Olive's Ocean

“There was nothing to indicate that this was the site of a tragedy. There were no bouquets or teddy bears piled along the curbside. No ribbons laced through the nearby fence.”

Coping With Loss and Death is a steady theme throughout the novel. At this point, Martha finds herself unsure of how to deal with the weight of Olive’s death, especially because she was a peer and wrote about Martha in her journal. Martha visits the site of the fatal accident and, unlike the other people in her community, she commemorates it. While she doesn’t explicitly understand her actions, she is healing from this loss through her emotional connection with Olive.

“Sometimes, Martha’s feelings for her mother bounced between love and hate quickly and without warning, as if her feelings were illogical, willful, and completely out of Martha’s control.”

Martha’s feelings move rapidly, and the aggressive diction in this quote—the words “bounced,” “illogical,” “willful,” and the phrase “completely out of control”—convey the volatility of her emotional world. Martha doesn’t have to domesticate or dilute her forceful emotions, but she learns to organize them.

“Martha closed her notebook and replaced it in her backpack. She had only written two words: Olive Barstow.”

On the airplane to Cape Cod, Martha tries to write in her notebook, but she can only write Olive’s name. This shows the extent to which Martha is struggling with Coping With Loss and Death, unsure of how to feel at ease after such a tragedy. With Olive at the top of her mind, Martha turns to a creative outlet to help her healing process.

“The glittery feeling. She’d named it because it felt to her as if her skin and everything beneath it briefly became shiny and jumpy and bubbly.”

Martha experiences the “glittery feeling” immediately at the airport, and the nuanced diction attached to the feeling advances Henkes’s goal of writing an emotional book. Like Olive’s hypothetical novel, Henkes’s book provides a comprehensive look into the interior world of a young person.

“I hate my family right now. Everyone.”

Godbee is Martha’s confidant. Out of all the living characters in the book, Martha is closest to her. Though Martha doesn’t tell her grandmother everything, when she does reveal personal information, she often tells the truth. The blunt, hyperbolic diction furthers Martha’s intense feelings. Words like “hate” and “everyone” are dramatic and sweeping.

“Her name was Olive. She arrived at her grandmother’s house in tears. She was an orphan. She held her grandmother’s old wrinkly hands and wept.”

Martha’s story highlights her struggle with Identity and Self Discovery, as she turns herself into a character named Olive and can use this character to process her own challenges. Further, the character relates to Olive Barstow and the story Olive Barstow was writing before she died. Therefore, this character also works to process Martha’s grief over Olive’s death and to prolong their emotional connection.

“Next came a live scene, a scene showing Jimmy’s parents from a distance, through a doorway […] The camera moved closer. Mrs. Manning was crying, pounding her fist on a table. Mr. Manning faced her across the table, his hands flying about like crazed birds.”

Henkes uses imagery to describe the film Martha watches. The vivid language shows Jimmy’s parents fighting and reveals that Jimmy is filming them unaware—“from a distance.” Jimmy doesn’t always ask his subjects permission to record them, foreshadowing his nonconsensual filming of Martha and the kiss.

“As Martha walked back to Godbee’s, she said the word aloud: ‘Jimmy. Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy…’”

The repetition of Jimmy (she says his name aloud four times, and the ellipses indicate that she says it much more) reveals her infatuation with the oldest Manning brother. This occurring after her continued fascination with the idea of Olive highlights Martha’s journey with Identity and Self-Discovery. She allows other people to consume her thoughts to such a degree that she is unable to think for herself.

“She went back to her notebook. She turned to the last page and wrote Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy until the page was completely filled.”

The repetition of Jimmy in the notebook further emphasizes Martha’s infatuation and inability to think clearly. Martha’s crush on Jimmy develops the theme of Experiencing Change in Adolescence. Twelve-year-old Martha suddenly must navigate her newfound feelings and incorporate the dynamics of the Manning boys into her own circle, pushing Martha out of her comfort zone.

“I can’t smell the ocean or run along the beach anymore either, but I remember what those things were like, too. Strange, I remember certain feelings and sensations more clearly the further away from them I become.”

Godbee’s quote links to the theme of Coping With Loss and Death. Godbee accepts the changes in her body and commemorates the loss of smell and inability to run along the beach. By thinking about them and remembering them, Godbee keeps the positive sensations with her.

“I wish people didn’t have to die.”

Martha’s wish alludes to the difficulties of accepting the changes in the world, and it hints at the appeal of constructing a world that always stays the same. The wish reveals how death defines Martha’s life. She deals with the death of Olive, and Godbee makes Martha aware that she might not be around much longer.

“She woke many times throughout the night—her arms prickly and at odd angles, the sheet twisted tightly around her ankles, the pillow on the floor—and only fell into a deep sleep as the sun began to rise.”

