Matteo Character Analysis: The Engineer's Descent in Our Wives Under the Sea

Overview: The Engineer Who Loses His Grip on Reason and Machine Alike

Matteo is the chief engineer aboard the submersible that carries Leah, Jelka, and himself into the abyss in Julia Armfield's Our Wives Under the Sea. He is introduced as a competent, practical crew member, but the prolonged, unexplained descent strips away his professional confidence and exposes a paranoid, violent core. By the end of the novel, he is one of only two survivors, surfacing with Leah after the craft finally returns to the surface. His arc is a study in how technical expertise and rational control unravel when the systems they depend on fail without explanation. While Leah narrates most of the underwater chapters, Matteo's actions—his obsessive checks, his outbursts, his protective rituals—reveal a man who cannot tolerate uncertainty and who gradually substitutes superstition and aggression for the engineering logic he once trusted.

Plot Role: The Man Who Cannot Fix the Unfixable

Matteo's primary function in the story is to represent the failure of human mastery over the deep sea. As the engineer, he is the crew member most responsible for keeping the submersible operational. When the comms panel goes silent and the entire system shuts down, he is the first to check the engines, junction boxes, and pressure gauges, reporting that everything should have been working (Chapter 5). This moment establishes the central paradox of his role: he is a man trained to diagnose and repair, but he faces a malfunction that defies all technical explanation.

His subsequent actions—dismantling the main deck, trying the comms panel repeatedly, and eventually smashing a control panel in frustration—trace a descent from methodical troubleshooting to destructive rage. He also becomes the crew's unofficial source of paranoid theories, suggesting that the Centre deliberately switched off the comms externally and that they are waiting for something (Chapter 29). This theory, while never confirmed, becomes his way of imposing meaning on an incomprehensible situation.

Motivations and Traits: Hidden Damage and the Need for Control

Matteo's surface-level motivation is to survive and to restore the submersible's functions. But beneath that lies a deeper need for control, which is rooted in a childhood trauma he has concealed. The novel reveals that he lost fingers on his left hand to frostbite during a teenage ice-fishing trip with his father at Lake Simcoe. He hid the injury from his father for the rest of the trip, explaining, I didn't want to ruin it (Chapter 11). This anecdote illuminates his character: he is someone who suppresses pain and vulnerability to preserve a fragile sense of normalcy.

This trait resurfaces underwater. He complains about the food and conditions, but he never openly admits fear. Instead, he channels his anxiety into obsessive rituals—checking oxygen systems, arranging torches in a circle, and later sitting inside that circle as if it were a protective charm. When Jelka begins hearing voices, he dismisses her as crazy, but his own behavior becomes increasingly irrational. He slaps her across the face (Chapter 31), smashes a control panel, and later beats on the escape hatch after she disappears through it. These actions show a man who, when his technical control fails, resorts to physical force and superstition.

Chronological Arc: From Competence to Collapse

Matteo's arc can be divided into three phases.

Phase 1: The Professional (Chapters 3–11). Initially, he is the calm, methodical engineer. He checks the oxygen systems, announces that the crew is still breathing, and attempts to diagnose the failure. He even makes darkly humorous remarks, like wanting a rare steak and a drink (Chapter 11). His competence is evident, but the first cracks appear when he dismisses Jelka's observation about the smell of meat (Chapter 3) and when he becomes increasingly curt with Leah.

Phase 2: The Paranoid (Chapters 23–29). As time stretches without explanation, Matteo's rationality erodes. He begins to voice conspiracy theories, claiming the comms went out before the system died, as if they were switched off externally (Chapter 29). He creates a circle of torches and refuses to let Leah enter, citing a story about a paranormal detective. He also becomes openly hostile toward Jelka, calling her crazy and physically pushing her away. His violence escalates when he slaps her (Chapter 31).

Phase 3: The Survivor (Chapters 31–41). After Jelka's death, Matteo and Leah are left alone. He descends into the escape trunk alone and returns with wet hands (Chapter 33), an act that is never fully explained. He then becomes almost catatonic, sitting dumbly while Leah takes control of the craft. In the final chapter, he holds onto Jelka's rosary beads as they surface, and he and Leah grasp each other's hands, begging a being neither believes in to allow them to return (Chapter 41). This final image shows a man stripped of his technical identity, reduced to a desperate, almost religious plea.

