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
A morning fog hovers around the trees and rolls out over the water around Bruny Island. Miles admires the winter light that sparkles and reflects off the surface of the dark water, feeling that it revitalizes everything. Miles and Joe meet George Fuller and Jake at Cloudy Bay, where they walk together to the dunes and dig a hole in the sand, preparing to bury Harry’s beloved collection of beach treasures that he kept on the windowsills, mantelpieces, and veranda at Granddad’s house.
This makeshift funeral ceremony is a somber occasion, yet Miles seems to feel relatively lighthearted and accepting of his circumstances. This is a stark contrast to how Dad coped with the tragedy in his life, having harbored immense self-blame and resentment that manifested in violence. The surrounding natural landscape serves as an additional comfort for Miles rather than a source of anxiety, suggesting that he has made peace with Bruny Island’s harsh environment and the duality it represents.
Themes
Miles looks at the dried shark egg in Harry’s collection and remembers the day he teased Harry about finding one on this very beach. While Harry had run off to the dunes, Miles stayed in the water for ages until he finally found a shark egg floating at the surface. As Miles and his brothers ate their picnic on the beach at the end of the day, he pulled the shark egg from under his towel and gave it to Harry.
This passage is a flashback to the novel’s first chapter, this time told from Miles’s perspective rather than Harry’s. It is now clear that Miles spent so much time in the water that day not out of selfishness, but in an effort to find a precious treasure for his little brother.
Themes
Joe touches Miles’s arm and pulls him away from his memory. Miles puts Harry’s treasures—shells, rocks, driftwood, bones, and petrified sea creatures—into the hole in the sand but keeps the cuttlefish cartilage into which Harry carved his name. Joe fills the hole and marks the spot with “ancient” white shells that they collected from the dunes along the way.
Miles’s sentimental attachment to the cuttlefish suggests that while he is willing to face the reality of Harry’s death, he wants to hold onto positive memories of his little brother. The ancient shells used to mark the burial site signify the mortality of human beings in contrast with the seemingly infinite cycles of the natural world.
Themes
After their makeshift ceremony, Joe and Miles shake George’s hand goodbye. The old man pulls Miles into a hug and tells him not to look back. Miles understands, knowing that he will not come back to Bruny Island for a long time. George offers Miles the shark tooth necklace that Miles gave to Harry as a gesture of good luck, and Miles realizes that George had been the one to find Harry’s dead body.
Though the thought of George discovering Harry’s body is tragic, Miles seems comforted by the notion that his little brother was found by someone who cared deeply for him. George’s warm hug and offering of the shark tooth show that he is glad to be a grandfatherly figure for the older Curren brothers in Harry’s absence, if only for a fleeting moment.
Themes
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George waves goodbye and Jake barks as Miles and Joe set off for their boat in the dinghy. Miles looks back at Cloudy Bay and reflects that this beach is the only place on Bruny Island he will miss, since it has always seemed special and brighter than the rest. He is comforted by his belief that Harry will be free to stay on Cloudy and “run along this beach until the end of time.” Past the shallows, the dark, roaring water forges a new path for Miles and Joe as they embark on a new adventure.
The novel ends on an ambiguous yet optimistic note. While Harry’s death is undeniably tragic, the loss has brought Joe and Miles closer together as brothers and allowed them to overcome their hardships together. Joe and Miles refuse to be broken by Dad’s cruelty or scared away by the destructive potential of the ocean. Rather than running from his responsibilities the way his own father did, Joe is committed to taking care of Miles as the brothers set off to find a new path in life.
Themes
