90 pages • 3 hours read
Priscilla CummingsRed Kayak
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2004A 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.
Themes
The Ongoing Influence of the Past on the Present
The Red Kayak takes the form ofan extended flashback: only the first and last chapters actually unfold in the story's present day. What's more, Brady frequently pauses throughout his narrative to describe memories he had at the time of a particular action or event, which creates a kind of nested, flashback-within-a-flashback effect.
Although the structure of The Red Kayak often has the side benefit of providing the reader with essential background information (e.g. who Amanda was and how she died), it's largely a reflection of the role that the past and memory play in shaping the novel's events.Cummings implies, for instance, that Digger's anger and aggression are learned responses to an abusive childhood. Digger's personal history is therefore part of what drives him to sabotage the DiAngelos' kayak, particularly because that personal history intersects with the broader, class history of Bailey's Wharf; the town is undergoing a form of gentrification, and a farm that once belonged to Digger's grandfather is one of the structures that has been bought, torn down, and replaced.Meanwhile, Brady's evolving responses to the accident are also responses to the past—most obviously, perhaps, when he decides to throw away the incriminating drill in deference to his long friendship with J.T. and Digger.
As the novel progresses, then, the question of how to deal with or move on from the past becomes increasingly important. Digger's decision to drill holes in the kayakclearly demonstrates that memories of the past can cause harm in the present, but Cummings also suggests that ignoring history is no solution. Throughout the novel, characters attempt to cope with painful past events like the death of a child through avoidance; Brady's parents, for instance, have packed away almost everything that might remind them of Amanda, and they rarely talk about her. For Brady in particular, however, this kind of avoidance causes its own brand of confusion and pain, and it is only after he gains the tools he needs to remember his sister that he can begin to think constructively about the future. Ultimately, the novel suggests that it is important to remember the past without being controlled by it—a balance summed up in the symbol of the butterfly garden, which honors the dead while also reminding those who survive of beauty, hope, and life.
The Complex Nature of Moral Responsibility
The question of just how responsible Brady himself was for the accident and Ben’s death looms large in The Red Kayak. In fact, it is the question the novel opens with: "After all this time, I still ask myself: Was it my fault?" (3). Although Brady had no part in drilling the holes in the kayak (and, in fact, was the person who pulled Ben from the water), he inadvertently cleared the way for the accident to happen, first by giving Digger the idea to sabotage the kayak and then by saying nothing when he saw the kayak on the morning of Ben's death. What's more, Brady waited for weeks before revealing the role his friends played in the accident, and even destroyed evidence by throwing the drill in the river.
Further complicating the situation is the fact that Brady stayed silent in order to protect his friends, correctly assuming that they didn't mean to hurt anyone. This is, no doubt, why Brady continues to wonder whether he should have "kept [his] mouth shut later" even as he scolds himself for not doing more to prevent the accident in the first place (3). Although Brady does not ultimately face any criminal charges as a result of his actions, Cummings invites us to think about these grayer areas of moral responsibility: how accountable we are for our words, whether inaction is a kind of action,and what role intention plays in guilt.
By and large, The Red Kayak avoids easy answers to these kinds of questions. Brady ultimately realizes he has an obligation to tell the truth about the accident, but he continues to struggle with finding a way to make sense of it, ethically speaking. He is relieved, for instance, to learn that J.T. and Digger will go by their formal names during the trial, saying, "It was as if a strange and alien part of each of my friends had been involved in sabotaging the kayak" (183). The novel itself does not go quite so far—the judge's words at the trial make it clear that J.T. and Digger do bear responsibility for their actions—but it does hint at a way of thinking about morality that respects this complexity. When Brady describes Scar's actions in The Lion King as a sign of his evil nature, Ben retorts that Scar is "just being mean," suggesting that it is possible to do bad things without being a bad person (189).
The Changing Class Landscape of America
Bailey's Wharf and the surrounding areas are in a state of transition as The Red Kayak opens. Most of the novel's main characters are blue-collar workers who rely on either the river or the surrounding land to make a living: Brady's father, for instance, fishes for cabs, while J.T.'s family raises chickens. This way of life, however, is under threat by the time the novel begins. Wealthy residents like the DiAngelos have begun to move to the Chesapeake Bay region, building new houses and high-end malls as they do. The balance of life in the river is changing as well, which has fisherman like Mr. Parks struggling to make a living; Brady hints at just how tight money can be in their household when he notes that they "never waste food" (71).
This situation is frustrating to many of the novel's working-class characters, who feel they are slowly losing their homes and livelihoods to new development. Under these circumstances, it is easy for them to become resentful of people like the DiAngelos, who not only have much more, but in some cases seem to be directly contributing to the misfortunes of the region's poorer residents. This class tension ultimately leads to tragedy when Digger drills holes in the DiAngelos' kayak as payback for their having bought and demolished his grandfather's farmhouse. Nevertheless, Cummings avoids blaming the DiAngelos and those like them for the toxic environment in the town, instead suggesting that all sides share responsibility; Mr. Parks, for instance, eventually accepts that the decline in the crab population is a result not only of pollution but also of overfishing, and he resolves to do his part to curb the decrease.
