45 pages • 1 hour read
Kawai Strong WashburnSharks In The Time Of Saviors
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaPart 3, Chapters 18-21Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 3: “Destruction”
Chapter 18 Summary: “Kaui, 2008, San Diego”
Kaui receives a call from her mother, who tells her that Noa is missing. She offers to come home, but her mother tells her she should stay in school. She says Dean is coming home, but “he’s not in school anymore” (196).
Kaui is convinced that Noa will eventually return from the valley. However, her relationship with Van changes after the call, like it was “a curse or something” (198). Van stops returning her calls.
Kaui confronts Van about the chill in their relationship. Van explains that she was drunk at the festival and that she’s “done with guys for now. But that doesn’t mean I’m gay” (200). Kaui insists that she’s not gay, but Van doesn’t believe her.
Chapter 19 Summary: “Dean, 2008, Spokane”
Dean receives a call from his mother telling him that Nainoa is missing. He flies back to Hawai‘i and joins the search on the Big Island. Dean’s father tells jokes and laughs a lot, but Dean notices he is not okay. Dean decides to continue the search on his own after his parents and others have given up. “I’ll sleep on the goddamn trail,” he says (210).
Chapter 20 Summary: “Malia, 2008, Kalihi”
Malia believes Nainoa is still alive, but she and Augie must abandon the search and return to O‘ahu to keep from losing their jobs. Malia returns to her job driving a city bus. One night when she is driving an empty bus at the end of her shift, a man with “salt crusting his chest” appears in front of her bus (215). She slams on her brakes, but when she gets out to look, the man has vanished.
Malia fears she is losing Augie. He disappears for long walks in the woods.
Chapter 21 Summary: “Dean, 2008, Waipi‘o Valley”
Dean continues to search for Noa on his own. At the bottom of a cliff, he finds a bloodstained hiking boot and a backpack. Inside the backpack, he finds Nainoa’s ukulele. Dean puts off telling his parents that he has found Nainoa’s belongings. Instead, he goes to a bar, where he gets in a fight after insulting a man.
Part 3, Chapters 18-21 Analysis
In Chapter 18, it is Kaui’s turn to deal with her own identity crisis. The news that Nainoa is missing acts like “a curse” on her relationship with Van. Both women admit to occupying a sexual limbo that is neither gay nor heterosexual.
Also in Chapter 18, Malia refers to the calling Nainoa received to visit Waipi‘o Valley. She tells Kaui, “He was called there. [...] The ‘aumakua. [...] He was feeling it strong once he got home. The valley was where he needed to be” (196). Since ‘aumakua “are deified ancestors who might assume the shape of a shark” (Wehewehe.org), the passage links the callings to the recurring shark motif.
Meanwhile, Dean’s relentless search for Nainoa shows the extent of his love for his younger brother. In traversing the dangerous terrain until he finally finds Noa’s backpack, Dean also reveals himself to be the strongest male in the family. His father has shut down mentally, and his uncle has also given up the search. In a way, Dean has reclaimed his role as the protective older brother, putting aside any remnant of the rivalry, though it is too late to save Nainoa.
