36 pages • 1 hour read
Dan SantatThe Aquanaut: A Graphic Novel
Fiction | Graphic Novel/Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Background
Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
Tools
BetaSymbols & Motifs
The Ocean
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death and animal death.
The ocean is the central motif in The Aquanaut. Not only do most of its characters come from the ocean, but the plot is also centered around marine conservation, research, and The Right of All Creatures to Live Freely. The Aquanaut drives home the idea that marine life deserves more than just to live in a tank. By including the scene in which Sodapop and his father explore the ocean’s trash, the novel further underscores the need to improve the state of the ocean, these animals’ home environment. Additionally, humans rely on the ocean more than they know: “Seventy-five percent of our planet is covered in water. Our oceans are an essential source of life and a delicate part of our ecosystem” (44).
The creatures who make up the aquanaut are under the false impression that by leaving the ocean for land, they will be safer and kept protected at a place called Aqualand. What they find instead is that there are different threats above ground and that they were never really meant to leave the ocean from where they came. When trouble ensues and the aquanaut frees the captive orca, they realize that living such a life is terrible compared to the freedom of the sea. Although coming to land isn’t what the aquanaut expected, the creatures still have a positive impact: meeting Sophia and making a new friend. Nevertheless, the animals end up going back to the ocean in the end. Santat contrasts vivid illustrations of the ocean with deep blues and intense darkness with the land-oriented scenes, particularly when the boat is flooding in the narrative’s introduction and in the final scene when Paul returns to the shipwreck.
The Diving Suit
The diving suit is a key symbol in The Aquanaut, representing Michel’s legacy and The Courage to Face Fears. Sodapop and his friends find the diving suit after the shipwreck and turn it into a usable, machine-like suit. The whole process takes five years, and when they finally emerge on land, people think they must be robots or superheroes. The diving suit belonged to Sophia’s father, and Paul mentions how the antique suit was the only one they could afford when they started diving: “It’s unsettling to see this suit walking around. It was all we could afford at the time. It’s like I’m talking to a ghost” (170). It serves as a reminder of humble beginnings and the passion that Michel and Paul had for ocean research. After the sea creatures take over the suit, it becomes a vehicle for friendship, discovery, and Finding Home in Family. It brings them to Sophia and teaches them the truth about Aqualand and its inhabitants. The suit also allows the sea creatures to free the orca and find the courage to dive into the tank with the giant squid. In the end, the sea creatures keep the diving suit, fully embracing their united identity as the aquanaut.
The Can
The can is an important symbol that supports Finding Home in Family and the connections that parents have with their children, even after they are gone. The can was originally just a piece of trash that landed on the ocean floor to rot, but Sodapop’s father spotted it and thought it would make a great replacement shell for Sodapop’s growing body. Sodapop has worn that can on his back ever since because even though he got it the day his father died, it was also the last thing he gave to him. The can protects Sodapop until he outgrows it, at which time he gives it to Sophia in exchange for the shell from her father. The exchange is meaningful for both characters because each is giving up something their father gave to them, symbolizing how they now view one another as family. It also represents a shared understanding of their experiences of grief and loss, as they both know what it’s like to lose their father to a tragedy. In the novel’s final scenes, Sophia is on her uncle’s boat and wearing the can around her neck. This shows that she is forever grateful to the aquanaut and for the unlikely friendship she developed with four sea creatures.
The Journal
The journal that belonged to Michel, Sophia’s father and Paul’s brother, is a symbol of Finding Home in Family and serves as a tool for connection between the sea creatures and Sophia. The sea creatures originally recovered it from the shipwreck, believing it contained important information, but didn’t realize that going to Aqualand would lead them right to the girl in the journal. Michel considered the journal so important that, even when he was about to die, he took the time to seal it up and protect it from getting destroyed in the flood. After Michel died, all that was left of his legacy were his project plans, his journal, and the note he left for Paul. The journal thus also acts as a connection between Sophia and Paul and the person they lost. Since Sophia keeps the journal with her, it is almost like her father is still guiding and helping her through his writing. The journal even contains an escape plan for the squid and for anyone who might need to get out of Aqualand secretly. It provides vital information to Sophia and the aquanaut, helping them get back to the sea and discover that they have The Courage to Face Fears.
