Drowning: The Rescue of Flight 1421

“Molly pointed a finger and counted out loud, while making a personal inventory in her head. Ira and Ruth, the old couple. Bernadette, nurse. Jasmine, life vest woman. Andy, blue polo asshole. Will, smart guy. Shannon, smart kid. Ryan, newlywed widow. Maia, unaccompanied minor. Plus, what was left of the crew: Kit, Kaholo, herself.”

Drowning features a large cast, and Molly’s mental notes here regarding the remaining passengers on board distinguish the characters in the central group. Newman gives them succinct, simple distinguishing characteristics so that each of the trapped passengers is memorable.

“The additions to their home were like hashes on a doorframe marking a child’s height. The marks are what get noticed—but what matters is what happens in the spaces between them.”

The metaphor here comparing additions to the house to hashes marking a child’s height signifies the passage of time and conveys growth and development. As the marks track a child’s development, the additions to the Kents’ home mark the development of their family, which has halted after Annie’s tragic death.

“I’ll go on the trip. And in two weeks I’ll come back. And since nothing will go wrong, we’ll forget all about it—until the next thing comes up that you’ll freak out over.”

The flashback in Chapter 6 provides context to the story’s emotional conflict, as well as the context for Will and Shannon’s trip. By presenting the narrative in non-chronological order, Newman creates dramatic irony with this comment from Shannon; since the crash occurred several chapters earlier, the reader understands that Will will ultimately be proven correct in his worries.

“Fitz pulled the plane’s manifest out of his pocket and studied the list of names. Mary was someone’s daughter. Alfonso was someone’s son. Nathaniel was someone’s neighbor. Xiang was someone’s best friend. Colleen was someone’s mother.”

Fitz takes the time to consider each of the 99 passengers on board Flight 1421, humanizing them individually. Here, Newman demonstrates Fitz’s empathy for the passengers and their families. Giving names to the previously unnamed victims of the crash underscores the tragedy of the event and illuminates the full scope of the loss of life.

“Will exhaled just enough air to let him stay under the water. He could feel his heart beat against his chest. Every pulsation tapped out a steady rhythm—boom boom, boom boom, boom boom—like a ticking clock counting down the moments until he lost his second-born.”

Newman uses onomatopoeia here to simulate Will’s heartbeat and create the “ticking clock” effect mentioned, which is a common trope in the thriller/suspense genre. Onomatopoeia is a sparsely used device in the novel, but here, it draws out the moment of tension while Will is underwater.

“Five percent. The sunlight zone made up only 5 percent of the ocean. After that…Twilight. Midnight. The abyss. The trenches. Or, as that depth was also called, the hadal zone. Named after Hades, the Greek god of the underworld.”

Throughout the novel, Newman often provides facts and technical details to lend realism to the risks and dangers of the mission at hand. Here, she weaves facts about the ocean with dark, foreboding imagery like “twilight” and “abyss” to present the sea as a mysterious and intimidating force. The allusion to the Greek god Hades and the underworld evokes a hellish and uninhabitable world, emphasizing the danger the passengers are in.

“The plane was intact, with survivors inside. But it was positioned nose down, teetering on the edge of a cliff.”

The ending of Chapter 13 is an example of how Newman creates tension and suspense throughout the novel—in this case, by ending the chapter on a literal cliffhanger. She juxtaposes the positive revelation that the passengers are alive inside the plane with the aircraft’s daunting position to raise the stakes of the upcoming rescue mission. The plane’s position on the cliff’s edge symbolizes that while the passengers are safe for now, their safety is precarious.

“Fitz wanted to call them out for screwing around, but he knew the divers understood the gravity of the situation. They weren’t being disrespectful. They were staying out of their heads so the weight of duty didn’t crush them.”

Fitz witnesses the divers in a moment of levity as they joke with one another; Newman uses this moment to humanize the rescue team as they distract themselves from the dangerous task at hand. The imagery of the “weight” of duty threatening to crush them highlights the risks they are taking to bring the passengers home safely.

“The diver took the regulator out of his mouth and leaned his head back. He stuck his tongue out, puffed out his cheeks […] He turned back to the window to see the girls giggling as they watched the bubble rings rise. He smiled, then put his respirator back in.”

A diver has a brief, humorous interaction with the girls on the plane in an attempt to keep their spirits high. Newman incorporates lighter, more human moments like these to illustrate the importance of finding joy even in dire circumstances.

“For once, his pain had a purpose. His actions could spare another father that moment when someone in uniform stands before you and says the unimaginable. Today, Fitz could be the one to get there in time.”

Despite Fitz’s ongoing conflict with Chris and his resistance to following her plan, Newman takes care to present the commander as an empathetic figure by alluding to his past pain and allowing him to connect with Chris over their similar histories. This quote illustrates that Fitz is well intentioned and cares deeply about the mission, motivated by the same forces as Chris, even though his plans do not succeed as he hopes.

“Why? Why didn’t he go to her? Hold her. Apologize. […] Why did he assume he would get another chance to do it all better? Why did he think there would be another opportunity other than the one right in front of him?”

This moment marks a shift in Will’s character. The near-death experience of the crash forces him to confront his regrets and the mistakes he has made as a husband and father. These regrets are represented on the page through hypothetical questions. He realizes he has been holding on to the past rather than taking advantage of the time he has with his family.

“Then the coastguardsmen and Navy sailors already on deck of the USS Powell exchanged looks as they watched the four civilians who followed after them. Flip-flops and straw hats. Long hair and tank tops. Bright colors. Big sunglasses. They were as far from military as it got.”

