Escaping the Giant Wave

The main conflict of Escaping the Giant Wave is the natural disaster that hits the Oregon coast while Kyle and his family are vacationing there. This conflict represents the theme that the future cannot be predicted throughout the novel. In the beginning, the tsunami is foreshadowed several times. However, because nobody can know the future, the characters in the novel still make choices that put them in danger. For example, when BeeBee suggests saving money and not going on the trip in the first chapter, her family could not have known that the tsunami would hit during their trip. Kyle thinks “it’s always easy to know the right choice after it’s too late to go back and change your mind” (14). Unfortunately, the future is unpredictable and therefore the right choice could not have been made with confidence.

Once the earthquake and tsunami warning are in effect, Kyle and BeeBee’s parents have regrets about leaving their children alone in the hotel while they are on the cruise (86). Although they read the tsunami warning on the beach earlier in the day, they had no way of knowing that a tsunami would actually hit the coast. If their parents could have predicted the future, their actions would have changed drastically. They would not have traveled to Oregon or left their children in the hotel room alone. Even with Kyle’s responsible actions, they would not have willingly left him to save his sister during a natural disaster. Without a predictable future, the Davidson’s had no way of being prepared.

The ability to predict the future would have been helpful for Kyle and BeeBee as they ran away from the tsunami. After the first wave hits, they flee deeper into the woods and Kyle “wished [he] knew what was ahead of [them]” (112). When the second wave hits, Kyle has panicked feelings about his choices: “We should have run as far and as fast as we could. The warning sign had said to go as high up and as far away from the water as possible. Why had I followed only half the instructions?” (116). Kyle’s inability to know what was going to happen next as he and BeeBee ran in the forest was inescapable. He could not have known when the wave was coming or how high the water was going to be. Without being able to predict the future, Kyle could only do the best that he could in the situation.

Without Kyle’s natural tendency to be prepared, he and BeeBee would most likely not have survived the tsunami. Kyle pays attention when his family reads the tsunami warning sign on the beach, and his attentiveness prepares him for when problems start to occur. While still in the hotel room after the earthquake, Kyle remembers the warning sign and tells BeeBee, “in case a big wave does come, we need to get as far away from the ocean as we can” (53). That preparedness leads Kyle to shelter himself and his sister from the earthquake, provide wet towels to breathe through in the hotel fire, and a future plan for avoiding the tsunami.

Kyle’s discipline of preparation shows before the fire and tsunami ever take place, foreshadowing his competency to take action in an emergency. He prepares for his baseball seasons by running track at the high school, demonstrating his dedication to readiness. He spends his school years preparing to run into Daren, so he actively avoids him as much as possible both in school and during the Oregon trip. He prepares to stand up to Daren as one of his summer goals but takes his time in devising exactly how he will defend himself. In the meantime, he chains the lock on the hotel door in case Daren decides to come by unannounced.

Preparation is also what gives Kyle confidence when he decides to leave the beach area and head uphill to safety. Although he isn’t sure he is making the right choice, Kyle chooses to trust the warning (72). He would rather be prepared just in case there was a tsunami than be caught off guard on the beach and in danger. This preparedness pays off when the tsunami hits. Without being on the hill, they “would have been washed away along with the unfortunate people below” (101). Once again, Kyle’s preparation saved their lives.

After the second wave, Kyle reflects on the difference his preparedness made and whether it was enough to save BeeBee and himself. When they stopped at the top of the hill with Norm and Josie, “that decision had probably been fatal” for the couple, because they did not run much farther before the second wave came (122). Kyle thinks that resting again with BeeBee and Pansy could be a mistake because would not be prepared for a potential third wave. If they kept running, they would be farther away from any more waves or danger. Staying in the same place meant risking less protection and preparation for another wave, even though they felt protected by the cedar tree’s shelter where they rested.

Overall, Kyle’s ability to stay ready for whatever happened kept them alive. Without Kyle’s preparation and quick thinking, they would have most likely suffered worse in the first wave.