suddenly, Abel feels something large move in the water. He sees a huge blue shadow with a big mouth and teeth coming toward him. The shadow bites an abalone out of his hand. Abel fears he’s going to die and feels a pain in his arm. As the shadow disappears, Abel swims to the surface. He’s still afraid, but he realizes his hand is only slightly scratched.
To Abel, the sea is a wonderful place, but it also holds frightening dangers. When he encounters a large sea creature, he immediately fears the worst. However, the creature is scarier in Abel’s mind than it is in reality. It doesn’t actually attack him. Instead, it only wants to eat the abalone he’s holding.
Themes
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Abel’s mother surfaces next to Abel calmly and tells him it’s okay. When he looks back into the water, he discovers that the creature that surprised him isn’t a shark but a great blue fish. Abel’s mother calls it a blue groper and swims down with Abel to examine the fish up close. Abel is awed by its blue scales and thinks that this fish is “the most beautiful thing” he’s ever seen. Abel’s mother feeds the fish an abalone, and the fish swims away.
Abel’s momentary panic reveals that he’s young and still has a lot to learn about the sea. By staying calm and teaching Abel about the huge fish he’s encountered, Abel’s mother comforts him and shares some of her valuable knowledge of the sea. With her steady confidence, she helps Abel rekindle his enthusiastic curiosity about sea life. To Abel, the big blue groper then becomes an amazing wonder of the ocean.
Themes
Back in the boat, Abel and his mother laugh and marvel over the fish. His mother says the fish must be quite old and smart. As they head home, she says they were lucky to see such a fish. His mother has taught Abel that every day is special, but this day—when he “first shook hands with old Blueback”—is “precious.”
Meeting the blue groper turns out to be a fun experience for Abel and his mother, who bond over their delight in seeing such a big, beautiful, old fish. This encounter with the fish—Blueback—seems especially meaningful for Abel. The narration implies that this first meeting is the beginning of an important relationship between Abel and Blueback.
Themes
