This One Summer

Content Warning: The Symbols & Motifs mention miscarriage and suicide.

Awago Beach is the setting of This One Summer and serves as a multi-layered symbol of both positive and negative memories in the lives of Rose, Windy, and their families. It is the place where Rose and Windy met and have spent all of their time together, and it becomes sacred to them for this reason. Rose recalls several memories of spending time on the beach with her family, and these memories are all happy, innocent, and from a time when her family was more unified and loving. In Rose’s last summer of childhood, the beach evolves into a symbol of The Emergence of Adolescence and Accompanying Loss of Innocence. Rose also uses the lake as a source of catharsis, often swimming alone and spending the time contemplating and reflecting.

Rose and Windy spend much of their summer days at the lake, swimming for hours. In one scene of childlike whimsy, Windy runs toward the beach, a speck amongst the wide waves and sand, yelling “AH! The sand is like lava!” (81). She and Rose often swim far out into the lake and use the privacy to discuss matters that bother them.