A Very Large Expanse of Sea

Ocean is a popular junior at Shirin’s high school, well-known for his basketball skills. Because she tends to keep to herself and purposely maintains emotional distance from Ocean, Shirin does not realize his age, popularity, or importance to the basketball team until after others see her kissing Ocean in his car (more than halfway through the novel); Navid confronts Shirin with the details about Ocean: “Your boyfriend is kind of a big deal […] He’s like, their golden boy” (176-77). The basketball team’s record is important to Coach Hart and the school community, and Ocean’s talents are crucial to the team’s success. Ocean wants to be closer to his mother, who focuses on social obligations and potential remarriage; she does not show interest in his life.

Ocean meets Shirin when they are lab partners in AP Bio, and his attraction to her grows increasingly stronger. He is kind and sincere; he shows this sincerity when he spends Thanksgiving with Shirin’s family. Ocean is conflicted over basketball’s drain on his time and energy; he does not enjoy it like he did when he was young. Ocean also shows that his temper flares, as he pushes an acquaintance to the ground when the boy rudely insults Shirin and punches Coach Hart in the face when he, Ocean, learns how Coach Hart manipulated Shirin into breaking up. Ocean shares his honest feelings with Shirin; she finds his courage to do so inspiring, and later, her own changed attitude reflects Ocean’s openness.

Navid, Shirin’s brother, is a senior at the high school. He develops the breakdancing club. Navid looks out for Shirin, clueing her in to Ocean’s popularity at the school and encouraging her as she learns breakdancing. Navid, an Ally character archetype, is a static, stable influence in Shirin’s story. Navid is dyslexic; their parents assigned Shirin the task of helping him when he was in middle school. Eventually Shirin’s help paid off and Navid’s grades improved. Shirin discusses a time in her middle school years when Navid scared off any boy in whom she showed interest; now, though, Navid helps Shirin arrange secret private time with Ocean twice and comforts her after her breakup.

Yusef is a Muslim boy who shares classes with Navid. Shirin meets him under “her” tree in a courtyard area of the campus. He speaks to her on two occasions when Ocean sees them talking together. Yusef starts spending time with Navid, the crew, and Shirin over winter break once she breaks up with Ocean. Shirin enjoys Yusef’s company; she does not have to explain her background, ethnicity, religion, or dress to him. Shirin knows he would be a “logical” choice for her romantically but cannot bring herself to reciprocate while heartbroken over Ocean.

The three boys on the breakdancing crew are friends to Navid. They see Shirin without her headscarf at her house, and a sibling-like tone is set between Shirin and them; the boys continue to act like older brothers. They show clarity, honesty, and positivity toward Shirin; for example, Carlos does not sugarcoat his opinion of her need to improve her moves, and Bijan encourages her with instruction of high-level skills. The crew and Shirin grow closer over the fall semester; all three boys feel camaraderie and protectiveness toward Shirin, evidenced by their counsel regarding her harsh attitude, their questions about Ocean, and their choice to join Navid in accosting and fighting the harasser who threw the cinnamon roll.

Shirin’s parents are supportive of Shirin but outwardly unsympathetic toward her social stresses and any intolerant or racist behaviors Shirin encounters because they experienced difficult upbringings in the Middle East witnessing war, violence, and rebellion. They are uninvolved, even dismissive, in her schooling; one event, however, in which her parents show great concern is the attack on Shirin after September 11, when boys pushed her to the ground and ripped away her headscarf. After, her father suggested she not wear her headscarf anymore. Her parents made the decision to move soon after as well. Shirin describes her parents as stringent with rules that keep the family tightknit (they share meals together) and Shirin safe (they do not allow Shirin much freedom outside of school). Shirin appreciates her mother’s elaborate Persian cooking and work ethic and her father’s interest in random, brainy topics like faucets. Their influence over Shirin is strong; her mother reprimands Shirin for Shirin’s language and disciplines her with “whacks” of a wooden spoon to the back of the head; her father taught Shirin how to sew. One reason Shirin is grateful for the breakdancing club is that it provides her with an activity that her parents approve of. Shirin’s parents share their home, food, and culture enthusiastically when they enjoy hosting Ocean on Thanksgiving.

Coach Hart is intent on leading the basketball team to success this year and needs Ocean to play his best. The coach decides that Ocean feels doubt about continuing to play basketball due to Shirin’s influence. He uses guilt and threats as strategies to convince Shirin to leave Ocean; he wants Shirin to “disappear.” After the talent show, Coach Hart compliments Shirin’s abilities with breakdancing as if he never threatened her. As he does not apologize nor make amends for his behavior, Shirin feels that Coach Hart’s compliment shows hypocrisy and shallowness. He plays the role of a Shadow archetype in conflict with Shirin and Ocean.

Ocean’s mother first plays a Shadow archetypal role in the story; she causes emotional pain to Ocean through her disinterested distance from his life, and she causes Shirin to feel obligated to break up with Ocean by telling Shirin that Ocean’s college scholarships are in jeopardy. Unlike Coach Hart, however, Ocean’s mother is a dynamic character because she proves a desire to mend her relationship with Ocean after his threatened expulsion. She welcomes Shirin back when Shirin and Ocean reconcile, understanding that she must respect Ocean’s choices.