Tom recounts his adolescence during WWII in the Fens. He, his mentally challenged brother Dick , his girlfriend Mary , and another boy named Freddie Parr navigate the "waterlogged terrain". The plot involves sexual curiosity, murder (Freddie is killed), a grisly back-alley abortion for Mary, and a dark family secret involving incest.
Generations of ancestors who acted as brewers and lock-keepers, demonstrating the long-term, intertwined history of the region. 3. Key Themes
The eels of the Fens, which swim thousands of miles to spawn, serve as a metaphor for the mysterious, natural, and non-rational forces that underlie human life. Waterland—Graham Swift | We can read it for you wholesale Waterland
A local boy killed early in the novel, whose death kicks off the "history" of the 1943 narrative.
Tom’s wife. Traumatized by a teenage abortion that leaves her sterile, she suffers from severe delusions later in life, leading to the baby-napping incident. Tom recounts his adolescence during WWII in the Fens
The narrative culminates in 1943 when Dick, overwhelmed by the revelation of his parentage, commits suicide by drowning in the River Ouse. In the present, Mary is committed to an asylum, and Tom is left to contemplate the wreckage of his life.
Tom Crick , a 52-year-old history teacher in Greenwich, London, is forced into early retirement because his wife, Mary , has stolen a baby, claiming it is a gift from God. Amidst this personal crisis, Tom abandons his scheduled curriculum and starts telling his bored students personal tales from his youth in the Fens. Generations of ancestors who acted as brewers and
Tom argues that humans are "story-telling animals". Storytelling is a defense mechanism against the fear of chaos, an "explanation" for the "empty space" of reality.
