The Shark Tooth Symbol Analysis

While the Curren brothers clean out Granddad’s old house, Miles makes a shocking discovery: their grandfather kept the wreckage of Mum’s car left behind in the accident that killed her. Between the car seats, Miles finds a shark tooth on a string that puzzles and haunts him, as he believes that whomever left the shark tooth in the car could be a clue in understanding the circumstances of Mum’s death. Just as Miles’s hazy memory of the accident is gradually pieced together through the novel, the tooth’s significance becomes clearer as the story progresses. Beyond its function as a simple necklace, the shark tooth holds much deeper meaning—it is revealed to be tangible evidence of Mum’s affair with Uncle Nick and of the fact that Nick was in the car with Mum, Miles, and Harry during the accident. The shark tooth is especially significant for Dad, who views it as an externalized representation of Nick as Mum’s true love (and, likely, the real father of Harry and Joe) as well as the jealousy and condemnation he still harbors toward his late brother-in-law. The shark tooth ultimately represents the fragmentation of the Curren family and the destructive potential of blame in the midst of tragedy, as the painful emotions of seeing the object around Harry’s neck cause Dad to project his rage toward Nick onto Harry and throw the little boy overboard to his death.