42 pages • 1 hour read
Erin Entrada KellyLalani of the Distant Sea
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2019A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Power in Smallness
Lalani Sarita lives in a world dominated by men. They achieve this status principally through their physical size. Everyone admires this quality, and Lalani feels diminished because she isn’t big and muscle-bound. All the women on the island are judged as useless because of their comparatively small size. They fall into the trap of believing in their own worthlessness and allow men to order them around. The novel stresses the folly of judging effectiveness by physical brawn. Drum is big, but he is also a bully who is disliked by his own family as well as the rest of the villagers. When Lalani contemplates how to save her mother, she finds the task daunting because she doesn’t perceive herself as a hero: All the heroes she has known are big men, not little girls. However, the novel stresses that size doesn’t matter when it comes to power. There are multiple situations in which something tiny can bring down the gigantic and supposedly powerful.
The first example is the bacteria that causes mender’s disease. A single scratch from an infected needle can kill a human in 10 days. Likewise, a single bite from a tiny goyuk is enough to kill Lalani if she doesn’t reach Fei Diwata in time. In fact, the insects were once powerful witches who deliberately chose a small form because they knew “[t]he mightiest are often the smallest” (242). In their insect form, a goyuk can kill a giant in five days with a single sting. Similarly, Bai-Vinca’s sister dies because of a fungus that infects the nut trees on which the bai feed. A small blight on a single nut is enough to kill a bird that is nine feet tall.
It is no coincidence then that the all-powerful talisman stolen from Fei Diwata is a small arrowhead. Throughout the story, Lalani fails to recognize the power she holds when she defends herself with it. Because of its insignificant size, she constantly minimizes its ability to protect her, yet it saves her life multiple times. Fei Diwata points out its importance when she “kisse[s] the arrowhead” and identifies it as her “udyo,” though Lalani still struggles to fully comprehend its power: “How could such a small thing make such a big difference?” (375). Lalani’s inability to value the arrowhead is the same as her inability to value herself. She is small, like the arrowhead, yet shows great courage and resourcefulness in completing her mission. By the end of the novel, she realizes that tiny things can wield great power.
The Duality of Life
The novel defines life by its duality. Early in the story, Lalani says that she perceives Veyda’s home to be a place of light because of the comfort she derives from the Yuzo family. In contrast, she describes her own home as a place of darkness because Drum and Kul live there. This contrast can also be seen between the islands of Isa and Sanlagita, which are defined by the good and bad fortune that they experience. Even the two mountains are juxtaposed: Mount Kahna is evil and can drown the people in mudslides, while Mount Isa is a blessed place where plants grow that can cure all ailments.
This polarity continues in every aspect of mortal experience. The creator of the islands, Mother Nalupai, says, “You cannot place living things together without expecting some problems. But you embrace this reality with both magical arms, because without pain, there is no joy” (119). Everything can only be understood by its opposite. As Ditasa-Ulod contemplates the sea creatures under her rule, she finds herself unnerved: “Evil though they are, the cantabrito are your people, too. As are the uga, ilma, and shuzi. You rule them all” (202). The sea guardian herself is ambivalent. She tries to drown Lalani more than once yet grants her safe passage to return to her people in the end.
When Usoa is mortally wounded, she is cared for by the nunso. These are the same creatures who tried to kill Lalani when she stepped on one of their mounds. After Lalani questions this, Fei Diwata says, “The nunso […] are complicated creatures. But aren’t we all?” (372). Even in the paradise of Isa, Lalani encounters many creatures who seek to end her life. Much earlier in the story, Ellseth cautions her not to expect paradise anywhere when he says, “Danger lurks in dark places. Danger lurks in beautiful places. You can never escape it” (113). While the polarity of existence remains in force throughout the mortal world, Ellseth’s theft of the udyo creates an artificial imbalance between Isa and Sanlagita. Once Lalani restores the arrowhead to its rightful owner, cosmic balance is restored. Even though life will continue to have its downside, the Sanlagitans will finally receive their share of happiness.
The Virtue of Compassion
The novel is populated by characters who treat each other unkindly, though Lalani and Veyda are notable exceptions to that pattern. They both go out of their way to help an infant who is sick, and the boy’s father recognizes this: “‘You’re kind girls. You do what you can,’ Maddux replied. ‘And that’s what matters’” (25). In Sanlagita, kindness is more often mistaken for a vice than a virtue. Since the island is ruled by brutal men, force and aggression are seen as useful traits, while kindness is seen as weak.
Lalani minimizes her own compassion, but wiser souls do not. Mother Nalupai, who created the two islands, recognizes the importance of kindness and declares this when she says, “You create a Diwata to watch over them. You name her Fei. You tell her, These islands belong to those who possess life’s greatest virtue. You whisper that virtue in her ear—one word” (118).The reader doesn’t learn what this magical virtue is until the end of the tale, but Fei Diwata knows its name so that she can recognize it in the hearts of others. After Ellseth’s theft, however, she becomes mistrustful of all humans, despairing that anyone possesses a good heart. Distasa-Ulod warns Lalani, “Fei Diwata sees into the hearts of all living things [...] And she prizes one virtue above all else. If she looks into your heart and doesn’t see it there, you will die” (233-34). That single word is finally articulated by the ghost of Ziva, who says, “You have learned that compassion is life’s greatest virtue” (362). Because others see Ziva as a traitorous failure, she is moved by Lalani’s faith in her.
Throughout the story, Lalani consistently demonstrates this quality. She tries to save Ellseth from the mudslide—even though he has just threatened to steal her eyes—and she risks her own life to save her mother’s. In the boat, Lalani spares the pahaalusk, even though she fears it. That act of mercy ends up saving her from drowning, since Ziva sent the pahaalusk to help Lalani survive the sea. On Isa, Lalani tries to help Usoa in her quest to defeat Bai-Vinca. When the mindoren is wounded, Lalani desperately tries to reach Fei Diwata to save Usoa, even though she herself is suffering from a fatal goyuk bite. The proof of Lalani’s authentic compassion comes when Fei Diwata looks into her heart and doesn’t try to kill her. Instead, she freely offers the flower petals that will save both Lalani and her mother, proving compassion to be a useful virtue, after all.
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By Erin Entrada Kelly
