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The Red Telephone
The moon pool symbolizes Eli and August’s trauma. It refers to August’s habit of filling the street with water from the hose in the middle of the night, and then staring at the moon’s reflection in the pool he’s created. At first, it seems as though August is just very interested in looking at the moon in this way, without any explanation as to why. And the way the boys talk about the moon pool—and about Eli’s dream of being in a car that dives into the ocean under a full moon—seem fully fantastical. This represents the boys’ inability to put into words what happened to them, to articulate the trauma they experienced. Turning the moon pool into a fantastical story means they can ignore the truth and not have to ever confront their trauma.
Eventually, though, it comes out that when they were small boys, Dad was taking Eli and August camping. He had a panic attack while driving on a windy country road—and when he lost control of the car, the car flew into a farmer’s dam and sank. Upon hearing his guidance counselor insist that the stories or dreams about the moon pool are memories, Eli suddenly realizes she’s right. Suddenly, he remembers what happened, and he spends the next year or so wondering himself what happened, and asking Dad if he drove into the dam on purpose. In addition, Eli starts refusing to play along when August insists that he and Eli died in the dam and came back to life. Accepting a seemingly normal (if traumatic) explanation of what happened allows Eli to start healing from his trauma.
Ultimately, Eli comes to realize that it doesn’t actually matter whether August is right or wrong about them dying in the moon pool. Eli remarks that “[August] keeps telling me he’s come back from somewhere. We both have. And he means the moon pool. We’ve come back from the moon pool.” When Eli says that, “com[ing] back” starts to take on a slightly different meaning than August saying they came back to life. Rather, Eli is alluding to the fact that he and August have “come back” from a place where the trauma they experienced ruled their lives—they’ve healed.
The Moon Pool Quotes in Boy Swallows Universe
The Boy Swallows Universe quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Moon Pool. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Boy Stirs Monster
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“You know what I realised in all that time with my mouth shut?”
“What?”
“Most things people say don’t need to be said,” he says.
He taps the moon pool.
“I’ve been thinking about all the things Lyle said to me,” August says. “He said so many things, and I reckon all those things put together wouldn’t say as much as he said when he’d wrap his arm around my shoulder.”
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Boy Steals Ocean
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“Eli said you drove them into the moon pool, Robert.”
And the dream feels so different when she says it like that. You drove them into the moon pool. Nobody else did. It had to be him.
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Boy Tightens Noose
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But you heard them, Eli. You heard them on the phone, too.
“I was playing along, Gus,” I say. “I bought into the bullshit because I felt sorry for you being such a nutter.”
I’m sorry, Gus. I’m sorry.
“Well, here’s the reality, Gus,” I say. I point at Dad. “He’s so fuckin’ crazy he tried to drive us into a dam. And you’re just as crazy as him and maybe I’m just as crazy as you.”
[…]
“Did you mean to do it?”
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Boy Takes Flight
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Ultimately, in these embraces, to my surprise, hugging Dad back feels like the good thing to do and my hope is to grow into a good man, so I do it.
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Boy Drowns Sea
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I know, Slim. I know I haven’t asked Dad about the moon pool. I know this happiness depends on me and August and Mum forgetting the bad old days. We lie to ourselves, I know, but isn’t there a little white lie in all acts of forgiveness?
Maybe he didn’t mean to drive us into that dam that night. But maybe he did. Maybe you didn’t kill that taxi driver. But maybe you did.
You did your time for it. You did your time and then some. Maybe Dad has too.
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He keeps telling me he’s come back from somewhere. We both have. And he means the moon pool. We’ve come back from the moon pool.
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Boy Conquers Moon
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“Yeah, it’s dead,” I say.
“Stupid bird seemed so determined to kill itself,” he says.
Caitlyn slaps her hands.
“Wren!” she says. “I remember now! That’s a wren.”
And with that, the dead blue wren comes back. Like it was just waiting for Caitlyn Spies to recognise it, because, like all living things—like me, me, me—it lives and dies on her breath and her attention.
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Get the entire Boy Swallows Universe LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Moon Pool Symbol Timeline in Boy Swallows Universe
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Moon Pool appears in Boy Swallows Universe. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Boy Writes Words
...six. Since then, August has also been obsessed with reflective surfaces and staring at the moon. At night sometimes, he slips outside, creates a puddle in the street with the hose,...
(full context)
Boy Busts Out
...be in this dream anymore as the car hits the water, which reflects the full moon. August, unconcerned about breathing water, writes “Boy swallows universe” in the air. Eli picks up...
(full context)
Boy Stirs Monster
...watches August fill the street outside Number 5 Lancelot Street—Dad’s house—with water to create a moon pool. When it’s full, August grabs an old golf club and taps the middle of...
(full context)
Boy Steals Ocean
...says she’s concerned that August might hurt himself. She says Eli called the scene “the moon pool,” and August shoots an angry glance at Eli. She suggests the boys might be...
(full context)
...are: memories. Mrs. Birkbeck says that according to Eli, Dad drove his sons into the moon pool days before Mum left him. Dad bursts out that the boys won’t heal if...
(full context)
...come out. The secret, she says, is that August is convinced he died in the moon pool and came back—and has come back many times. Eli, she says, believes there are...
(full context)
Boy Drowns Sea
...work raising money for muscular dystrophy. Eli acknowledges that he hasn’t asked Dad about the moon pool, but maybe everyone’s happiness depends on forgetting the bad parts of the past. Who...
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Boy Conquers Moon
Eli goes outside and starts to fill a moon pool in the street. Moments later, August appears. August assures Eli he doesn’t need to...
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