The Narrator’s Relationship with the Sea

This flow traces the sea as a setting for family play, Hermann’s ambitions, danger, and the narrator’s later memory.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Belly-Button Shore

The Belly-Button Shore A Small Bargain At the Baltic coast, Joachim(Jocki) asks for “one more belly button” of beach time. He fills Hermann’s navel with seawater and waits for it to evaporate. Intimate Play The game turns his father’s body into a shared landscape. The child’s affection is physical, imaginative, and comfortable with the body that Hermann jokes about.

The Dog Enters the Water

The Dog Enters the Water Unrestrained Joy The family dog races from the car into the sea and swims with powerful ease. Joachim(Jocki) follows it to the sandbank and watches it underwater. A Shared World The sea brings boy and dog together in a setting free of household rules. Their play becomes one of the narrator’s enduring images of happiness.

Hermann Dreams of Sailing

Hermann Dreams of Sailing A New Horizon Books about boats inspire Hermann to imagine leaving land behind. He joins a sailing club and purchases a vessel before he has learned to sail. A Family Project Joachim(Jocki) shares in the excitement of naming and preparing the boat. The sea becomes a promise of a different life for his father.

The Water Takes the Son

The Water Takes the Son An Accident A faulty motor and Hermann’s careless pull send Joachim(Jocki) overboard. He floats with a bloody nose while the boat drifts away. A Father’s Effort Hermann jumps into the water, struggling to reach his son. A rescue party helps both return safely, turning the sea into a place of danger and mutual dependence.

The Boat Left Behind

The Boat Left Behind A Quiet End Hermann asks for a cigarette after years without smoking and later asks Joachim(Jocki) to keep the accident private. He never boards the boat again. An Ambition Remembered The vessel remains part of the family story as a failed dream that briefly produced courage and tenderness. The sea gives no simple victory, but it gives the son an image of his father’s effort.

During childhood summers

On family trips to the Baltic coast

Several years after the childhood beach games

During a windless trip years later

After the rescue