The Ocean in Malibu Rising: A Symbol of Healing and Escape

The Ocean as a Physical Presence

The Pacific Ocean is the literal western boundary of Malibu, described in the novel's opening chapter as a series of beaches cradling the water, with the Pacific Coast Highway splitting the township so that beaches lie to the west and arid mountains to the east. This geography matters because it places the ocean as the constant, accessible counterpoint to the dry, flammable hills that threaten the community. The ocean is where the Riva children learn to surf, where Nina retreats for peace, and where the family's most meaningful moments unfold. To understand the ocean's symbolic weight, it helps to see how it operates across the novel's timeline—from childhood discovery to adult refuge.

Healing: Nina's Morning Ritual

Nina's relationship with the ocean is established early. On the morning of the party, she wakes in a glass-and-concrete mansion she never wanted—Brandon chose the cliffside property in Point Dume, while Nina had dreamed of a shabby beach bungalow on stilts over the sea. She walks to the cliff edge, watches good waves go unridden, and thinks, She would let the ocean heal her like she always had. The passage continues: The Pacific was her ocean. Malibu was her home.

This is the novel's clearest statement of the ocean's symbolic function. For Nina Riva, the water is not scenery; it is a restorative force she has relied on throughout her life. When she surfs alone in the secluded cove that morning, she finds a small slice of the peace she'd come out here for. The act of surfing—cross-stepping to the nose of her longboard, balancing, moving with the wave—requires her full attention. As the narration puts it, she did not think of future or past, but only present. The ocean offers her a form of mindfulness that the rest of her life—the tabloid coverage, the absent husband, the party she dreads—cannot. This connects directly to the theme of the ocean as a site of escape, healing, and identity.

Escape: The 1969 Surfboard

The ocean's role as a site of escape is rooted in the Riva children's childhood. In the summer of 1969, with Mick absent and June working at Pacific Fish, the four children are sent to the beach. They find an abandoned surfboard and spend the afternoon taking turns riding it. Nina rides lying down; Jay stands up for the first time. The scene is one of pure discovery—the trying and crashing, the trying and doing, the trying harder, doing better. June recognizes what the day means, noting that her children had found a previously undiscovered part of themselves.

The ocean here is an escape from the family's circumstances: Mick's neglect, June's exhaustion, the cramped reality of their lives. It is also the place where the siblings bond as a unit, a pattern that continues into adulthood. When the surfboard disappears the next day, June compensates at Christmas by placing four new surfboards—yellow, red, orange, and blue—beside the Christmas tree on the beach. The ocean becomes the site of the family's most generous and joyful memory, a gift from June Riva that stands in stark contrast to Mick Riva's pattern of abandonment.

Connection: The Siblings at 2 p.m.

By the afternoon of the party, the ocean is where the four adult siblings reconnect. At 2:00 p.m., they float together in a row like birds on a wire before taking off on waves. Kit steals Jay's wave, showing a middle finger; Jay scolds her; Hud observes her confidence. The scene is playful and competitive, but it is also the novel's clearest image of the Riva siblings as a functioning family unit. The ocean is the one place where their shared history and their present relationships converge without the complications of fame, money, or the party.

Notably, the scene also reveals the limits of the ocean's healing power. When Nina leaves the water to greet the cleaning staff, Hud watches her go and feels sad about the way she lost herself in always putting others first. Jay rolls his eyes and wishes she would live a little. The ocean can offer Nina peace, but it cannot fully protect her from the patterns of self-sacrifice she has developed—patterns rooted in the parentification she experienced as the eldest sibling.

The Ocean Against the Fire

The novel's structure sets the ocean in direct opposition to fire. Chapter 1 establishes that Malibu catches fire as a matter of nature—the Chumash, the Spanish colonizers, the Rindges, and a long list of subsequent fires. The Santa Ana winds act as an accelerant, and the dry mountains are a tinderbox. The ocean, by contrast, is wet, cool, and life-giving. It is the element that sustains rather than destroys.

