Deep Water

“Even after hundreds of dives I still get nervous when I can no longer see the surface or what’s below me. I also get nervous as the sunlight is filtered away and the water grows colder. That’s when you know you’ve entered the danger zone: another world, an aquatic wilderness where humans are not meant to be.”

Julie’s description of the in-between space between the surface and ocean floor allows readers to visualize her experience, even if scuba diving is an unfamiliar activity. She also demonstrates her humility, showing that as a human, she knows she does not belong at the bottom of the ocean, and should take caution not to overstay her welcome.

“There’s a thing I heard all the time from dad about Mother Nature. She doesn’t mind you admiring her, but she lets you know if you’ve gotten too close and overstayed your welcome. And if she feels disrespected and finds you vulnerable, stripped of all your comforts and safety, she’ll throw challenges at you. She’ll make sure you don’t forget for a second who’s really in control.”

Julie’s father teaches her of nature’s power and the respect it deserves. Key chooses to personify nature, making it a character in the novel with which Julie must reckon. He highlights the Unyielding Force of Nature, reminding readers that humans are powerless against it.

“He wasn’t hurt because he ran out of air; he was hurt because he panicked and became so confused that he turned the tank off instead of on. And none of it would have happened had he not stayed down too long and been greedy about spearing fish.”

Mr. Jordan’s panic and pride is his downfall. Key shows how a disregard for safety goes hand in hand with disaster. This moment is key in his characterization of Mr. Jordan, showing him to be greedy to the point of endangering himself and others. In contrast, Julie truly did run out of air on her ascent, yet she stayed calm enough to use her skills and knowledge in the face of an intense situation.

“The thirst was the worst of it all. So bad that I started to think about drowning. How it might be the best way to go. Nothing, I decided, could be worse than being thirsty.”

Key helps the reader understand the physical limitations Julie and Shane face while adrift. He describes many challenges but highlights thirst as the most difficult. Julie’s perspective of considering death by drowning shows her state of complete desperation and agony, and helps the reader get a sense of the mental challenges that she faces alongside the physical.

“I had never been so close to a boy. I had always been nervous about if and when and how I would find myself in such a situation. Now, even though I wished our circumstances were different, I felt relief to get beyond it. And it was more natural and comforting than I’d expected.”

Julie holds onto Shane in a hug to share body heat and delay the onset of hypothermia. Her thoughts remind the reader of her young age—she worried about physical closeness to a boy in the past and is experiencing it for the first time. Key also highlights the need for human companionship and closeness as Julie finds comfort while embracing Shane.

“Bluefish and jack crevalle raced through, the clouds dispersing then re-forming. Then the feeding frenzy parted and closed in behind us and continued on all sides like we were nothing more than a small blister on the surface of it. And for a moment I was mesmerized, forgetting about my thirst and the cold water and the sea lice and thinking it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.”

Julie and Shane find themselves in the midst of a breathtaking fish feeding frenzy. The beauty of the scene momentarily erases all worry from Julie’s mind. Key uses detailed descriptions and imagery to emphasize the beauty that is found in nature despite the physical discomfort and threat it can inflict.

“And right there, at that moment, he was the most important person in the world to me. I couldn’t think of anything worse than losing him and being alone. And just the day before I’d hated him with all my heart.”

Key creates irony through the change in Julie’s relationship to Shane. Before and during the dive, she loathed him. Now that he is the only person keeping her from being completely alone, she sees him in a new light. Even though aspects of his personality are still bothersome to her, she is grateful for his companionship.

“I wanted more than anything to lie there and rest, but I thought of Shane drifting alone and I forced myself to get up again.”

Once on the oil rig, Julie chooses to care for Shane rather than herself. She demonstrates resilience by fighting the urge to rest and going instead to figure out yet another challenge. Pulling Shane out of the water and up to the rig requires resourcefulness and strength, and despite her weakened condition, she supplies both.

“I examined the winch and saw that it was electric, but it also had a manual crank that operated much like the ones we had on boat trailers. I flipped the cog lock on it and began spooling off-line. When the hook at the end was below the mooring dock, I relocked the cog and hurried back down.”

Julie’s assessment of the available equipment and subsequent actions reveal her intelligence and resourcefulness. She is mechanically minded and able to quickly observe and understand unfamiliar equipment. Key highlights Julie’s exceptional know-how and action-oriented personality as contributors to her resilience.

“I backed away, got to my feet, and clutched the emergency blanket about myself. I sensed there was no one but the two of us for a hundred miles, but I still couldn’t bring myself to stand completely exposed on a high platform.”

More than once, Julie worries about being naked but recognizes that she has bigger things to worry about. In this quote, she acknowledges that no one is around to see her, yet she still feels compelled to stay covered up with the blanket. Key shows that despite extreme life-and-death circumstances, some habits and mindsets are hard to shake.

“It seemed like the deeper we traveled into the rig, the more stale and thick the air became. I was starting to feel a little queasy breathing it.”

