67 pages • 2 hours read
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Key uses finances as a motif in the novel that helps Julie and Shane find common ground and connects to the theme of Family Relationships. Julie and Shane come from families with opposite financial statuses. Julie’s father struggles to maintain the dive shop and bring in money from charter trips, partly because of his obsession with the Malzon tanks. This acts as the catalyst for the lucrative, last-minute dive with the Jordans. As a prominent attorney, Mr. Jordan is wealthy and unafraid to flaunt it. Shane wears expensive brand name clothing, Mr. Jordan carries all-new diving equipment, and he does not mind spending $2,000 for a 20-minute dive. Because Julie’s father needs money, he is willing to overlook the Jordans’ argumentative behavior and unsafe habits in favor of a big payoff. He and Julie are also more lenient about diving conditions that do not feel right, such as her father’s illness and the strong current. From the novel’s beginning, money clouds people’s judgment and highlights the poor relationship between Shane and his father.
For Julie’s mom, money is not a huge worry as she has a steady salary as an attorney in Atlanta. However, Julie notes that her mom made sacrifices for this financial stability: Mrs. Sims hardly has time to relax or spend with her daughter, and it appears that her mental health is declining. Through Mrs. Sims’s situation and the Jordans’ financial status, Key shows that focusing on money inevitably causes problems, whether one struggles financially or not.
While Julie and Shane are adrift together, they both acknowledge the problems money causes in their families. They find that they share similar sentiments about money, and this is one factor that helps them transition from enemies to friends.
Julie experiences nightmares often during her survival experience. Despite her weakened physical state, her body and mind cannot find rest in sleep. Worries about how to survive and whether she and Shane will be rescued weigh on her and manifest themselves in dreams. Through this motif, Key shows that survival includes mental challenges in addition to the physical ones.
In many of her nightmares, Julie finds herself alone. This reflects the fear she expresses about dying alone at various points of the novel. Interestingly, once Julie resigns herself to death, she sleeps restfully, without nightmares. This suggests that through acceptance, she can find peace. Even after she is rescued, the trauma of her experience does not immediately leave. She still has the nightmare of being alone, but when she wakes this time, she finds her parents beside her. Despite the lingering presence of fear, Julie finds comfort in the presence of her family.
At several points during their survival experience, Julie and Shane have up-close encounters with death. They helplessly watch Mr. Jordan sink beneath the waves, and firmly believe they will die on multiple occasions, such as just before reaching the oil rig. Julie fights to live with all her strength, but as a realist, she also acknowledges that her strength may not be enough to save her.
In the moments that Julie is closest to dying, she at times expresses more fear at the prospect of dying alone then at death itself. This hints at the human need for companionship, especially in times of difficulty. Other near-death moments demonstrate her acceptance of death’s inevitability. This acts as a reminder to readers that every human must reckon with the knowledge that death is inevitable. Although many readers likely have not had a near-death experience, Julie’s experience compels them to consider and accept death as a part of life.
By Watt Key