This opposition culminates in the novel's final fire, which begins when Mick Riva's discarded cigarette lands in dry bushes. The fire spreads to Nina's home, consuming the site of the party. But the ocean remains—the siblings have already surfed together that day, and Nina's escape to Portugal is framed as a return to the water's healing power. The fire destroys the house, but the ocean endures as the family's true home. This contrast reinforces the theme of breaking generational patterns: Mick, who had a nature to set fire and walk away, embodies the destructive force, while the siblings' relationship with the ocean represents their capacity for renewal and connection.

The Ocean and Identity

For Nina, the ocean is inseparable from her sense of self. She reflects that the glory of living in Malibu was not living in luxury but raw nature—the ants on the kitchen counters, the pelicans on the deck, the horse manure on the unpaved roads. The ocean is part of this raw, unpolished Malibu that she loves, in contrast to the glass-and-concrete mansion Brandon bought her. When she stands on the cliff and looks at the water she wished was closer, the distance between her and the ocean mirrors the distance between her and her authentic self. This tension between public image and private self is explored further in the theme analysis.

The ocean is also tied to the Riva family identity. The Christmas surfboards, the shared surfing sessions, the childhood discovery of the abandoned board—these are the moments that define the siblings' bond. The ocean is where they are most themselves, before the pressures of fame and expectation intrude. It is the inheritance their mother gave them, and the one thing their father could never take away.

Study Questions

1. How does the ocean function differently for Nina than for her siblings?

For Nina, the ocean is primarily a site of personal healing and escape. She surfs alone in the morning, seeking peace from her public humiliation and her unwanted marriage. The narration states directly that she would let the ocean heal her like she always had. For her siblings, the ocean is more about shared connection and play. The 2 p.m. scene shows them surfing together, bickering, and competing—a family ritual rather than a solitary retreat. The 1969 scene establishes this pattern: the ocean is where the siblings discover themselves and each other, while for Nina it becomes a lifelong resource for emotional survival.

2. What does the contrast between the ocean and fire reveal about the novel's themes?

The ocean and fire represent opposing forces: the ocean heals and sustains, while fire destroys. The novel opens by establishing Malibu's history of fires, and the 1983 fire that consumes Nina's home is the culmination of this pattern. But the ocean remains constant—it is there before the fire, during the fire, and after. This contrast reinforces the theme of breaking generational patterns. Mick Riva, who had a nature to set fire and walk away, embodies the destructive force. The ocean, by contrast, requires presence and attention—you cannot surf a wave while walking away. The siblings' relationship with the ocean represents their capacity for renewal and connection, in opposition to their father's pattern of abandonment.

3. How does the ocean's meaning change across the novel's timeline?

In 1969, the ocean is a site of childhood discovery and family bonding. The abandoned surfboard becomes the catalyst for the siblings' shared passion, and the Christmas surfboards transform the ocean into a symbol of June's love and sacrifice. By the novel's present day, the ocean has become a more complex resource. For Nina, it is a refuge from adult pain—the tabloids, the divorce, the party. For the siblings together, it remains a place of connection, but the 2 p.m. scene shows the strains of adulthood intruding: Nina leaves to tend to the cleaning staff, and Jay wishes she would enjoy life more. The ocean's meaning shifts from pure joy to a more bittersweet form of solace.

4. Why does Nina's escape to Portugal at the novel's end feel consistent with the ocean's symbolism?

Nina's decision to leave for Portugal is framed as a return to the ocean's healing power. Her siblings spend fifty-two minutes convincing her to go, with Kit proposing she fly immediately and Jay agreeing she should escape the attention and her husband. Nina reflects on her mother's legacy and decides she can leave for a little while. The ocean has always been her escape—from Mick's absence, from June's struggles, from the pressures of fame. Leaving Malibu for Portugal is an extension of this pattern: she is seeking the same peace she finds in the water, but on a larger scale. The ocean's symbolism of healing and escape is thus fulfilled in her departure.