Key provides foreshadowing for the mold that will eventually affect Shane and Julie’s health. He creates a sense of foreboding that empty and abandoned rig is not the safe haven they were hoping for. The moment adds a sense of dark claustrophobia that contrasts the sun-exposed expanse of open water, bringing new, unseen dangers for the duo.

“They were talking and laughing and it didn’t seem like we needed anything else in the world. There was a magical pull between them that I felt but couldn’t put into words. The pull seemed so strong that I couldn’t imagine them ever being apart.”

Julie flashes back to a special picnic with her parents. She knows based on this memory that her parent’s relationship is special, and they aren’t meant to be apart. This memory hints at the restored relationship to come and shows the way her parent’s relationship deeply affects her.

“It was strange to be near an open window and not hear the whine of mosquitoes. Above the water, there was nothing alive for a hundred miles. Not even a fly.”

Key’s description on the silence helps the reader understand the otherworldly nature of life on the rig. Elements of daily life that readers easily take for granted, such as background noise, provide comfort and familiarity. When Julie returns home at the end of the novel, she notes the sound of the air conditioner and is grateful for the return to normalcy.

“I grabbed by booties and tried to pull them on, but the pain in my hands made me clench my jaw. ‘Here,’ Shane said. He knelt in front of me and tugged the booties on and zipped them. It was a relief to finally have Shane be helpful.”

This quote signals the change in Shane. He is learning to be helpful, and to work as a team with Julie rather than rely on her for everything. This example is one of many instances in which Shane sees a need and acts.

“I tossed and turned, trying to sleep, but I couldn’t get out from under the bad dreams like they hung in the air itself, as though the rig was full of them. The worst part of it all was waking and thinking that these nightmares, unlike any I’d had before, had actually happened.”

Key intertwines the thick air and atmosphere of the rig with Julie’s nightmares. He highlights the mental battle Julie fights as part of her survival experience. Even though she is weak and exhausted, the worries that fill her mind will not allow her to rest peacefully.

“When I sat there next to him it felt like there was nothing left to say, but occasionally we still found small thoughts and pieces of our lives that we shared.”

Julie and Shane find closeness and friendship through vulnerability. In sharing about their families and lives at home, they can put aside their differences and find common ground. The change in their relationship demonstrates the human need for connection as an element of survival.

“In spite of our makeshift nest of uniforms, for the first time since we’d been on the rig I slept through the entire night. I didn’t have any nightmares and I didn’t lie awake worried about anything. I was resigned to the fact that Shane and I were going to die soon and now no amount of worrying and effort was going to save us.”

Once Julie accepts the reality of death, her nightmares disappear. Key highlights the irony in this, showing that accepting the worst can sometimes bring peace. Simultaneously, he shows that Julie’s resilience is fading, an understandable decline after the many obstacles she has faced.

“It’s strange how sometimes you can be so focused on the details around you that you miss what’s right in front of you.”

Julie’s statement resounds with truth as a principle that applies to life in general. Here, it applies to Shane’s realization that breaking the derrick light will lead to rescue. More broadly, it applies to Julie’s dad’s realization that focusing on the diving shop and the Malzon tanks took him away from Julie and her mom.

“Horror. That was the only word that kept coming to mind. Shane dying. Being left alone to starve on the rig with the wind whistling through the cold steel and the Gulf swells slurping through the beams below. It was a horror that paralyzed me.”

Key conveys the intensity of Julie’s fear as she faces the possibility of Shane’s death, and eventually dying alone herself. Although no one can truly understand this feeling without experiencing it, Key puts Julie’s feelings into words that invite the reader to see the situation from her point of view.

“I was thinking, It just happened like it did. I wasn’t in control of any of it. I didn’t do anything but stay alive the best I could, like anyone else would have.”

When people express their amazement at Julie’s survival, Julie does not take the credit. Instead, she maintains respect for nature and her place within it. While she acknowledges she was not helpless, she also knows she was not in control.

“Your dad needs me. I need his dreams. Life isn’t life without them. And if he can give me the dreams, I think I can hold the rest together.”

Julie’s mother recognizes how her personality complements Gibson’s. Almost losing Julie and Gibson allows her to reevaluate herself and her life, bringing her to this realization. Key suggests the importance of taking time to truly consider one’s life and what matters most.

“I realized right then that all Shane had ever done was his best. And now I was sure his best was only going to get better.”

Julie’s words announce Shane’s complete character transformation. Not only did he change during the survival experience, but that change is lasting; he is not the person he was when the dive started. He has grown in maturity and kindness and decreased in self-centeredness. Furthermore, Julie’s words show that she sees how Shane’s upbringing affected his personality, and does not blame him for who he used to be.

“I was scared. I was scared the whole time. But never once did I want either one of us to give up what we do.”

Key places Julie’s resilience on full display when she refuses to let her terrifying experience hold her back. Despite the trauma diving caused, she is willing to continue to scuba dive with her dad, showing her grit and bravery.