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Book 1, Chapter 10
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Son, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Pain and Maternal Love
Travel, Fitting In, and Values
Emotion, Individuality, and the Human Experience
Family and Coming of Age
Community and Sacrifice
Summary
Analysis
Claire takes another walk along the river in the evening, after trying for a moment to study work materials to advance in her job. But she’s not interested in it—after all, she’s only here because she failed as a Birthmother, not because she likes fish. As she walks, murmuring biology phrases, one of the boat crew stops her and asks what she’s talking about. They discuss Claire’s work, the crew’s few days of rest due to the Ceremony, and then the bridge’s height. As they talk about the turbulent river, Claire shares that here, they’re required to learn to swim at age five but aren’t allowed in the river. The man says that his dad taught him to swim by throwing him in a pond and laughing as he sputtered. Claire is shocked: there were no “heartless laughing men called Dad” when she learned.
While Claire fully understands why they assigned her to the Hatchery, notice that it never occurs to her to ask for something different—it never occurs to her that such a thing is possible. She has, in this sense, fully bought into the way the community conceives of jobs and a person’s duty to the community. In a rare humorous moment, Claire greatly misunderstands this man’s experience learning to swim. While some might take issue with teaching a child to swim this way, Claire doesn’t understand that Dad is what lots of people call their fathers—reinforcing how sheltered and detached this community is.
Themes
Claire and the man study the river. A few years ago, a boy fell into the river. His parents had been scolded, as they failed to protect their child. But this man’s father laughed as he threw his child into deep water. Claire considers how strange this is as they talk about fish and as the man mentions fish as big as his boat somewhere. As she excuses herself, he offers her a tour of the boat, which is an unusual sea-river vessel. Claire has no idea what the sea is, and she declines the offer. He notes that he’d like her to meet Marie, their cook, and Claire suggests that next time the supply boat comes, she’ll apply for permission to tour it.
While the river symbolizes escape and the uncontrollable natural world, the sea—another type of body of water—emerges as a similar symbol of the unknown and of nature’s power. Claire has never heard of the sea, though, illustrating her sheltered upbringing here and just how much of the world is beyond her comprehension. Discussing massive fish also implies that not all fish are farmed salmon, like in the community—and by extension, that not all places are as detached and heartless as this one. Elsewhere, people can grow and thrive.
Themes
