The Pull of the Ocean

Mourlevat, Jean-Claude, and Y. Maudet. 2006. THE PULL OF THE OCEAN. New York: Delacorte Press. ISBN 0385733488

Summary

Yann, a mute and tiny 10-year-old, is the youngest of seven boys in the Doutreleau household. Yann has three sets of older twin brothers that are tall for their age, but very skinny. Poor little Yann was born alone and last. “Like the period at the end of a sentence.” One rainy night, Yann overhears his father telling his wife that he is going to harm the boys. Quickly, Yann returns to his brothers and persuades them that they must flee from the house at once. The Doutreleau boys dress and head out into the stormy night. Although Yann is the youngest, his brothers follow his lead and they make their way towards the ocean. Each chapter is narrated by a different person describing the boy’s journey.

Critical Analysis

Jean-Claude Mourlevat, an award winning French author, has created a story that describes a journey seven brothers take through the French-countryside towards the Atlantic Ocean. The story is told from multiple point-of-views; a social worker, each brother, their parents, a truck driver, a student, shop keeper, grocer, and finally Yann Doutreleau and a merchant marine. It begins with Nathalie Josse, a thirty-two year old social worker sharing her testimony of the last time she saw Yann Doutreleau. Through each narrator, the reader begins to understand the Doutreleau boys and their parents.

The reader is able to gather that this story is from France through various cultural markers. Most of the characters first names are of French decent. Names like Fabien, Francois, Maurice, Michele, and Pierre. Even the Doutreleau’s dog has a French name, Corniaud. The reader can tell that they live near the Atlantic Ocean because it only took a few days to travel from their home. Peigueux, Limoges, and Angouleme, are some of the towns that the boys travel through.

Through various points of views, the reader is able to gather that the Doutreleau family is poor and uneducated. Nathalie Josse, the social worker, describes the skinny boys as being undernourished. Louis, the father, shares his account of eating stale bread soaked in water for his supper and that his wife begs for help at the social service office and the local church. Various accounts described the boys as having old raggedy clothes. Daniel Sanz, a truck driver, described their clothing as weird. “Definitely not Lacoste, I guarantee you.” Nathalie describes the farm as ugly and dirty. Weeds were grown up and the roof of the barn was falling apart. The dialect the family uses also portrays them as uneducated. One of the boys tells the social worker “It’s the father threw it swimming”, and the mother refers to her husband as “the father”.

Through the journey, the reader can see the strong bond that the boys have for one another. Although Yann is small in size, he is very intelligent and respected by his brothers. The oldest brothers, Fabien and Remy followed the directions that Yann gave leading them to the ocean. Yann finally reveals to Remy at the end of the journey that their father wasn’t going to harm the boys. Remy doesn’t get angry, instead he understands. Marthe, the mother, seems to grow the most. At the beginning of the story she does not seem to take any interest in the boys, but when she finally hears Fabien’s voice she was very happy. She even calls them “the children”, something she had never done before.

I enjoyed reading this short novel. It was interesting to see the story unfold from different points of view. Usually when one brother shared their account, the twin brother would share theirs in the next chapter. Although I was excited to see that the boys had finally been rescued at the end, I was bothered by what actually happened to Yann. I could see this as a great discussion for a class.

Reviews

Publisher’s Weekly review: “Indeed, Mourlevat enchantingly blends the harshly real and the make-believe, with the latter tipping the balance as this effectively haunting, fluidly translated tale comes to a close.”

School Library Journal review: “Poverty and hardship echo throughout this modern "Tom Thumb" story, but it is ultimately the spirit of brotherhood that is the highlight of this tale. It is a memorable novel that readers will find engaging and intellectually satisfying.”

2007 Batchelder Award winner

Connections

In the story, Pascal Josse, the social worker’s husband, begins to make connections of the Doutreleau boys and the tale of Tom Thumb. It would be wonderful to read Tom Thumb after reading The Pull of the Ocean. Students could make comparisons of the two stories.

Another idea might be to have the students write an alternative ending to the story from one of the point-of-views.

Watson, Richard Jesse. TOM THUMB. ISBN 0613954092