Prince of Tides

1971 is a watershed year for Tom and the rest of the Wingos. Amos, Tom’s beloved grandfather, dies in Colleton. The whole town attends Amos's grand funeral. The same year, Jennifer Lynn Wingo, Tom and Sallie’s first daughter, is born. But the biggest surprise that jolts the family is Lila finally leaving Henry in what Tom calls a “spectacular break with the past” (544).

Isabel, Reese’s wife, is dying of cancer. The still stunningly-beautiful Lila moves to Colleton to nurse her former archenemy. Lila also sends divorce papers to Henry. A distraught Henry goes to Tom, asking him to intervene. Tom reminds Henry of all the years of abuse against Lila and his children, which have contributed to Lila leaving him. Following the family pattern of denial, Henry refuses to accept that he has ever hit his family. Enraged, Tom makes Henry look at the scar on his right arm that Henry got when Luke once stabbed him in self-defense. It was on the night of Tom and Savannah’s 10th birthday. Lila had begged Henry to come out and watch the children cut the cake, but Henry had stayed stuck to the TV. When Lila turned off the TV, Henry lunged at her, beating her up as the children watched. He even slapped Savannah when she tried to rescue her mother. Luke ended the ugly scene by shooting the TV with a pistol. As Henry wrestled Luke, Tom had to stab him to save Luke. Lila and the children ran away that night to stay with Amos and Tolitha. Tom tells Henry this is just one night out of many such nights in his life. Henry begins to cry, saying he is sorry if he ever did those things, but he really cannot remember any of them.

Tom visits Lila at the Newbury house in 1971. Reese seems to have softened with age, but Tom can still see a controlling streak in him. When Tom meets a frail Isabel, she apologizes for the past. She stuns Tom by telling him Reese loves Lila and will marry her after Isabel dies. The couple has Isabel’s blessing. Tom cannot stand by the idea, which he sees as another way of the Newburys stealing from the Wingos. Alone with Lila, Tom conveys his father’s request for reconciliation, but a defiant Lila says she is sorry she ever met Henry in the first place. Tom understands Lila’s decision and supports both his parents. However, he refuses to get caught in the middle or testify on Lila’s behalf in the divorce court. Tom promises he and Luke will never let their father hurt Lila again. Tom’s refusal to testify on her behalf sours the relationship between mother and son. Tom also suspects that Reese wants to acquire their land. In Reese’s study, Tom notices a map on the wall showing Newbury land: the map now includes a marker on Melrose Island.

After Isabel dies, the divorce proceedings begin. Unlike her brothers, Savannah testifies in court that her father abused her mother. The divorce is granted with Henry getting all his boat and all the material belongings of the family, and Lila, Melrose Island. A year later, Lila marries Reese and enters Colleton high society. On the wedding day, Henry takes his boat toward Florida and disappears for six months.

Meanwhile, the federal government announces that Colleton will be the site of a nuclear ammunition plant. The existing town, including Melrose Island, will be demolished and the population moved to “New Colleton.” The narrative suggests Reese is privy to the surprise development since all the land the government wants to acquire belongs to him. Although the federal agents and their mouthpieces in town manage to quell any resistance to this move, Luke is not so easy to restrain. He opposes the move and eventually declares himself a separate nation from the US. He is arrested for rabble-rousing.

Luke’s stand-off with the federal government escalates. The town’s residents evacuate Colleton after being compensated, but Luke remains around, along with Mr. Fruit, a differently-abled person. Luke organizes a small guerrilla army of protestors and trains them to attack the workers approaching the construction site of the nuclear plant. He even plants explosives on the four railroads connecting Colleton to the mainland so construction supplies cannot be brought in. Unfortunately, four railroad employees die in one of the explosions. Luke is now considered an anarchist, and FBI agents and ex-army men are sent to kill him.

In his last get-rich-quick scheme, Henry knowingly attempts to transport drugs from Florida to Jamaica. He is caught mid-way and jailed. The government gives Lila 2 million dollars as compensation for Melrose Island. In a magnanimous gesture, Lila plans to gift $100,000 each to Henry, Luke, Savannah, and Tom. While his siblings accept the money, Luke refuses on principle.

Tom works out a deal with an FBI agent for a reduced sentence for Luke if he surrenders voluntarily. Since the railroad employees died in an accident, Luke can be tried for manslaughter rather than premeditated murder. Savannah arrives in town to help Tom find Luke. The twins know Luke is hiding at Marsh Hen Island, a remote island in the marshes that only the Wingos know. After six days at the island, Tom and Savannah find Luke and convince him to turn himself in to the FBI at Charleston Bridge. The twins leave Marsh Hen Island, and Luke is to follow two days later. On his way to Charleston Bridge, Luke decides to take one last look at the ruins of the Melrose Island house. He is spotted by an ex-army man sent to neutralize him and shot dead.

After Luke’s funeral, Savannah and Tom take his body to submerge at Gulf Stream, where the river meets the sea. Savannah reads out “The Prince of Tides,” written as a tribute to Luke. Now the siblings have to learn to live without Luke and express their grief in devastating ways.

Tom’s story comes to an end. Despite all the digressions, he could tell his whole story to Susan only because he loves her deeply. Yet, he has to let go of Susan and return to his wife and daughters. Susan accepts Tom’s decision gracefully since she loves him for being “the kind of man who’ll always go back to his family” (654).

Savannah is finally released from Bellevue. Tom tells her that she must channel her pain into her writing, the way her favorite painter Claude Monet expressed his feelings through his immortal paintings of flowers. He and Savannah need to talk about Luke and their childhood and open their pain to the world. Tom needs Savannah to live because he cannot picture a life without her. The twins take stock of what their dysfunctional family gave them: for Tom, it is the gift of survival, while for Savannah, it is “genius” (655).

A year later, Henry is released from prison. Lila gifts him a new shrimp boat, which he accepts reluctantly. Tom wants Henry to ferry them up the Wando River as he used to when he, Savannah, and Luke were children. On the water, they watch the sunset and moonrise converge like one of Lila’s old magic tricks. Tom seems to have found peace, reunited with the Wingos and his wife and daughters. But he acknowledges something is amiss. He is still consumed with thoughts of Susan, his great love.