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Chapter 14
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
In a few years, Dora grows too frail to walk. Sometimes, Abel carries her to the veranda so she can see the ocean. When Dora is awake, she often tells stories. In one story, Dora describes how she and Abel’s father once took Abel, when he was a baby, to swim in the warm shallows of the sea. Abel seemed to want to swim away like a fish, and he cried when his parents brought him back inside. Dora says Abel has always been exactly like his father in his love for the sea.
As Abel takes care of his now-elderly mother, he demonstrates his love for her. Meanwhile, Dora’s stories about Abel showcase her strong motherly love for her son. That Abel loved being in the water even as a baby emphasizes that he’s always had a strong connection to the sea. Moreover, Abel seems to have inherited his father’s love of the sea, suggesting that some aspects of his father are living on through him.
Themes
One day, Abel carries his mother to the shore and lays her on the water in his arms so she can float in the sea. Dora says, “We come from water […] We belong to it, Abel.” She smiles, and a blue shadow swims around them. The next day, Dora dies in her sleep, and Abel buries her in the family cemetery behind the orchard.
Before Dora dies, she gets to be with her family in Longboat Bay, just as she wanted. Even Blueback, who seems to be the blue shadow in the water, is with her. Being in the water gives Dora peace, as she considers the ocean to be her ultimate home. Her feeling of belonging to the ocean brings her comfort, joy, and closeness to the natural world she loves. More broadly, Dora implies that all people come from and belong to water since the ocean is a fundamental source of life for the entire planet. By laying his mother to rest in the family cemetery, Abel ensures she’ll always be part of Longboat Bay.
Themes
