The Girl from the Sea: A Graphic Novel

The opening section of The Girl from the Sea establishes both the setting and the major conflicts that drive the story. The narrative takes place in Nova Scotia, Canada, where 16-year-old Morgan Kwon lives on a small, rocky island connected to the mainland a bridge. The sea surrounds every aspect of her life. Her home overlooks the water, her summer job is at a kayak rental, and her memories and emotions are all tied to the waves. The water becomes a motif representing connection and isolation, safety and danger. Like fire, water is an ambivalent but powerful element, capable of sustaining life but also of destroying it. In the novel, the ocean is a place of transformation and rebirth. Keltie moves between her seal and human forms in moving from the water to the land, and Morgan’s accidental immersion in the novel’s opening scene signals the beginning of her own journey of personal transformation. 

From the first pages, the reader sees that Morgan has a network of people who care about her, but she chooses not to rely on Family and Friends as Sources of Support because she fears becoming a burden. Her family is fragile after her father’s departure, and her home feels tense and heavy. However, Min continues to reach out, checking on her when she retreats to the cliffs after arguments with her brother, Aiden, and trying to plan a family beach trip. Despite this effort, Morgan distances herself. When she returns home after nearly drowning, she deliberately keeps out of her mother’s line of sight. The conversation that follows avoids any mention of the accident. This physical and emotional separation illustrates Morgan’s statement that she likes to keep her life “tucked neatly into boxes” (4). In reality, it is Morgan herself who hides inside those boxes, separating her emotions and experiences from others.

Her friendships show a similar pattern. When Morgan fails to respond to group messages, her friends joke that she is dead, but their concern is genuine. Serena messages her privately, more to check on her well-being than to confirm plans. Morgan, however, withholds the truth from her friends just as she does from her family. She says nothing about the fight at home or her fall from the cliffs. The images of text bubbles floating in empty white space mirror Morgan’s emotional isolation. She is connected to others by technology, but she remains distant and unseen.

This avoidance extends to Morgan’s dreams for the future. Although she feels attached to her small town and calls it “special,” she believes she must leave it in order to live openly as gay. Her desire to move to a city is rooted in in a wish for the anonymity she believes she needs in order to reinvent herself: “My big plans. To get off this island and move to the city. ANY city. To go to college. And to be gay, far away from this tiny town and everyone who’s known me since forever” (8). Because she is surrounded by people who have known her since early childhood, she believes that she must continue to be the person they think she is. She imagines that only in a larger, more crowded place can she be herself without fear of judgment. However, this longing to escape highlights The Burdens and Consequences of Secrets that weigh on her. The need to hide her identity pushes her away from both her family and the home she loves. Her secrecy isolates her, preventing her from accepting the support others try to offer.

The illustrations throughout the section reinforce this theme of concealment. Morgan’s posture is often closed off, her head bowed, her arms crossed over her middle, her hair falling across her face. These repeated visual cues suggest shame, discomfort, and self-protection. When she hides the cut on her forehead with her hair, it becomes a visual metaphor for the way she conceals deeper wounds. Even when others extend care, Morgan cannot meet their eyes. She looks downward, refusing both to be seen and to see others clearly. The reader senses that Morgan’s emotional walls are self-imposed, yet they leave her feeling trapped in her own mind.

At the same time, this section introduces the theme of Change as a Catalyst for Personal Growth, which will become central to the story. Morgan’s parents’ recent separation represents a dramatic change in the structure of her family and the shape of her daily life. At the same time, she is careening toward early adulthood, discovering her sexuality and developing her first serious crush. Initially, she deals with all this upheaval by trying to keep everything just as it was. She privately identifies as gay but tells no one, in part because she doesn’t want to give her mother, Min, anything else to worry about. Morgan’s near-death experience forces her to confront parts of her identity that she has tried to repress. As she sinks into the water, she admits, “It’s true, you know. The whole thing about your life flashing before your eyes. I like to keep my life tucked neatly into boxes. But the boxes have been dropped in the ocean, and now everything is spilling out” (4). For a moment, she faces her fragmented life—the happy memories of her family, her fears, and her unspoken desires. However, as soon as Keltie rescues her, she retreats again into secrecy, convincing herself that Keltie’s appearance was only a dream. Her claim that she prefers to “blend in” reaffirms her pattern of self-denial.

 Keltie, the mysterious blonde girl who saves her from drowning, is a foil for Morgan in that both characters live divided lives, yet they handle that division differently. While Morgan hides her true self, Keltie embraces her selkie identity and insists that she is always herself no matter what form she takes. She tells Morgan, “I do usually look like a seal, but on the inside, I am me” (45). Keltie’s confident self-acceptance contrasts sharply with Morgan’s secrecy and fear. Her transformation from seal to human mirrors the emotional transformation Morgan has yet to experience.

The contrast between Morgan and Keltie highlights the novel’s broader message about identity and the courage to be seen. Keltie’s nature as a selkie (a being belonging to both sea and land) reflects the fluidity of identity. She lives authentically across two worlds, while Morgan remains trapped between them, unable to reconcile who she is inside with how she presents herself. The sea, therefore, becomes more than a backdrop. It is a mirror of Morgan’s inner state: vast, mysterious, and full of hidden depth. It connects her to others but also threatens to drown her when she resists its pull.

By the end of this section, the narrative firmly establishes the central conflicts. Morgan’s relationships with her family and friends showcase deep affection that silence strains. Her secrecy creates distance even in moments of love. Her encounter with Keltie introduces both hope and fear, a chance to break free of her boxes, but also a reminder of how vulnerable honesty can make her.