53 pages • 1 hour read
Sandra BenitezA Place Where the Sea Remembers
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1993A 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.
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Chapter Summaries & Analyses
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BetaSymbols & Motifs
The Sea/Water
Water represents purity, cleansing, and rebirth. It has an elemental power, like fire, earth, and air. When Remedios’s spirit is overburdened, she seeks out the ocean, for “Remedios’s duty is to come her for her own renewal” (104). Water is used in the ritual of baptism as a way of symbolically washing away sins. In many adult baptisms, the entire body is immersed in water, an acknowledgment of past transgressions and an acceptance of a new life in the church. But rebirth must be preceded by death, metaphorical or literal. Remedios dies a little with every story she hears, and murciélago, the bat, is “the totem for the ritualistic death all true healers must endure” (142). Richard’s literal death may be the sacrifice nature demands for the rebirth of Chayo and Marta’s relationship.
Santiago is a seaside town, and its residents are always aware of the presence of the sea. For César Burgos, the sea provides his livelihood. For Candelario Marroquin, the blue of the water represents purity and a fresh start. Characters gaze out at the sea’s vast expanse and see a brighter future on the horizon. Marta Rodriguez looks north to El Paso. Chayo and Justo Flores look no further than the beach, where they sell their wares. And Marta’s friend Luz seeks her answers in Remedios’s “water of disenchantment” (46).
The Magpie
The magpie is a bird of the crow family. Culturally, it represents luck and fortune but also trickery and deceit. This duality is illustrated in the characters of Remedios and el brujo, the sorcerer. Remedios is the light side of magic, and el brujo is the dark. Believers in her power seek out Remedios for luck, to bring fortune into their lives, but when her magic is not enough, they often turn to the dark spells of the sorcerer. Then, regret may send them back to Remedios to counteract those ill-advised decisions. Both Marta and Luz return to Remedios after seeking better fortunes with el brujo.
The magpie is Remedios’s spirit animal, and as her familiar, it walks with her in her astral dreams. It guides her to spiritual knowledge. But their relationship is mutually dependent. The magpie is trapped in a cage until Remedios’s spirit frees it, and that act of liberation solidifies the bond between Remedios’s soul and her spirit guide.
The Satchel
Rafael carries his satchel at all times, a symbol of his knowledge and authority. The satchel is a literal holder of knowledge—he carries books and student papers in it—but also a metaphorical one. It represents his social station as an educator, as someone who endeavors to uplift and inspire his students. As a gift from his mother 16 years before, it is now old and worn, but he always keeps it close. Part of his identity is wrapped up in the satchel, his identity as a teacher and a changer of young lives. When he gives the satchel to Inés, he is not only endowing her with his gift of knowledge, but he is breaking his ties to his mother as he pursues his new life with Esperanza.
The Elements
The four elements of earth, air, water, and fire give the novel its mythic weight. Dating back to ancient Greece, the four elements were thought to be the essential building blocks of all matter. Human beings were thought to be not only comprised of the four elements but governed by them. When Remedios invokes each element in its turn, she affirms her bond to the power of creation and to life itself.
The element of earth is present in the very ground beneath Santiago. The earth nurtures all things that grow and give life: the herbs used for healing and spell casting; beans and the corn used to make the tortillas that are a staple of Santiago’s diet; the wood and stone used for building homes. By acknowledging the power of earth, Remedios pays homage to a fundamental part of nature.
As the earth provides sustenance for food, air is likewise essential for all life. Without it, humans cannot survive. It is the very breath of life. Air is also the medium on which Remedios’s spirit soars. “Such loyal companions guide her to the center of the wind, to the place where the ancestors, the stars, reside” (142). As air moves, it cleanses. It pushes out the old and the stale to make room for the fresh and the new. Air currents are ever-present in a seaside town like Santiago, always flowing in from the ocean and purifying the air.
The heat of the sun is relentless in Santiago. Rafael Beltran spends his lunchtime sitting under a tree to take refuge from the heat. Chayo envies her sister Marta because she works someplace cool. Doña Lina keeps a fan in her room for relief from the endless heat. While the sun’s heat is oppressive to some, it bathes Remedios in its glow: “Grandfather Sun is the Source of All Things and each morning Remedios faces in his direction as he rises to bless her” (64). She sees the sun as the source of life and light, and it feeds her own “inner sun.” Remedios understands that all the elements are integrated; all must work in tandem to support life. Without any one element, the delicate balance is upset, and life cannot flourish.
The element of water calms and cleanses. It is one of the requirements for life, something that astronomers look for when scanning the heavens for life on other planets. When Remedios invokes the element of water, she does so to revitalize her spirit. She tastes the salty sea water. The rhythm of the tides offers her serenity. Many people are drawn to the ocean for its meditative benefits. They intuit what Remedios understands on a primal level. Water, in addition to being essential for all biological life, is also essential for all spiritual life. When her duties become overwhelming, Remedios turns to the water for healing.
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