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
Miles and Harry help Joe clean out the shed at Granddad’s house. The “keep” pile of things grows much larger than the “throw away” pile as Miles fights Joe to hold onto most of Granddad’s belongings. Harry agrees with Miles but stays quiet and waits timidly for instructions on what to move. When Joe goes to drop off the first load at the dump, Harry notices that Miles has not come out of the shed for a long time and goes in to look for him.
Since Joe went to live with Granddad at the age of thirteen, he was likely closer to his grandfather than his younger brothers were. Miles’s greater sentimentality over Granddad’s belongings is likely rooted in the guilt he feels over not visiting with his grandfather when he was sick in the hospital.
Themes
Inside the shed, Harry finds Miles sitting on the detached backseat from Mum’s wrecked car. Although Harry was young when the accident happened, he has fond memories of the old car’s interior. Between the seats, Miles finds a white pointer shark’s tooth attached to a string. When Joe returns from the dump, they show him the seats and the other parts Granddad kept from Mum’s car, but they hide the shark tooth.
The discovery of the car seats and shark tooth necklace adds an additional layer of mystery to Mum’s death—it is unclear why Granddad kept the car parts or where the tooth came from. This passage suggests that there is more to the car accident than the Curren brothers (or the reader) are presently aware of.
Themes
Overwhelmed by the discovery, Joe suggests that they should take a break and have lunch. Harry asks what they should do with the remnants of Mum’s car, knowing that Miles will insist on keeping them. On their way to the house, Joe pauses on the veranda and comments that Granddad should not have kept the car parts. While Miles and Joe go inside to have lunch, Harry stays outside among Granddad’s old things and wishes that Joe would stay on Bruny Island.
Given that Harry has memories of riding in Mum’s car, he likely remembers his mother and grandfather well but does not know how to express his grief. Joe’s decision to leave Bruny Island on his boat threatens to further destabilize Harry’s life, as he adores his older brother and Joe’s protective presence helps to uphold a sense of normalcy.
Themes
