The Sea in Winter

The novel follows a linear narrative structure. Maisie is the protagonist and narrator of the story that unfolds through her first-person perspective. Maisie tells her story of trauma and recovery, coping with a knee injury that thwarts her dreams of becoming a ballerina. Through her perspective that dominates the narrative, the text allows the reader to establish an immediate connection with the character, conveying Maisie’s emotions throughout her journey. The text focuses on a limited period of time, as the story predominantly takes place during Maisie’s winter break. Day’s decision to add dates to the chapter titles creates the sense that Maisie is writing a series of journal entries, and this stylistic choice emphasizes the centrality of Maisie’s personal journey and worsening distress.

As the narrative focuses on Maisie’s emotional trauma and mental distress, these early events foreshadow her intensifying struggle with Overcoming Trauma and Loss. Overcome with grief and regret over her inability to pursue her love of dancing, Maisie is now reluctant to attend school, and she habitually isolates herself from others—even from her friends. She also avoids “eye contact with anyone” and is “careful not to do much of anything” (8). As her poor grade in math demonstrates, her school performance has dropped along with her low spirits, and her sporadic texts with her friends emphasize her increasing reluctance to communicate the depths of her feelings. For example, while her friends send her long messages, her responses remain short and impassive, and her worsening inner crisis causes her to disconnect from her social world and from her family. Maisie avoids her little brother and withdraws from adults as well, feeling that her mother is “oblivious” to her struggles and turmoil. Because she avoids seeking out the support that she needs, Maisie wallows in misguided feelings of worthlessness and believes that her pain does not “matter.”

As the novel illustrates the interwoven nature of Maisie’s mental and physical trauma, it is clear that her knee injury has robbed her of the “sanctuary” and creative outlet that she once found in the world of ballet. For example, Maisie vividly recalls her time in dance school with her friends, missing how “creative and expressive” she felt in those moments (13). Her injury has therefore eliminated her main source of joy and excitement, and she finds herself physically and mentally traumatized. She has lost the “peacefulness” that the dance studio offered her and is now overwhelmed by hopelessness.

However, while Maisie’s character development is bound by crisis in this section, Day also foreshadows Maisie’s eventual healing, as the girl remains determined to recover and return to dancing. When she follows her physical therapy routine “with soaring confidence” (40), her doctor praises her progress, and Maisie dreams about attending dance school auditions in the summer. However, despite these early glimmers of hope, the author also emphasizes the grimmer reality that Maisie’s healing journey will be much more complex. This idea is introduced when the doctor admonishes her that “trauma takes time to heal” (48), and while he is speaking of her physical ailments, the comment can also be read as an indirect reference to Maisie’s struggles with her mental health. Thus, in order to recover fully, Maisie must reconnect with herself and find a new sense of hope and support among her friends and family.

As Maisie undergoes these challenges, Day’s strategic use of foreshadowing can also be seen in the recurring motifs of books and writing, both of which underscore the possibilities of healing. Maisie’s habit of spending time in the library indicates that storytelling empowers her just as dancing does, and in these early sections, she uses the world of fiction to help her “forget [her] own pain” (36). The act of writing is therefore depicted as an alternative form of self-expression for her, and this dynamic first becomes clear when she works through her teacher’s writing prompt at school. Even as she struggles to connect with the people around her, Maisie feels that “the words flow through [her]” (3). In this way, while her inner crisis dominates the initial stages of her journey, her interest in writing as a creative outlet foreshadows her eventual healing.

This section also explores the issue of Navigating the Complexities of Indigenous Identity Amid Social Injustice, and this intricate theme first reveals itself when Maisie reflects on her parents’ past histories. Maisie’s mother and father are both Indigenous but come from different tribes, and when they were growing up, they were both deeply connected to their cultures. Maisie’s narration provides vital context on the intricacies of Indigenous history and of the Makah tribe in particular, and her reflections highlight the social injustices of colonialism and the complex conflicts that have arisen in response to these social forces. For example, she explains that the Makah were made to refrain from their traditional gray whale hunt for many years and that when they reassumed this practice during the late 1990s, they faced immediate intimidation and violence. This tumultuous event led to Angie’s removal from her homeland in Neah Bay, even though “[n]one of them wanted to go” (25). As Maisie relates, “Neah Bay was their home, Mom was starting to learn the Makah language, and the whale hunt had brought the tribal community together” (25). Her thoughts reveal that although the tribe’s 1990s-era whale hunt was controversial, it also held great significance for the Makah individuals who were striving to reconnect with the vestiges of their culture.

Maisie also mentions her father’s funeral, hinting that he died in action, and this detail suggests that Maisie’s family has confronted considerable tragedy, loss, and trauma over the years. Thus, in the midst of processing her own inner conflicts, Maisie must also navigate these wider social currents. As she navigates her life with her mother, her stepfather, and her half-sibling, she feels frustrated and exasperated by the adult world and by her family’s collective struggles. Day emphasizes that Maisie’s sense of self is shaped by her individual experiences and by her complex family dynamics and sociocultural context. As the novel unfolds, Maisie must reckon with her personal trauma and her identity as an Indigenous girl even as she struggles to achieve new levels of growth and healing.