Symbols The Wedding People Alison Espach

The Ocean as a Symbol in The Wedding People

Introduction

In Alison Espach’s The Wedding People, the Atlantic Ocean appears as a constant, tangible presence. Visible from Phoebe Stone’s balcony at the Cornwall Inn, experienced during a sailing trip and a surfing lesson, the ocean carries a dual symbolic weight. It first represents the vast, overwhelming expanse of Phoebe’s grief and suicidal despair, but gradually transforms into a space of renewal, connection, and the possibility of living forward. This analysis traces the ocean’s recurrences, examines how its meaning shifts, and connects it to the novel’s key characters and themes, including grief and survival, suicide and second chances, and self-discovery.

Literal Presence and Initial Appearances

The ocean is established early as the backdrop of Phoebe’s planned suicide. In her first moments in the room, she opens the drapes to see the ocean for the first time (Chapter 3). The view reinforces her isolation: she is alone with a vast, indifferent body of water. A minor character, Neck Pillow, references a study claiming “staring at the ocean makes you five percent happier” (Chapter 1), a hollow optimism that contrasts sharply with Phoebe’s state. The ocean here is a site of potential death, not happiness. It is the place where Phoebe imagines ending her life, yet it also becomes the setting where she is repeatedly drawn into life—first through Lila’s interruption on the balcony, later through community events.

Shifting Meanings Across Key Scenes

The Sailing Scene and the Virtual Dog Funeral

On the sailboat (Chapter 9/10), the ocean serves as the stage for a dispute over Lila’s signature drink and for Marla’s rigid opposition to change. More significantly, it becomes the site of a makeshift funeral for Juice’s virtual dog, Human Princess. Despite Marla’s objection to “littering,” Phoebe encourages Juice to drop the plastic dog into the water. This act of release mirrors Phoebe’s own suppressed grief over her dead cat Harry and her unacknowledged miscarriage. The ocean here receives grief without judgment, allowing Phoebe to begin processing her losses. Gary watches “with emotion,” and Phoebe feels she has emerged from her depression and bonded with Juice. The ocean transforms from a void into a receptacle for shared sorrow.

The Surfing Lesson and Embodied Renewal

The most explicit transformation occurs during the surfing scene (Chapter 16/17). After a struggle to put on wetsuits, Phoebe, Gary, and Juice enter the ocean. Phoebe catches a wave and stands on the board before falling. The narrative describes her feeling “totally and completely without any way of catching herself. Swirled up in the curl of the wave. And she loves everything about it … It is life. It is up her nose and in her ears and she wants to swallow it all.” This moment marks a radical shift: the ocean that once promised death now delivers an overwhelming sense of aliveness. She emerges from each fall, laughing. The ocean becomes a place of physical challenge, camaraderie, and joy—a stark contrast to the static balcony view. Later, lying on the sand exhausted, Phoebe feels she could laugh or sob out of joy, wanting to stay “on this sand forever.”

The Ocean as Background to Quiet Revelation

In a more subtle recurrence (Chapter 17), Phoebe lies under the bed in Jim’s room while listening to Lila’s nighttime routines. When Jim asks if Lila is crying, Phoebe replies, “I think that’s just the ocean” (Chapter 17). The ocean’s sound merges with human emotion, blurring the line between natural and personal grief. It becomes a constant, soothing presence rather than a threat.

Character and Theme Connections

  • Phoebe Stone: The ocean mirrors Phoebe’s psychological arc. Initially, its vastness underscores her feeling of insignificance. By the surfing scene, she uses the ocean to test her own limits and discovers she can fall and rise again. Her line “Surfing is pain, Gary” acknowledges effort and discomfort as part of living.

  • Gary: In the hot tub scene (Chapter 1), Gary appears as a solitary figure in the dark, later revealed to be the groom. The ocean connects him to his own vulnerability. During surfing, he struggles but persists, and his laughter at falling reveals a capacity for humility and play. The ocean becomes a space where he and Phoebe can relate without the wedding’s performance.

  • Juice: For Juice, the ocean is the site of mourning her virtual dog and also of achievement (she surfs successfully). Her request to “do it again tomorrow” signals hope and continuity. The ocean allows her to process loss in a tangible way.

  • Lila: Lila is associated with control and performance; the ocean initially feels like something she can dominate (she sits “perched on the boat like she’s sitting in her own living room”). But the sailing scene also exposes her discomfort when the conversation veers into Marla’s challenges—the ocean as a space where control slips.

  • Themes: The ocean embodies the novel’s central tension between authenticity and pretense. On the boat, the wedding party performs social roles; in the waves, Phoebe and Gary drop those roles. The ocean also connects to the epigraph from Mrs. Dalloway, which juxtaposes awful grief with the sun’s heat and “life had a way of adding day to day.” The ocean, like life, keeps moving—adding wave to wave—offering both danger and the possibility of being carried forward.

Study Questions

  1. How does the ocean’s role change from Phoebe’s first view from her balcony to the surfing scene?
    Answer: Initially, the ocean is the backdrop for Phoebe’s planned suicide, symbolizing her overwhelming grief and isolation. By the surfing scene, it becomes a site of physical exhilaration, community, and renewal. The shift reflects Phoebe’s movement from wanting to die to wanting to live, as she experiences falling and rising within the waves.

  2. What does the virtual dog funeral reveal about the ocean as a symbol?
    Answer: The funeral shows the ocean as a receptacle for grief that cannot be expressed openly. Marla objects to “littering,” but Phoebe supports releasing the plastic dog into the water. This act parallels Phoebe’s own suppressed mourning for her cat and her miscarriage. The ocean absorbs these losses without judgment, allowing Phoebe to begin processing her pain.

  3. How does the ocean connect to the theme of marriage as performance?
    Answer: On the sailboat, the wedding party engages in social performance—telling stories, debating drink names, and maintaining polite facades. The ocean represents the real, uncontrolled force outside this performance. Later, during surfing, Phoebe and Gary drop their social roles; their interactions are genuine and unscripted. The ocean thus contrasts the artificiality of the wedding with authentic human connection.

  4. In what way does the ocean embody the novel’s epigraph from Virginia Woolf?
    Answer: The epigraph juxtaposes “awful, awful, awful!” with the sun’s heat and “life had a way of adding day to day.” The ocean similarly contains both danger and continuity. Phoebe’s immersion in the ocean—first as a site of intended death, then as a place where she falls but emerges—mirrors the epigraph’s tension between profound sorrow and the relentless forward motion of existence. The ocean “adds wave to wave,” just as life adds day to day.