The vivid language provides an image of Martha’s tempestuous state. After holding hands with Jimmy, Martha can’t sleep, and the disorderly scene mirrors the intense tumult of Martha’s unstated desires. This thematically reflects Experiencing Change in Adolescence, as it is implied that Martha is experiencing physical and emotional change as she matures.

“Girls pretty; boys rusty.”

The two-year-old Lucy perpetuates a typical infantile view of gender. Gender is binary, and Lucy, as a girl, believes girls are better than boys. Henkes makes the simple portrayal substantive and prescient as Jimmy, a boy, turns out to be inimical or “rusty.”

“Now. He. Kissed. Her.”

Henkes uses syntax to convey the drama of the kisses. He turns what could be one sentence—“Now he kissed her”—into four sentences, so each word becomes like a bang or heartbeat. The sharp syntax mirrors the intensity of the moment.

“She imagined a million puzzle pieces floating around inside her, all jumbled up. When (if!) all the puzzle pieces fit together, everything would be okay, all her problems would be solved, and she would have made it through this awful part of her life.”

The image of the “million puzzle pieces” floating inside of Martha reinforces her intense interiority. The kiss and the discovery that it was only a bet further fragment Martha’s emotions. At this moment, her unstable sense of self works against her as she is unsure how she should or can respond in the moment.

“While she toyed with her food, her mind grew alert, picking up every particle of a thought and magnifying it, letting it expand and become huge and always ending with Jimmy Manning and shame.”

Jimmy continues to preoccupy Martha though he hurt her. Jimmy is a harmful presence, and Martha wants to silence him, but she can’t figure out how to get him out of her world and off her mind. In a way, the quick rise and sudden loss of her feelings toward Jimmy reflect the theme of Coping With Loss and Death. While not as overt a reference as a literal death, Martha spends her summer learning how to navigate the ever-changing gains and losses of the world around her. In this case, she falls for Jimmy, and his betrayal leaves her with an emptiness she feels she cannot escape.

“Martha hoped that everything that was filling the kitchen would push everything else out of her head.”

The commotion in the kitchen gives Martha hope that she can be distracted from the emptiness she is feeling because of Jimmy’s betrayal. Her emotional instability is overwhelming her, and while she doesn’t explicitly ask for help, she does hope that she inadvertently receives help from her family.

“When I’m genuinely suffering, I try to think of someone worse off than I am. And then, if it happens to be someone I know and I’m feeling particularly saintly, I try to do something nice for him or her.”

Godbee provides a sophisticated example of selflessness. It’s not about denying the self or allowing someone else to consume them. Selflessness is understanding that there are other people in the world, and by considering and helping them, a person can discover a meaningful identity because their life is about others, not just one person.

“Martha understood for the first time that the world didn’t revolve around her, that it was bigger than that, that it simply was, and would continue to exist with or without her. But she was here, and wanting to be, more than ever.”

Henkes continues to add layers to the theme of Identity and Self-Discovery. Almost drowning humbles Martha and makes her realize she’s not the only self in the world, and the world doesn’t need her to continue. Martha isn’t unimportant, but her life doesn’t matter more than anyone else's on the planet, and the truth about the insignificance of each person’s life makes her want to live.

“She raised her hand to the scratch. She softly patted it, and then began patting her other cheek with her other hand as though she were putting in order all the thoughts inside her head.”

The image of Martha patting her cheeks connects to Experiencing Change in Adolescence. Martha doesn’t try to change her thoughts or dilute them, but she gradually learns how to organize them so that she can deal with them more effectively.

“She decided she would try a poem instead—the best poem ever—reasoning that it would be easier to write and to finish, only to discover that this was difficult as well. She ended up with a page of first lines.”

The introduction to Martha’s poem is humorous, as Martha doesn’t just want to write a poem, she wants to create “the best poem ever.” The hyperbole produces a comedic impact. The quote also serves as a commentary on the fluid definition of poetry. The narrator describes the poem as a “page of first lines.” Yet a page of first lines can be a legitimate and complete poem.

“We all trail complications.”

Godbee’s statement functions as a guide to the book. Martha’s grandmother suggests that intricacies follow people or that people inevitably lead complex lives. The belief in the complexity of people explains why the themes are multilayered and Henkes doesn’t try to provide tidy lessons or solutions.

“Home was the same as when Martha had left it, but because she had changed, her world seemed slightly different, as though she were seeing everything in sharper focus.”

As Martha’s emotions and perceptions change during her trip to Cape Cod, her idea of her home back in Wisconsin also alters. Though she has returned to a safe, familiar place, she has undergone a transformation, thematically supporting Experiencing Change in Adolescence.