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The symbol of water changes throughout the story as her decision changes from a positive symbol to a negative symbol. As she thinks of the positives of going away with Frank, she thinks how “She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres”(Joyce 21). Later on, she says how he would “save her” (Joyce 23). Joyce uses the water and the boat symbolize how she would leave overseas and escape from her home. The boat and the water would save her from her father’s wrath, and she would find a better home in Buenos Ayres. At the end of the story when the time comes to go away with Frank, she cannot go and suddenly changes her mind to think that Frank “would drown her” (Joyce 23), instead of saving her. The water suddenly changes from symbolizing a way to escape and get saved to what would make her make the wrong decision. Frank changes from a way to escape and take her away from home into the new world into to someone who will take her away from her home, which would be making the wrong decision at the end. From the beginning until the end of the story, she is never confident with her decision, which is shown through how much she changes her mind on whether she will go or not. Joyce uses the symbol of water to represent the changes in her decisions and how unconfident she is about staying or leaving. People should be confident with their decisions and make sure that they don’t let objects change drastically to change their decisions.

Joyce uses the symbol of water as a way of escaping from her home to then a way that will kill her. As she thinks of the advantages of going away with Frank, she thinks how “She was to go away with him by the night-boat to be his wife and to live with him in Buenos Ayres”(Joyce 21). Later on, she says how he would “save her” (Joyce 23). Joyce uses the water and the boat symbolize how she would leave overseas and escape from her home. The boat and the water would save her from her father’s wrath, and she would find a better home in Buenos Ayres. At the end of the story when the time comes to go away with Frank, she cannot go and suddenly changes her mind to think that Frank “would drown her” (Joyce 23), instead of saving her. The water suddenly changes from symbolizing an escape to symbolizing confinement. Joyce uses this water symbol to show how she is never confident in her decision. The drastic change from escape to confinement proves her little confidence.