Water

Raised on an island, the Curren family are no strangers to water. Water is described in a way that gives clear parallels to the emotions and behaviour of the characters of the text. The tumultuous Tasmanian Sea is, at times, unpredictable and extremely dangerous. Emblematic of the father in the family this represents the explosive nature of Dad’s temper. Even when it seems calm it doesn’t take long before the sea and the father’s temper can shift and become dangerous. This leaves those around wary of both.

Miles is willing to be on the sea, although he would prefer not to work on the boat. This is indicative of Mile’s strained relationship with his father, unable to leave and cautious of his father’s moods. Likewise he finds little peace in his father’s presence. Harry is afraid of the water. Harry is also skilled in avoiding his father, a task made easier by the father’s neglect. When Harry is forced into the presence of both his father and the sea, it is fatal.

Miles and Joe also have a love of surfing. An ability to ride the force of the ocean, to get out in front of it. This will symbolise their eventual escape from the island and their father. To have weathered such a brutal life and sail away.

Water Quotes

Water that was always there. Always everywhere. The sound and the smell and the cold waves making Harry different. And it wasn’t just because he was the youngest. He knew the way he felt about the ocean would never leave him now. It would be there always, right inside him. Chapter 1

There were things that no one would teach you—things about the water. You just knew them or you didn’t and no one could tell you how to read it. How to feel it. Miles knew the water. He could feel it. And he knew not to trust it. (Miles) Chapter 2

He lived for this, for these moments when everything stops except your heart beating and time bends and ripples—moves past your eyes frame by frame and you feel beyond time and before time and no one can touch you. (Miles) chapter 22

But ultimately it wasn’t up to you. This ocean could hold you down for as long as it liked, and Miles knew it. Chapter 37

Miles let the rip that ran with the bluff carry him. He enjoyed the ride, felt his hands slipping through the cool water, body floating free. And there was this feeling in him like when it had all just been for fun, the water. Chapter 42

Out past the shallows, past the sandy-bottomed bays, comes the dark water—black and cold and roaring. Rolling out an invisible path, a new line for them to follow.
To somewhere warm.
To somewhere new. Chapter 43

Sharks

A shark, shark teeth, and shark eggs are recurring symbols in Pavel Farret’s Past the Shallows. The shark makes its first appearance launching itself onto the Curren’s boat and thrashing and biting, looking to cause damage. Its appearance is symbolic of the unexpected dangers that face the Curren boys. In this case the shark fatefully breaks Martin’s leg and forces Miles to work on the boat. They overcome the shark but rather than let the animal go, Jeff kills the shark and after seeing the shark is pregnant, slays its young. This violence against the innocent young just trying to survive a harsh environment is preemptive of the violent attack that Jeff will later launch when he rams Harry’s mouth into a glass of whisky, a sign of external trouble against the boys being left unprotected by their father.

Harry, displaying his innocence, finds joy in the riches he discovers on the beach. Among these are the rare shark eggs, difficult to find as they look like seaweed. The shark eggs are symbolic of the nurturing that Harry seeks throughout the text. His only find of a shark egg was planted by Miles to bring Harry some pleasure, a sign that the nurturing will come from his brother. But sometimes small treasures, or a brother’s love, simply are not enough. It is while he seeks the shark egg that Harry realises that time cannot run forever and that one day he will die.

The shark tooth that is found while the boys are clearing out Granddad’s house, hidden in the car seat, symbolises the dangers of hidden secrets and blame. It is physical evidence of the mother’s affair with Uncle Nick and that Nick was in the car with Mum, Miles and Harry on that fateful night. When Dad sees the tooth it finally sends him over the edge as he is forced to confront a buried truth that Nick was his wife’s true love and, possibly, the real father of Harry and Joe. The shark tooth ultimately represents the disintegration of the Curren family and the damaging potential of blame in the midst of tragedy.

Shark Quotes

It was fully formed, more than half a yard long, maybe only days away from being born. It would have survived if Jeff had just let it go, let it slide off the back of the boat. It had made it this far, battling its siblings, killing and feeding off them. Waiting. It would have been born strong, ready to hunt, ready to fight. Chapter 9

He just kept starting at Harry. And his hand moved away from Harry’s hair, moved down to the string around his neck. And he cupped it in his palm—a white pointer’s tooth.
‘It’s his’, he said, and his face went pale. ‘His.’ He let the tooth go. He stared down at Harry.
‘She was leaving, because of him. Because of you.’ (Mr Curren) Chapter 36

He followed the marks of high tide left behind on the sand and his eyes skimmed the pebbles, the shiny jelly sacks, the broken shells. Cuttlefish were easy but shark eggs were impossible. They looked just like seaweed. He kept thinking he’d found one only to realise it was just a bit of kelp or a grimy pebble. There was hardly any point trying. But he did try. Chapter 1

Miles usually just got chips and sometimes potato cakes because he never ate flake. Even the smell of it made him sick. It was bad luck to eat shark. Chapter 27

Light

In a stark contrast to the rough and dangerous seas, emblematic of the father’s moods, is the comforting light that conveys the happy memories of the boys’ mother. The boys often notice the light and feel comforted by it as they endure the island’s brutal elements, just as they are comforted by the thought of their mother and her nurturing love even in her absence. Joe seeks the sunlight in a separate plan from the boys. Harry’s fear of the dark is mitigated by the sight of the southern lights outside his bedroom window. He remembers seeing them with his mother in the past. For Miles, the presence of the light that reflects off of the dark, tempestuous ocean serves as a source of warmth in the frigid winter and is a figurative reminder of hope.

The nurturing of the mother as reflected in the presence of the southern lights is a natural phenomenon that fills the sky with coloured lights, calming Harry in the dark of night. The lights are a fond memory that he had with his mother are seen as an almost metaphysical presence.

Light Quotes

He hadn’t seen them since he was young, since Mum, and he had forgotten about the lights in the sky. The coloured lights that pulsed and shone and breathed life across the dark plains. Endless. Close but nowhere. The green and yellow ripples of light. The Southern Lights. And they stayed until he fell asleep. (Harry, The Southern Lights) Chapter 34

There was a black emptiness inside him and it was all that he could see. He tried to imagine a fire in the darkness, and at first it was just one blue flame too small to feel. But he willed it on, felt the first flicker of warmth as it grew. Then it raged, turned into a ball of fire, orange and red and hungry. It devoured his stomach, moved up to his lungs, his back. Moved into his heart. He shared it with Harry through his skin. (Miles) Chapter 37

And Miles loved that light. It made the dark water sparkle, turned the white spray golden—made the ocean a giant mirror reflecting the sky. Even the leaves on the crack wattle shone in the light. It made everything come to life. Chapter 43