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Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Past the Shallows, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Brotherhood, Loyalty, and Hardship
Addiction and Abuse
Tragedy and Blame
Father Figures and Responsibility
The Duality of Nature
Summary
Analysis
During a day of fishing, Miles struggles to steer the boat while Dad, Martin, and Jeff dive for abalone. As he looks out at the water, Miles marvels at how sublime and ancient the surrounding landmarks are. He retrieves a catch bag full of the “abs” that floats up to the surface and reflects on how he used to feel sorry for the creatures when he was a young boy.
Miles dreads working on the boat and fears diving, but he is also able to appreciate the stunning natural beauty of his environment. Miles’s shift from sympathy to indifference toward the abalone suggests that the losses of Mum and Uncle Nick have left him jaded, and that his newfound responsibility forces him to suppress his emotions.
Themes
Martin resurfaces from the dive and skillfully separates the abalone from their shells using a shucking knife. Jeff resurfaces as well, and Miles begins to worry because Dad has been underwater for a long time. Miles dreads the day that he, too, will have to venture into the ocean’s depths, remembering the 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.
Miles’s admiration of Martin’s skill implies that he looks up to the fisherman as a male role model. His paranoia over Dad’s lengthy dive indicates that Uncle Nick’s death has made him constantly aware of the ocean’s dangerous potential and afraid of prematurely losing yet another loved one.
Themes
