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53 pages 1 hour read

Catherine Steadman

Something in the Water

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2018

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Symbols & Motifs

Money

Beginning with the loss of Mark’s job, money becomes a defining factor in Mark’s and Erin’s decisions. They shorten their honeymoon and cut back on some of the extravagance for their wedding. Though they take these measures, Mark’s lack of a job weighs on him, something that never gets resolved and supports the novel’s major conflict. Ironically, money destroys Mark, who’s worked in banking for years. He doesn’t know who he is without reliable income. The thought of having millions to himself and never having to worry about money again changes him into someone cold and willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish his goals. Money also motivates Erin to make reckless decisions, many of which for the benefit of her family. Rather than changing Erin, money brings out her personality. As a self-employed filmmaker and artist, Erin is a go-getter by nature. She applies the same skills to increasing her wealth as she does to her documentaries.

Money kicks off the main conflict of the book. Finding the bag and discovering its contents sets Mark down his path of destruction. Without the bag, he might have dealt with the loss of his job and found something else. The bag shows him an easy alternative, which he takes without hesitation. By contrast, the bag prompts Erin’s growth. She initially fears opening the Swiss bank account and depositing illegal money, even though the account is anonymous. When the first potential seller for the diamonds backs out because the stones appear stolen, Erin’s fear turns to annoyance. She takes matters into her own hands and sells the diamonds through Eddie’s contact. Finally, she faces exchanging the USB head-on. By the end of the book, money turns her from timid to strong.

In Chapter 10, Mark and Erin fly first class to Bora Bora. Erin marvels at the difference in experience from economy class. The resort in Bora Bora and the clothing store in Chapter 22 also show how money opens opportunities. Once Mark establishes himself and Erin as rich, the clothing-store attendants make every effort to impress in terms of service and offerings. Money represents convenience and a protected lifestyle. The difference motivates Erin to take risks and increase her wealth. The money also blinds her, making her unsure of the motivations behind her actions. She doesn’t know if she simply wants to help her loved ones or if she wants the thrill of getting away with something illegal.

Prisons and Crime

For her first three interviews, Erin goes to Holloway Prison (Holli and Alexa) and Penton Prison (Eddie), where she observes a stark contrast to the outside world. Both prisons are gray with dull lighting and high security on their prisoners. The buildings represent how free Erin feels in the early part of the story. Before she and Mark find the bag, Erin lives an above-average life. Her upper middle-class status means she can do what she wants, something prisons stand in opposition of.

After she and Mark find the bag, Erin puts herself into a figurative prison. She becomes jailed by the bag and her own fear. She wants to keep the money and diamonds because they mean a comfortable lifestyle forever, but she worries about the legality of doing so. She fears going to literal prison and doesn’t see the emotional prison she puts herself in. The benefit of more money versus the consequences of her secrets being discovered traps her more effectively than any bars or security system.

Erin commits many crimes from the time she finds the bag onward. Before this, she felt separate from her interviewees. They were people who made poor choices and were now paying the price for those decisions. When she and Mark choose to keep the bag, Erin finds herself committing one small crime after another. She starts with deleting her name from the hotel computer and works her way up to selling the stolen diamonds through illegal channels. Crime represents Erin’s character growth: With each progressive crime, Erin becomes a bit more of her real self. By the end of the book, crime allows Erin to understand and get close to Eddie. 

Cameras

Erin spends several chapters filming her documentary. Before each take, she tells her interviewees to talk naturally, like the camera isn’t there. Despite this advice, the camera is there and recording. Anything said is captured for anyone to hear, and the characters use film to communicate the message they want someone to hear, rather than the strict truth. Holli’s interview indirectly reveals she wants to continue committing crimes when she’s released from prison. She tells Erin to expect “greatness” from her, something she lives up to with her counterterrorism and theft in the final chapter. Eddie uses the camera to deliver a heartfelt message to his daughter, and Lottie responds with her own video. Both say how they feel to the lens but later change their minds. Eddie tells the camera he’s done with his former life but asks Erin for a suspicious favor in Chapter 41, suggesting what he recorded for the world to hear might not be true.

From the time Erin and Mark find the bag, Erin pays attention to the placement of security cameras. Each one is a way the authorities or plane people can track her movements. In Chapter 18, she erases the footage of herself going to and from the hotel’s business center to hide her movements. It’s never confirmed if the plane people had anything to do with the Sharpes’ deaths, but if they did, Erin’s caution is for nothing. Even without the camera footage, the plane people tracked her and Mark to the hotel in Bora Bora. When Erin goes to the Swiss bank and the diamond exchange, she notes the position of security cameras.

Though she uses an alias for both trips, her face is recorded and can be identified as Erin Roberts. While Erin moves around on camera, Mark shows how to hide. He is careful to always put Erin in the lens’s line of sight as not to incriminate himself. He shows that the only way to hide from cameras is to distract them. He puts Erin’s illegal activity out in the open to draw attention away from his own crimes. Cameras might capture exactly what is said or done, but they are not necessarily reliable. The ability for film to be edited, deleted, or influenced by the decisions of those on camera shows how recordings don’t always reveal the truth.

Scuba Diving

Erin fears scuba diving. Her mother died in a car accident, trapped by the crushed vehicle. Erin equates the crushed feeling with being surrounded by meters of water and having no escape. She had a bad experience scuba diving years before the book starts; she panicked and couldn’t breathe. As the book progresses, Erin learns scuba diving isn’t responsible for her fear, that it only magnifies her existing fear of being imprisoned.

In Bora Bora, Erin tries scuba diving for the first time since her incident. Mark’s presence makes her feel safe while underwater, which is ironic because he later puts his resources toward making her feel unsafe. The day Mark and Erin find the bag, Mark took them to a different beach to scuba dive. Had they gone to their usual place, they might not have found the bag, and Mark’s true colors might have never been revealed. When they return to where they found the bag, they find the downed plane while scuba diving. After panicking again, Erin returns to the boat while Mark dives deeper to open the plane. He never shares what he saw with Erin, making scuba diving the vehicle of his deception. His ability to dive deeper and remain calm allow him to concoct whatever story he wishes to tell Erin.

Mark uses scuba diving to maintain Erin’s fear. The Sharpes die in what appears to be a scuba diving accident. Mark later reveals he hinted to the hotel staff that the bag belonged to the Sharpes. It’s not confirmed, but it is possible Mark somehow instituted the scuba accident so he could use the Sharpes’ deaths as leverage over Erin. Regardless, Erin thinks of the Sharpes in her more terrified moments. When he wants to frighten her, Mark reminds Erin of how the Sharpes died, which works with less and less effectiveness. As Erin grows into a less fearful person, her terror about scuba diving (among other things) lessens, and Mark’s hold on her fear diminishes. 

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By Catherine Steadman