56 pages • 1 hour read
Jane HarperThe Survivors
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Evelyn Bay
As dynamic as any human character in the novel, the small, coastal town of Evelyn Bay is a motif that illustrates the benefits and dangers of small-town life. More vibrant than its swirling blue waters are the residents of the tiny village where locals hold down the barstools at the pub and townsfolk tolerate the yearly population swell of tourists on which the island depends. Just as the island town is subject to extreme weather, Evelyn Bay is vulnerable to libelous gossip, judgmental attitudes, and distorted views. Harper suggests that while small towns can feel like close-knit communities, they can also be suffocating and claustrophobic prisons for those wishing to live independently or to start over after making a mistake. Mia explains, “People get hurt when old stuff gets dragged up” (252). Though it exists on a coastline and not down a dirt road or sequestered in the forest, Evelyn Bay stands as a symbol of small-town life which on the surface can appear charming and enchanting but can also be oppressive and cruel.
What was once a vibrant, productive city is now a faded relic: “It hadn’t always been like that, apparently. Evelyn Bay lay sandwiched between native woodlands and the sea, and its fortunes had been driven by fishing and forestry back when Kieran’s parents had been his age” (12). As tourist numbers shrink and the town police force is cut, Evelyn Bay is slowly becoming a memory. As its livelihood fades, the locals cling to their habits and maintain a distrust of outsiders. Bronte and George come to Evelyn Bay to explore their creative interests and enjoy the serenity of the remote and secluded landscape. Bronte views the caves as an oddity and alluring tourist attraction whereas the locals accept them as a part of the landscape. George survived the historic storm and returns to the island after enduring personal problems. However, with the murder of Bronte, he finds himself in the middle of a maelstrom, not one born of the sea this time, but hatched in the minds and hearts of the cloistered town residents. Ironically in a town where everyone knows everyone, the members harness the power of anonymity in the online chat forum EBOCH to attack and degrade each other. They boycott the Surf and Turf turning their backs on a community member and local business owner Julian under the influence of their misguided principles. Despite its postcard beauty, Evelyn Bay is full of intrigue, secrets, and shallowly buried grudges. The author uses the insular community as a motif to highlight the dangers of detachment and seclusion, which lead to prejudiced small-mindedness.
Water
Water is an essential element of life that can also be a force of destruction. The residents of Evelyn Bay depend on the sea and coastline to support their tourist economy but are also keenly aware of the damaging and potentially deadly power of the ocean. For Kieran, swimming in water is therapeutic and a way for him to release his grief, and during the scuba dive with his mother, the peace of the underwater realm temporarily releases him from his guilt and sorrow, the weightlessness of water holding him and relieving his burden. Even Brian in his diminished capacity benefits from swimming in the sea. However, as much as the ocean can give in comfort, beauty, and commerce it also can take, swallowing and submerging in a deluge of disaster.
Each time a storm blows and rain pelts the island or the waves crash against the cliffs, the faded community is reminded of what it lost. The same waters that sustained Finn and Toby’s diving business swallow them in a moment, their young lives lost to the mighty, untamable swells. For Kieran, each time he sees the ocean or hears its cacophonous clash, he is transported back to that day when he ignored the warnings about the weather and rising tide. For Sean, the ocean became a place where he thought he could hide his secrets. But just as the sea can cover and envelop, it can also pull back and reveal what is hidden. When he cast Bronte’s body into the water, the tide delivered her back to the shore refusing to be an accomplice to murder. By setting the novel near the sea, the author creates a dynamic and mercurial setting where characters are shaped by their surroundings and subservient to the whims of wind and waves. Water becomes a symbol not only of the power of nature to soothe or ruin but also of the capability within humans to sustain life or shatter it.
The Survivors
The inhabitants of Evelyn Bay are soberly aware of the inevitability of tragedy at sea. The coast of Tasmania, with more than 1,000 sunken ships, is a cemetery of ocean vessels, and divers flock to explore the wreckage. The fictional town of Evelyn Bay holds claim to the wreck of Mary Minerva whose remains lie just offshore. Townsfolk mark the site with a statue of three survivors clutching each other, faces cast towards the horizon: “Kieran and Verity had walked him to the beach, their trio of moon-cast shadows forming a grotesque echo of The Survivors against the sand” (133).
The statue serves as a reminder of the lives lost in the maritime catastrophe. However, as the narrative begins to unfold, and the past comes to light, The Survivors comes to symbolize the collective grief of a town and the wreckage of heartache and tragedy left behind.
The Survivors statue symbolizes not only those who were lost but also those who survived. For Kieran, surviving the historic storm is a burden, and the statue is a reminder that his brother Finn died trying to save him. Pendlebury wonders, “Is it a celebration of the people who made it, or a memorial to the ones who didn’t?” (258). Ironically, the statue disappears during high tide, the most dangerous time to be around the caves. Just as the waves overtake the memorial and sink it from view, the waves of grief crash over Kieran and Trish threatening to subsume them, both returning to the shore repeatedly in attempts to exorcise their pain. The memorial stands over the bay as both a beacon and a warning. The Survivors stand holding each other in a hopeful embrace facing toward the horizon symbolizing the promise of a future. For those left behind in the wake of disaster, disease, and death, there is still a life to live. Yet the figures also signal a warning of the fragility of life in the hands of wild and unforgiving natural forces.
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By Jane Harper
