Summary
"Recovery"
Will has a nightmare about being enclosed in a dark room and put to sleep with a needle by four tall people dressed in white. He wakes up in the attic room of the Oakley house. Tom comes up to reassure him. He has wet the bed. It is taking time for Will to recover from the ordeal in London. He has nightmares often and feels fatigued. One night, Will is very feverish and constantly having nightmares, so Tom sits with him the whole night. Will’s screaming brings Tom back to the night his wife died during childbirth. After her death, Tom had bought a pot of blue paint to commemorate that their child had been a boy.
Will starts to feel better and have fewer nightmares. Tom makes him a big breakfast one morning and Zach stops by. The two boys are delighted to see each other. Zach informs him that Mrs. Hartridge has had her baby, and this reminds Will of his own baby sister. They have a conversation about where babies come from. Will has been taught that sex is something sinful but Zach explains it is what happens when you love someone. Zach also tells him how sex works; that there must be a man and a woman that come together.
Later, Will is speaking with Tom and expresses his guilt over letting his baby sister, Trudy, die; he feels that it is his fault. Tom tells him it is not his fault. Will also realizes from his discussion with Zach that his mother must have met with a man in order to give birth to Trudy. This shocks Will, because his mother always spoke of the sinfulness of sex. Will is disturbed by her lie and Tom says that his mother is most likely a “very ill” person. Tom says that he kidnapped Will because he would’ve missed him if he were put in a children’s home. Will tells Mr. Tom that he loves him.
Over the next few weeks, Will continues to recover. Winston Churchill becomes Prime Minister and there is a development in the war that causes many British people to die. One day, Will goes to see Mrs. Hartridge and her new baby, Peggy. Will is fascinated by Peggy. In one moment, Mrs. Hartridge lets Will hold the baby, who starts to cry. The mother takes the baby from Will and breastfeeds her, which also fascinates Will and makes him feel better about what happened to Trudy, realizing that he could not have possibly prevented her from dying.
“The Sea, the Sea, the Sea!”
It is August and Zach, Will, and Tom are traveling to the seaside for a two-week trip. They ride their bicycles into a fishing village called Salmouth. There, they are hosted by a widow named Mrs. Clarence.
Will is drawn to the dock where he watches the sea, which soothes him. Will looks forward to spending the next weeks seeing new things and drawing. They have supper with Mrs. Clancy, where Will eats fish for the first time. Tom and Zach notice that Will has gotten sun and developed freckles. Zach and Will go to bed while Tom reads and talks to the chatty Mrs. Clancy.
The next day, Tom and the boys have breakfast and then take a picnic lunch to the beach. Will faces his fear of going into the ocean. They have lunch, take a nap in the cliffs, and go into the sea again. Zach enjoys swimming in different strokes when in the ocean, while Will prefers to stay still. The following days pass in a similarly pleasant manner.
During their stay, there is news of more bombings on English cities, including London. Tom considers bringing the boys back to Little Weirwold, where he feels it might be safer, but ultimately decides to stay. Zach is worried about the safety of his parents who are in London, but the Littles inform him that they have called and are safe.
Tom, Will, and Zach return home. They are sad to leave the lovely beach town but are also looking forward to getting back. They come home to gifts and goodies from the boys’ friends and Mrs. Fletcher. When Zach returns to the Littles' house, Carrie is waiting for him, and she excitedly informs him that she has passed the high school exam and has received a scholarship as well.
Analysis
Now that Will has returned to Little Weirwold, he can readjust to small town life with the certainty that this is his home rather than a temporary place to stay. The degree of trauma that Will has undergone means it takes some time for him to properly adjust. He again is wetting the bed and having nightmares, which is a natural response when processing trauma.
We see how caring Tom is in Will’s time of recovery. Through being there for him, Will is able to recover more quickly than if he had perhaps been left in a children’s home. It is made evident how Tom truly regards Will like his own son, and in “Recovery,” Will tells Tom he loves him. It is the first time he is able to express love without fear. This is a big step for Will and marks a transition into a new way of life. It is a contrast to the previous chapter, when Will tries to express love to his mother by sharing his drawings, and is ignored and insulted. Finally, Will is in a place where he can be seen and heard.
Another step in healing his trauma comes when Will visits Mrs. Hartridge and her newborn daughter. Seeing the baby brings up all of Will’s feelings of guilt and sadness over the death of his own baby sister, for which he feels responsible. Mrs. Hartridge’s choice to let Will hold her baby helps him to recognize that it was not his fault that his sister died, and that holding a baby can be something positive and happy.
Will begins to understand that his mother is not who she projected herself to be. Through talking to Zach, Will learns how babies are made, and thus realizes that his mother must have had sexual relations in order to give birth to a baby. This is shocking to Will, as his mother always preached that sex is wrong. Seeing this hypocrisy is important for Will’s recovery. His mother’s judgment of Will as being bad and sinful no longer carries the same weight it used to, as he can see now that she was unable to live up to her own unrealistic standards of goodness.
The chapter “The Sea” brings a moment of celebration to the plotline. The ocean has long been a symbol of healing and revitalization, and Will’s encounter with the water proves to be very soothing. Although Will had “imagined that the sea would terrify and engulf him,” he instead feels “surprisingly calm” (258) in its presence. At first, he fears swimming in the sea, but he quickly begins to love it, teaching himself how to swim. In this way, the sea symbolizes life itself, showcasing how Will has transformed from a fearful, nervous boy to a lively, happy child.
Magorian in “The Sea” uses vivid descriptions to make the seaside town come alive. For example, she speaks of the “sea… bathed in moonlight” (268) and the sky in its “pink-and-orange haze” (268). The author includes these physical details to make reading the story a more sensuous experience, letting us feel as if we are actually at the sea along with the characters.
Despite the upbeat mood of this chapter, there is still, in the background, the ongoing reality of war and bombings, which brings a sense of unease. Zach, usually a very joyful character, worries about the safety of his parents in London. This underscores how during times of war, it is nearly impossible to relax completely; people must live in a constant state of vigilance.
