Amber Samsel: Outside Reading (Req. 2) - Blog 14

 I recently read a book called "From Below" by Darcy Coates where the main characters were all divers on a research team that wanted to find and explore a shipwreck called the Arcadia. They did end up finding the ship, but the passengers who died on it were still there, haunting and crawling around in the dark and trying everything they can to keep the dive team with them, so they won't be alone anymore. One character in particular was quite an interesting one- Vanna. She was a very quiet and antisocial person who enjoyed doing things on her own and remaining in control, but the reason she went on this adventure with a bunch of strangers she barely knew was because she was the most experienced and highly certified diver of the group. I just wanted to take a quick look at this character's interior and exterior journeys throughout the novel. 

First, let's start with the exterior. Vanna's journey as a highly experienced diver has always led up to her making a huge discovery, and finding the Arcadia certainly counts. It was a ship that lost signal nearly 100 years before and nobody was able to locate it's final resting place, until Vanna and the others did. I'm not a diver myself, but I can only imagine how incredible that must be for someone like her. All of her life's work led up to that moment, and her exterior journey finally came to an end. Her interior journey is more fascinating though. As I mentioned before, she was a very antisocial person, so a lot of her interior journey was to be able to open up to the other crew members and grow with them. She was very closed off because she lost her girlfriend due to a dive gone wrong where she ended up watching her drown. Her self-transformation was necessary for her to find closure in the loss of her girlfriend and by becoming friends with the others, and by being able to trust them, her interior journey was finally fulfilled. 

I liked Vanna's character the most because she was the only who truly needed change in her journeys. I am happy she finally got what she was looking for and I am satisfied that she was able to find new friends in the end. 

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