The speaker is a young student who anticipates the microaggression of having her name mispronounced. She is observant and imaginative, using her knowledge of the ocean and fond memories to self-soothe during uncomfortable social situations. By mentally transforming her classroom into marine life, she asserts her identity and protects herself from collective exclusion.

The teacher is an authority figure who casually mispronounces the speaker's name. Though the speaker notes he means well, his careless approach to attendance feels violent, prompting the speaker to picture him as a messy butcher. His failure to learn the proper pronunciation initiates the speaker's immediate feelings of ostracization.

The other students in the room are bathed, clean, and equipped with third-grade pencil cases. They represent the collective majority that excludes the speaker. When the teacher butchers the speaker's name, they turn to stare with icy blue eyes, taking on an intimidating, unified presence that the speaker must actively try to humanize.

The speaker's family serves as an internal source of comfort and strength during a stressful moment. Through a memory of looking at baby clams and sea stars, the family represents a safe, accepting unit where the speaker definitively belongs, completely removed from the sterile and exclusionary classroom environment.