Relationships: Conflict, Connection, and the Weight of the Past

With Leah. Matteo and Leah share a professional history, having worked together on a submersible in the Arctic Basin (Chapter 11). Their relationship underwater is tense but not overtly hostile. Leah often acts as a peacemaker between Matteo and Jelka, and she observes his deterioration with a mixture of pity and frustration. In Chapter 35, she finds him in his circle of torches and tries to engage him, but he ignores her until she asks how they will ever explain what happened. He then gestures for her to sit beside him, and they stay together in silence. This moment of connection is rare and suggests that, despite his paranoia, Matteo still craves human contact.

With Jelka. Matteo's relationship with Jelka is the most volatile. He dismisses her religious devotion and her claims of hearing voices. He slaps her, calls her crazy, and physically drags her away from the hatch. Yet after her death, he holds onto her rosary beads, implying a belated acknowledgment of her suffering. His violence toward her is a direct consequence of his inability to process the supernatural or the inexplicable.

With his father. The frostbite story is the key to understanding Matteo. He hid his injury to avoid ruining the trip, revealing a pattern of self-sacrifice and emotional suppression. This backstory explains why he cannot admit fear or uncertainty underwater—he has trained himself to endure pain silently.

Key Decisions and Consequences

Slapping Jelka (Chapter 31): This act of violence marks the point of no return for Matteo's moral decline. It alienates him from Leah and Jelka, and it directly precedes Jelka's decision to escape through the hatch. The consequence is her death and Matteo's subsequent guilt.
Smashing the control panel (Chapter 31): This destructive act symbolizes his surrender to rage. It also renders the craft even less functional, though Leah later discovers the main engine still works (Chapter 37).
Descending into the escape trunk alone (Chapter 33): Matteo's solo descent is never explained. He returns with wet hands and an odd expression. This ambiguous act suggests he may have encountered something in the trunk, or that he was attempting to follow Jelka. It deepens the mystery of his psychological state.
Holding onto Jelka's rosary beads (Chapter 41): This small gesture shows a shift from hostility to reverence. It implies that Matteo has come to accept the possibility of something beyond the rational, even as he surfaces.

Themes and Symbols: The Engineer as a Cautionary Figure

Matteo embodies several of the novel's central themes. His failure to fix the submersible speaks to the limits of knowledge and the inadequacy of human tools against the deep sea. His paranoia and conspiracy theories reflect the failure of communication and support systems, both technological and interpersonal. His missing fingers are a symbol of hidden damage—a physical scar that mirrors his psychological fragility. His circle of torches is a ritualistic attempt to impose order on chaos, echoing the oceanic transformation that gradually erodes the crew's sense of reality.

Matteo's arc also touches on ambiguous grief and the erosion of memory and identity. He forgets the purpose of the research trip, and his memories of the surface become unreliable. By the end, he is a hollowed-out version of the man who once boasted about his engineering skills.

Questions and Answers

1. Why does Matteo slap Jelka?

Matteo slaps Jelka after she emerges from the wash stall, wet and claiming to hear a voice. He is frustrated by her insistence on the supernatural and by his own inability to control the situation. The slap is an act of violence born from helplessness—he cannot fix the craft, so he lashes out at the person who embodies the irrational.

2. What does Matteo's missing fingers signify?

The missing fingers, lost to frostbite during a teenage ice-fishing trip, symbolize Matteo's tendency to hide pain and vulnerability. He concealed the injury from his father to preserve the trip's normalcy, a pattern that repeats underwater when he suppresses his fear and instead projects aggression.

3. Why does Matteo believe the comms were switched off externally?

Matteo's theory stems from the fact that the comms panel went silent before the entire system died, and the craft had been stocked with excessive food. He interprets these anomalies as evidence that the Centre deliberately cut them off, turning the mission into an experiment. This belief is never confirmed, but it reflects his need to find a rational explanation for an irrational event.

4. What happens to Matteo after Jelka's death?

After Jelka escapes through the hatch and dies, Matteo becomes withdrawn and nearly catatonic. He descends into the escape trunk alone, returns with wet hands, and then sits passively while Leah takes control of the craft. He eventually surfaces with Leah, holding Jelka's rosary beads, but his psychological state is left ambiguous.

5. How does Matteo's relationship with Leah evolve?

Initially, Matteo and Leah are professional colleagues. Underwater, their relationship becomes strained as Matteo's paranoia grows, but they share moments of connection, such as when he invites her into his circle of torches. By the end, they are co-survivors, grasping each other's hands as they surface, suggesting a bond forged through shared trauma.

For a deeper look at the novel's ending and its implications, see the ending explained page, or explore the questions and answers for more discussion.