Newman emphasizes the stark visual differences between the professional rescue team consisting of Coast Guard and Navy sailors and Chris’s team of industrial divers in their casual attire, vividly illustrating the theme of Everyday People in the Role of Heroes. Their observations come in sentence fragments, reflecting their dismissiveness toward the civilians. The “look” that the Coast Guard members and Navy sailors exchange is indicative of how they underestimate Chris’s expertise as a civilian, to their detriment.

“Death had been their constant companion all day. But they were no longer strangers. It was no longer ‘I am afraid to die.’ Or ‘That person just died.’ It was ‘We’ve lost one of our own.’”

In the moments after Ira’s death, Newman shows that the group of survivors on board Flight 1421 have become more than a group of strangers; the struggles they have faced over the last several hours have forged a sort of kinship among them. In the face of mortality, the passengers are no longer concerned about only their own survival but the safety of the others. The use of first-person plural conveys the idea of a unified group rather than a collection of individuals.

“And that was all life was. Shifting the balance, every day, to make room for joy and grace in whatever circumstances you’ve got before time runs out.”

In a brief moment of calm, Newman reflects on the nature of humans to find joy in dire circumstances. Mortality is viewed here as a motivation to seek out joy in the limited time one is given; this quote, with its direct, second-person address, is a call to be optimistic no matter the circumstances.

“It wasn’t the first time they’d grieved together, but listening to Will, Chris realized it was the first time they’d grieved together.”

The italics in this quote illustrate the newfound closeness Will and Chris are experiencing in this conversation. Before, they were physically “together” in the same home but drifting apart emotionally; now, despite being physically far apart, speaking openly about their feelings and regrets has made them a team once again.

“She was with them but letting them have their moment. Will knew she understood what was happening. A mother always knows.”

After seeing Shannon act with extraordinary calm and intelligence over the course of the day, Will realizes that he has been prioritizing his need to keep Shannon safe to calm his own anxieties over her need to grow up and develop. Though he is speaking to Chris, both she and Will are aware that Shannon is listening as Will praises her. In this moment, Chris allows Will and Shannon to connect, and despite their physical distance from Chris, the three of them grow closer.

“It’s all of us, all together. We’re leaving this plane the same way we’ve survived being inside it. Together.”

The passengers’ final decision to go forward with Chris’s plan together rather than be escorted out individually underscores both their confidence in Chris and their commitment to staying unified as a group. Here, Newman suggests that the passengers’ survival is a direct result of the passengers’ cooperation and collaboration. The repetition of “all” and “together” symbolizes the bond that has been forged among the surviving passengers.

“Fitz wondered if the passengers inside the plane had any idea how many people were rooting for them. Praying for them. He hoped they knew. Because that knowledge brought maybe the most important part of the mission. Hope.”

Leading up to the climax, the scope of the mission becomes clear, as it has reached international news. Newman touches on the theme of Everyday People in the Role of Heroes; even the smallest action of rooting for the passengers’ safe return fuels the mission with much-needed hope. The varied syntax here, which includes sentence fragments and repetition, helps ramp up the suspense as the team works to save the passengers.

“They’d lived a lifetime in a handful of hours, and now these strangers-turned-kin were about to face the final test. Together.”

The entire novel takes place over the course of a few hours, and describing the group of passengers as “strangers-turned-kin” highlights the struggles they have endured together and the bonds that have been forged as a result. The mention of a “final test” marks the story’s transition into its tense final act in a style typical of a thriller. Newman repeats a rhetorical strategy from an earlier quote, singling “together” out in its own sentence to emphasize the group’s unity.

“Everyone moved away. Away from the crumbling cliff. Away from the ocean depths. Away from the free-falling plane […] Everyone moved away from disaster, protecting their own personal safety. Everyone except Chris.”

In the climax of the novel, Newman frames Chris like a classic action hero, the only diver who pursues the plane when it falls. Her struggles against the Navy and Coast Guard have led her to this moment, and given that she has the most to lose if this mission fails, Newman gives her this moment to “save the day” on her own, emphasizing her headstrong and undaunted nature. The sentence fragments and repetition here quicken the pace, paralleling the motion of the plane falling and Chris rushing into action.

“It wasn’t a job. It wasn’t a business. It was a family. And Chris wasn’t just the boss. She was the glue that held them all together. The Wendy Darling to their Lost Boys […] Losing Chris wasn’t an option.”

Over the course of the novel, Newman expands the definition of family to include not only bonds of blood and relation but also those of loyalty and shared experience. The allusion to Wendy Darling and the Lost Boys from the story of Peter Pan conveys a tight-knit community with Chris at the helm and signifies the team’s loyalty to her, which runs so deep that they do not hesitate to risk their lives to save her.

“‘Shannon’s going to be fine,’ Will said, his voice breaking. ‘Because of you. But I’ve got her now. You can rest.’”

In this scene, Chris is lingering between life and death, and Will is grappling with the idea of losing her. Telling her that she “can rest” symbolizes the resolution of his character arc; he has learned to let go rather than allow his grief to chain him to the past.

“If they were all honest, there hadn’t been much laughter in their lives since the crash. But here, with each other, with no one else around, they didn’t have to explain anything or justify themselves. They could just be.”

When the passengers of Flight 1421 reconvene a year later, Newman alludes to how they have struggled in the wake of the crash, processing their trauma and the survivor’s guilt. Here, Newman suggests that reconnecting and bonding over their shared experience helps provide closure and healing and that these surviving passengers understand each other in a way that others cannot.