Symbols & Motifs
Beauty
Beauty is a recurring motif in Dark Life. The differences between people’s definitions of beauty reveal the conflict that can often develop out of aesthetic differences. Ty has a particularly difficult relationship with beauty, which affects his own self-confidence. He does not believe Gemma when she claims the Topsider women they talked to thought he was attractive. Ty grew up with skin that glows, which Topsiders “stare [at] like I belong in a floating slideshow” (79). Ty was also studied for his Dark Gift, leading him to conclude that looking different is “bad.” When Gemma said her crown made her look special, Ty inwardly responds, “My stomach turned over. Why would anyone want to look special? It was just a polite way of saying different, which was only slightly better than being called a freak outright” (31). Beauty for Ty is something only found in the environment. Being beautiful means being exceptional, which is dangerous to him.
Beauty differentiates the surface and undersea in Dark Life. Ty thinks to himself that “Topsiders sure had a warped notion of beauty–like preferring skyscrapers to coral reefs” (20). Ty contrasts the artificial and destructive buildings of the modern era with enduring underwater ecosystems. Equating the two, skyscrapers and coral reefs, argues for the sustainability of underwater living, which makes it beautiful. Topsiders are afraid of the Benthic Territory, which makes them view the underwater area as dangerous and “ugly.” Gemma, with her openness and her sense of adventure, sees the beauty of the ocean. She admires Ty’s shine, and she often surprises Ty with her awe and admiration for the ocean and its inhabitants. Ty decides he wants “to show her all the amazing places I’d found. And creatures. I wanted to see her face light up like that again” (84). Gemma links the Topside and Benthic Territory. Her perception of the ocean’s beauty symbolizes a need to appreciate and live among the natural world.
Dark Gifts
The Dark Gifts are a symbol of otherness with parallels to real-world biases against neurodivergency. Dark Gifts are triggered by extended time spent living undersea during developmental years. They are adaptations to the aquatic environment, but to adults they are frightening and “wrong.” Adults like Ma and Pa see them as a concern for their children’s safety, while prejudiced Topsiders see the gifts as something “freakish”—as if something is wrong with children who have Dark Gifts.
The stigma around Dark Gifts often leaves the children who possess them with trauma. Because adults see them as “wrong,” they experiment on the children. Ty has panic attacks around medical equipment as a result: “Now feelings of panic and loneliness entwined within me, the way they always did when something triggered memories of my time in the hospital” (90). The government also tried to take Ty away from his parents because the underwater environment had “damaged” his brain. His parents had to fight in court to keep their child. Ty nearly lost his family, and he recognizes that news of Dark Gifts would harm the future of his home territory: “All the pioneers will leave the ocean and no new families will come subsea, that’s why” (87). Ty’s experiences parallel the real-world experiences of neurodivergent children, such as those with autism or Down syndrome: The medical system’s callousness, the insistence that his brain is “damaged” and his parents are unfit to care for him, and the shame and insistence that he must hide who he is echo real-world experiences in a society prejudiced against people with neurodivergence. The Dark Gifts function as an allegory for real-world neurodiverse experiences.
Like many ostracized differences, those who live with them understand that there is no harm. Shade claims “We’re healthier than you ‘normal’ folk. Our immune systems are better” (127). Ty, Zoe, and Hewitt benefit from their gifts, using them to adapt to their surroundings. The Dark Gifts are key to defeating the antagonists of the novel, while also allowing Ty and others to build a sense of confidence in their identities.
Physical Space
Physical space in Dark Life symbolizes status. The definition of class status changes from society to society based on what they value, and those values are often determined by the resources available in the society’s natural environment.
Space becomes a limited resource in Dark Life’s dystopia, thus raising its value. For the citizens of the Commonwealth, space designates status, since many families live in one-room apartments below traffic platforms, leaving their homes in deep shade. Even those who build up the money to move to a new home often must be on waiting lists for an extended period.
Benthic Territory pioneers have individualized homesteads where they farm and live in multi-room homes. Despite this abundance of space, they are not considered high-status. Topsiders are prejudiced against subsea living. For Topsiders, land space is key. The society values dry-land space and disregards the abundance under the ocean. As Pa argues with Ma:
What’s worse? Living with the threat of danger or living safe and secure with no land to call our own? Is that what you want for our kids? To be hemmed in by millions of other people, without room to explore or dream? (58).
Pioneers have begun the slow process of building a society with new values and new determiners of status. The underwater society values space as an extension of one’s ability to dream and explore, while the Topsider society values dry-land space as a status symbol.
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