56 pages • 1 hour read
Bethany HamiltonSoul Surfer
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | 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.
Symbols & Motifs
The Shark
The shark that attacks Bethany Hamilton represents all of the seemingly random events that occur in our lives, both good and bad, that help God’s plan unfold. Hamilton establishes that her decision to surf at Tunnels Beach, which put her in the path of the shark, was seemingly inconsequential, but it had a life-altering impact. This is true for all people’s lives, she asserts, and we cannot prepare for these events or even anticipate how they will affect us. Rather, we need to accept that these so-called accidents are part of God’s plan and will reveal God’s purpose for us.
As Hamilton describes the shark attack, she makes it clear that she had no premonition that her life was about to change: “[Sharks] prefer to move silently and stealthily underwater, a total surprise to their victims” (124). Hamilton’s description could apply to any instance of fate or chance; she believes that God’s plan for each of us is also moving below the surface of our lives and often takes us by surprise.
Tunnels
Hamilton and her mother drive past several possible surf sites on the morning of the shark attack and eventually decide to go home. At the last moment, however, Hamilton suggests they try a place called Tunnels Beach. To Hamilton’s surprise, her best friend, Alana, shows up at Tunnels Beach, too, along with her brother and father.
Making their way to Tunnels Beach, Hamilton writes, “Finally, we crossed over a very narrow wood bridge that marked the end of our journey” (12). Traveling through a tunnel is always a journey through the darkness of the tunnel into the light of the open air. Hamilton’s journey, she suggests, is also from darkness to light: from her pre-attack life of faith, family, and surfing to her post-attack life of deeper faith, deeper appreciation for her family and community, and using surfing to spread the message of God’s unending love. When Hamilton speaks of the wood bridge that marks the end of her journey, she is indicating that the fateful decision to go to Tunnels Beach marked the end of one phase of her life and the beginning of another. Hamilton writes, “And I am not ready to go out and surf Tunnels again and am not sure I will ever go back there” (183). Tunnels represent the transition from one life to another and stand as a symbol of new beginnings in the story of Bethany Hamilton.
The Sea
To ancient believers in God, the sea was a dangerous and frightening place, representing chaos and the unknown. In the biblical book of Genesis, God’s first act is to subdue the sea, an act that signals God’s infinite power and control over all aspects of life. For Bethany Hamilton, the sea is a place where the unexpected can happen, but where God is in control.
As Hamilton explains, surfing requires accepting that the sea can still be a frightening and dangerous place. Hamilton says, “[A]s skilled as you are, sometimes nature is smarter, stronger, and tougher. The wave may suddenly take control [...] dragging you to the bottom” (121). However, God is in control in the sea, just as God is in control everywhere else. Describing her return to surfing after the shark attack, Hamilton writes, “God is watching out for me, and while I don’t want to do something stupid like paddling out where someone has just seen a shark, in the end, I trust Him to take care of me” (184).
The sea, then, represents life, where anything from horrible accidents to wonderful chance meetings can happen. In the sea, just as in life, Hamilton believes it is critical to trust that God is protecting you and that your life is unfolding in the way God intended it to unfold.
