A Kind of Spark

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, ableism, and bullying.

Sharks are a recurring symbol within A Kind of Spark. Addie has intense special interests, as is typical of many people with autism. At the start of the book, her longest and most consistent interest is in sharks. She bristles at the idea that sharks are scary or dangerous, and she maintains that, just like her, they are merely misunderstood. She also identifies with sharks, linking her own heightened experience of sensory stimuli to sharks’ ability to sense bio-electric emissions with the sensitive nerves in their noses.

Sharks are creatures whose natural behavior is often misinterpreted and vilified by people who have little experience with or knowledge of them. This pattern aligns with Addie’s own experiences of dealing with various people whose ableist attitudes cause them to overlook, dismiss, or disparage her. In the closing speech of the book, she compares people with autism directly to sharks, saying that both can sense things that other people cannot, such as electricity. She refers to this ability as “a kind of spark” (128).