Chapter 40: Roimata — Summary, Analysis, and Key Themes

⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.

Summary

Roimata puts Greta to bed. Greta is crying so hard she cannot explain what has happened. Roimata's thoughts drift to the Māori legend of Hine Hukatere, whose tears carved out Fox Glacier after her partner died in an avalanche. Roimata briefly considers whether Ell might have died in an avalanche, but dismisses the idea given Auckland's mild September weather, musing that a bus accident is more plausible.

Roimata hugs Greta for a long time, then guides her into the bathroom. She turns on the shower and lays out a dressing gown, a clean towel, and her expensive Aēsop Geranium Leaf Body Cleanser, which she normally keeps hidden under her bed. Greta does not stop crying, but she undoes her hair from its bun and removes her shoes. Roimata closes the bathroom door and makes Greta's bed with the sheets pulled very tight, the way Greta prefers.

While Greta showers, Roimata paces the living room, still adjusting to being alone since Xabi left. She wonders whether he feels the same about her and distracts herself with thoughts of polishing the concrete floor.

When Greta emerges wrapped in her robe, still sniffling, Roimata turns down the bed. Greta clings to Roimata's arm, so Roimata sits on the pale blue linen duvet beside her. Looking at Greta's seafoam walls and the sheepskin rug Greta has had since birth, Roimata recalls her own childhood: trips to Rainbow's End, where she cried on the Log Flume when the frog told her to go back, and visits to Marineland, where she watched a dolphin jump through a hoop—something she now recognises would probably not be permitted today. These memories make her feel she has lived a full life, having witnessed things no longer acceptable.

Roimata then reflects on the time before she existed. Her brother Casper visited Aotea Great Barrier Island, their mother's birthplace, but does not remember it; Roimata and Greta have never been. People sometimes ask Roimata for travel tips about the island, assuming she knows local restaurants or breweries, but she knows almost nothing—there appears to be only one shop and no high school. Her mother completed schooling by correspondence because her family had no one for her to stay with in Whangārei; she was meant to stay with a great-aunt, but her father quarrelled with the aunt and forbade it. The Correspondence School's original mission was to serve the most isolated children, and her mother once said she read any book anyone on the island would lend her.

This leads Roimata to think of Ernesto reading a Spanish translation of the fifth Dune novel, found outside a supermarket despite his never having read the first three.

Roimata offers to watch a film with Greta, but Greta declines. Greta says a person is never coming back. Roimata tries to reassure her that people do come back, hoping Ell has not died in an avalanche, and offers to talk. Greta shakes her head. Roimata sits with her, then reads Spanish vocabulary on her phone. Greta falls asleep gripping Roimata's arm so tightly she cannot move. Roimata downloads an e-book version of a book she has in her room, Small Holes in the Silence, and notes she can now hear the silence. She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a rubber ball painted in Neptune's colours, though she does not remember putting it there.

Key Events

Roimata comforts Greta, who is crying uncontrollably, preparing a shower and bed for her.
Roimata reflects on being alone since Xabi left.
Greta says someone is never coming back; Roimata tries to reassure her.
Roimata recalls childhood memories of Rainbow's End and Marineland.
Roimata remembers her mother's isolated upbringing and correspondence schooling on Aotea Great Barrier Island.
Roimata thinks of Ernesto reading a Spanish translation of a Dune novel.
Greta falls asleep gripping Roimata's arm.
Roimata downloads an e-book and finds a rubber ball painted in Neptune's colours in her pocket.

Character Development

Roimata emerges as a deeply attentive caregiver. She anticipates Greta's needs—the shower, the expensive body cleanser, the dressing gown, the tightly made bed—even when Greta cannot articulate what is wrong. Her care is practical and physical, expressed through small domestic gestures rather than words.

Roimata's reflections reveal her interiority and her sense of being at a turning point. With Xabi gone, she is relearning solitude. Her thoughts drift between the present moment with Greta and memories of her own childhood and her mother's history, suggesting that caring for Greta stirs her own sense of loss and nostalgia.

Her awareness of cultural change is notable: she recognises that the Marineland dolphin show she enjoyed as a child would not be acceptable today, and she feels that remembering such things gives her a sense of having lived a full life.

Greta is shown in a vulnerable state, unable to speak about what has happened. Her physical clinging to Roimata's arm and her eventual sleep signal both her distress and her trust in her sibling. Her single statement—that someone is never coming back—is the chapter's emotional core, though its full meaning is left ambiguous.

Themes, Symbols, or Motifs

Grief and comfort: The chapter is structured around Roimata's attempts to comfort Greta through ritualistic, physical care—shower, bed, silent presence—without requiring Greta to explain herself.

Sibling bond: Roimata's devotion to Greta is the chapter's central relationship, expressed through practical care and silent presence rather than conversation.

Isolation and connection: Roimata's mother's isolated upbringing on Aotea Great Barrier Island, with correspondence schooling and borrowed books, connects to Roimata's own solitude after Xabi's departure and the silence she hears at the chapter's end.

Nostalgia and cultural change: Roimata's memories of Rainbow's End and Marineland are framed as experiences that would no longer be permitted, highlighting shifting cultural norms.

Memory and family history: The chapter weaves together Roimata's childhood memories, her mother's history, and Casper's forgotten visit to the island, suggesting family memory is partial and layered.

Silence: The chapter ends with Roimata hearing the silence, connecting her solitude, her mother's isolated childhood, and the quiet presence she offers Greta.

The rubber ball in Neptune's colours: This unexplained object in Roimata's pocket is a small mystery, possibly symbolising something unacknowledged or connecting to another thread in the story.

Why This Chapter Matters

This chapter offers a rare sustained view of Roimata's interior life, showing her as a caregiver, a sister, and a person processing her own recent loss while attending to someone else's. It deepens the reader's understanding of the family's history through the portrait of Roimata's mother's isolated childhood on Aotea Great Barrier Island. It also introduces ambiguity and mystery—Greta's unexplained grief, the identity of the person who is never coming back, and the rubber ball in Neptune's colours—that carries emotional weight into the following chapters.

Study Questions and Answers

1. How does Roimata express care for Greta, and what does this reveal about their relationship?

Roimata's care is expressed through practical, physical actions: hugging Greta, preparing a shower with her expensive body cleanser, laying out a dressing gown and towel, making the bed with tight sheets, and sitting beside her while she falls asleep. She does not press Greta to talk, offering instead a quiet, patient presence. This reveals a relationship built on trust and unspoken understanding, where comfort is offered through action rather than words.

2. What role does memory play in this chapter, and how does Roimata's recollection of her mother's childhood connect to her present situation?

Memory is central to the chapter. Roimata recalls her own childhood trips to Rainbow's End and Marineland, and she reflects on her mother's isolated upbringing on Aotea Great Barrier Island, where she completed schooling by correspondence and read any book she could borrow. These memories connect to Roimata's present situation: she is alone since Xabi left, and she is sitting in silence with Greta. The theme of isolation—her mother's, her own, and the silence she hears at the end—links past and present.

3. What is the significance of the rubber ball painted in Neptune's colours that Roimata finds in her pocket?

The chapter does not explain the ball's origin; Roimata does not remember putting it in her pocket. Its appearance at the end of the chapter is mysterious and unresolved. It may function as a symbol of something unacknowledged or forgotten, or as a connection to another part of the story. Its meaning is left open, inviting the reader to consider what else Roimata might be carrying without fully knowing.

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