Red Kayak

"Mostly, I wish I could just stop going over it in my mind. But it replays all the time. Like waves breaking on the narrow beach down at the river. Sometimes, after school, I walk down there to sit on the bank and do nothing. Just let the sun bake my face and listen to those waves hitting the shore, one after the other"

Throughout The Red Kayak, the Corsica River functions as a symbol of hidden or unwelcome truths about people or the past.In this passage, for instance, Cummings likens Brady's memories of the accident to the repetitive breaking of waves. Besides highlighting the memories' strength and how they’re like a force of nature in their persistence, the comparison foreshadows the very literal ways in which the Corsica functions as a repository of "memories"; it is the place where Brady hides the drill, as well as the place where he finds the kayak. 

"Last year, the state legislature cut Dad’s workday from fourteen hours down to eight. Then the governor took away the month of November, and it hurt us financially. My mom had to put in extra hours at the nursing home, and Dad was pretty ticked off. “They’re blamin’ the wrong people!” he railed. “Pollution and development—that’s what’s killin’ us. Bay be right smart of crabs if it weren’t for all the damned condo-minions going up!”

Here, Cummings begins to sketch out the parallels between the crabbing storyline and the novel's main plot. Like Digger (and, to a lesser extent, Brady and J.T.), Mr. Parks perceives the DiAngelos and those like them as a threat; by polluting the bay, their "condo-minions" endanger the Parks' livelihood, which depends on the stability of the crab population. The government's response further exacerbates Mr. Parks'resentment, because he feels the regulations unfairly target blue-collarworkers while letting the town's newer, wealthier residents continue to damage the environment. Ultimately, Mr. Parks' acknowledginghis responsibility in protecting the river echoes Digger's recognition that seeking revenge on the DiAngelos was wrong.