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Orange Juice
Sephy and Callum’s special spot on the beach represents their youth, innocence, and idealism. At the beginning of the novel, their spot on the beach is where Sephy and Callum can spend time together as genuine friends, and they don’t have to worry about racism or pressures from the outside world while they’re there. In this way, their spot is where they can be children, innocent to the evils of the wider world. But as the novel progresses, and as Sephy and Callum start to grow up—and as Sephy in particular discovers how racism affects noughts—the spot on the beach starts to lose its magic and charm. Attempts to connect with each other at this spot on the beach start to fall flat, signifying that both Sephy and Callum are growing up and starting to leave behind their innocence—and particularly their ignorance of how their racist and segregated society is going to keep them apart.
The final step toward both Sephy and Callum losing their youth and innocent happens when Callum corrupts the spot on the beach by using it as the site from which to kidnap Sephy. He preys on the innocence and idealism she still has by inviting her there—and then shatters her innocence, and his own, by allowing other members of the Liberation Militia to violently kidnap her. With this, Sephy and Callum are forced to acknowledge that they’re no longer children, and that their idealized visions of a future together are little more than hopes and dreams.
The Spot on the Beach Quotes in Noughts and Crosses
The Noughts and Crosses quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Spot on the Beach. 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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Chapter 1
Quotes
“Us noughts and you Crosses.” I shook my head. “It makes it sound like…like you’re in one place and I’m in another, with a huge, great wall between us.”
Callum looked out across the sea. “Maybe we are in different places…”
“No, we aren’t. Not if we don’t want to be, we aren’t.” I willed Callum to look at me.
“I wish it was that simple.”
“It is.”
“Maybe from where you’re sitting.”
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Chapter 55
Quotes
“Sephy, don’t follow your mother, okay? She’s headed for a mental home—or a coffin. Is that really what you want?”
That made me start and no mistake. Was that really where Mother was going? I didn’t want her to die like that. I didn’t want to die like that. I regarded Callum, seeing myself as he must see me. A silly, pathetic child who thought that drinking was a way to grow older faster.
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Get the entire Noughts and Crosses LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Spot on the Beach Symbol Timeline in Noughts and Crosses
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Spot on the Beach appears in Noughts and Crosses. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
It’s now three years later, and Sephy is enjoying a beautiful August afternoon on the beach with her best friend, Callum. Callum, though, asks out of the blue if he can...
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...because she’s a friend. Sephy turns back to the sea. She loves her family’s private beach, which stretches for miles. She and Callum have their special spot at one end, where...
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Chapter 2
...and it’s a constant struggle to not hit him. Callum wants to escape to the beach with Sephy and thinks of their kiss. He’s excited to go to school tomorrow. He’ll...
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Chapter 7
It’s a beautiful evening on the beach, but Sephy is miserable. She asks Callum to say something—she said she’s sorry, and it’s...
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...her. Sephy insists that’s silly, but Callum stands up. Sephy says she’s staying on the beach for a while and watches him walk away. She feels like a spectator to her...
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Chapter 8
...made a blood oath to keep seeing each other at their secret place on the beach.
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Chapter 12
...walks and then runs out of the school. He runs all the way to the beach, where he collapses and punches the sand until his fists are bleeding. He wishes the...
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Chapter 19
...stand up, aware everyone is watching them, Callum asks Sephy to meet him at their spot after dinner—but he’ll understand if she’s not there.
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Chapter 25
...that it’ll be winter soon; this means that Mother won’t let her down on the beach as often. Callum asks who beat Sephy up. Sephy refuses to say; she can’t do...
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Chapter 31
...learned is so shocking. It’s also shocking that Callum is in their place on the beach. He puts his arm around Sephy when she sits down next to him, and she...
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Chapter 40
...has spent the week doing nothing. He spends the morning of the funeral on the beach and returns home to find his house full of people. Callum knows Lynette would be...
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Chapter 42
Callum sits down beside Sephy on the beach. After a while, Sephy says she meant no harm, but going to the funeral wasn’t...
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Chapter 84
...her; Sarah made it impossible for him to sneak back in. He’s gone to the beach a few times, but that’s starting to feel childish. When Callum gets his food, he...
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Chapter 90
...of himself when he did this, but that’s okay. The Callum who sat on the beach and watched the sunset doesn’t exist anymore.
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Chapter 93
Sephy walks barefoot along the beach, feeling at peace. She knows now that Mr. Hadley will always prioritize politics over his...
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