82 pages • 2 hours read
Alex FlinnBreathing Underwater
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Nick’s Journal
Nick uses his journal to document the events that led to Caitlin filing a restraining order against him. Nick already has practice imagining various fantasy worlds to cope with his bleak reality, so the journal represents a choice: Will he choose to write more fantasy, or will he finally face the truth? While at first he writes reluctantly, he gradually starts to turn to his journal in moments of stress and fear. Instead of reaching for happy thoughts of Caitlin, he reaches for his journal to force himself to remember the heartbreaking moments. In the end he realizes the journal is instrumental in helping him analyze his past: “I blame the journal. It’s become my torment and my salvation, the cable that binds me to the past by being my sole reality. And somehow, when I see it on paper, it becomes more real than when it’s just in my head” (Loc 2081). In order to grow, he cannot allow himself to forget or misremember his pain.
In addition to aiding his emotional growth, the journal also documents the progress of Nick as an author and a writer. He begins writing in it with an understanding that the judge and/or Mario could read anything he writes, so his sardonic tone is addressed to that audience. Later, his prose becomes honest and raw, showing how desperate he is to believe in himself and how keenly he can transition between the two voices. He ultimately gives the journal to Mario and asks him to read it. Thus, Nick lets himself be not only a vulnerable victim, but a vulnerable writer looking for validation of his work. As Nick slowly embraces his talent for creative writing, the journal becomes a vehicle for expression that leads to personal and professional development.
Water
As is evident from the title, water imagery plays an important role in the novel. The idea of “breathing underwater” is first introduced by Mario, who uses the phrase to describe the sense the students may have when they feel out of control. Nick revisits the phrase several times as he becomes more self-aware of how he has been living and his desire to change.
The characters all live in Florida, surrounded by water, and even Nick’s backyard features a small beach with dolphins. After he angrily criticizes Caitlin’s necklace and throws it away, he tries to earn her forgiveness by convincing her to watch the dolphins with him. He sees this moment as a revelation of a hidden part of himself: “This was all I could give her, all I had, all I was. If she couldn’t understand why I’d brought her here, it was over” (Loc 1211). He then tells her a touching love story that lends the spot meaning. Thus, the ocean setting enhances Nick’s storytelling and persuasive abilities, while also highlighting Nick’s preference for fiction over reality. If he can make Caitlin believe in the romantic fantasy, together they can avoid the reality of their rocky relationship. Just like the water gives the dolphins a space to swim, the water gives Nick a space to control.
Similarly, when Nick and Caitlin go on a trip to Key West with their friends, we learn that Caitlin is afraid of water. Still, she bravely joins their friends snorkeling despite Nick’s taunting about the dangers of the ocean. When they spot a nurse shark, Nick encourages Caitlin to flee in fear. At first, Caitlin obeys Nick, but then she decides to come back to see the shark up close, and Nick feels powerless underwater: “I was gulping to make myself feel like I had air, exhaling like crazy. Unable to last longer, I grabbed Cat’s hand, and we swam for the surface” (Loc 2021). Nick is accustomed to feeling powerful and in control in the water; here, Caitlin is in control and facing her fears independently. This reversal of the previous moment with the dolphins highlights water’s reflective and refractive abilities, foreshadowing the reflection and refraction Nick experiences throughout the novel.
Caitlin’s Ring
When Caitlin breaks up with Nick for the first time, he buys her an amethyst ring. The gift is an apology that Nick believes shows his regret and kindness, but it becomes another way for Nick to control Caitlin and display possession of her body. Caitlin’s mother forbids Caitlin from taking the ring, but Caitlin does so anyway and reunites with Nick. Thus, the ring represents power: Nick asserts his power over Caitlin when she accepts it, and Caitlin asserts her own power by defying her mother. This power is particularly important because Caitlin is typically powerless in relation to her mother, who often belittles Caitlin by criticizing her weight and appearance. From then on, when Caitlin wears the ring, she is simultaneously declaring her victimization and her independence.
After the final break up and restraining order, Nick carries the ring in his pocket, fingering it when he is nervous or afraid. He covets any remaining connection to Caitlin and believes one day she will wear it again. When Nick discovers Leo and Neysa are dead from a violent murder-suicide, Nick realizes that the ring is not about Caitlin at all. The ring is a connection to his abusive personality, and in order to change, he needs to let both Caitlin and the ring go: “I clutch the ring. Only the ring supports me” (Loc 2747). He briefly considers committing suicide by jumping in front of a train, but he decides to toss the ring onto the tracks. He watches it be destroyed—the final relic of his past. This moment, as he boards the train home, is powerfully symbolic of Nick’s emotional development as he consciously works to heal his wounds.
