In the first chapter of breathing underwater, Nick Andreas has to go to a courthouse because his girlfriend is testifying to the abuse in their relationship. She then gets a retraining order because she fears for her safety. The chapter ends with a journal entry from Nick about when he first wanted to date Caitlin McCourt. From this entry, his character is very prominent and it's obvious the type of person he is. The themes shown in this chapter are abuse and survival and there are many examples of them throughout these few pages. An example is when they ask if she is in fear for her safety and she says “Yes, I am”(Flinn,4) this shows both these themes because she's doing this to survive out of fear she is going to be abused again.
An example of a literary device in this chapter is when Nick says “Guess Im the beast.”(Flinn,2) this is a metaphor because Nick is comparing himself to a beast without the words like or as. This specific quote adds to the story because not only does everyone in the courtroom think of him badly but he also sees himself in a negative light. Even though he thinks of himself as a bad person he doesn't regret his choices or feel bad about them which is a common pattern throughout the book. It shows that
…show more content…
The plot itself isn't that similar but they share a common aspect. They both show how when someone experiences something traumatic, like abuse, there is a possibility that they will repeat the actions that caused them this trauma in the future. In breathing underwater we can see this with Nick and his father, and how Nick repeats his father's abusive and traumatic actions with his girlfriend. Similarly, in it ends with Ryle by accident shoots his brother when he was a child. This leaves him with trauma that he later takes out on his girlfriend Lily, by abusing her. Both these books share the fact that both Nick and Ryle try to ignore their abusive tendencies rather than deal with