Caroline repeatedly uses the phrase, “I see things no one else sees” (7) when describing spirits. She also uses the phrase when she sees a woman watching her from behind a tree, and this woman could be her mother; Doreen tells her, when they meet, that she (Doreen) has seen Caroline around the island. Caroline uses sight both literally and figuratively as a way to explore her own existence. She doesn’t feel seen on many occasions, especially on Water Island, which is described as invisible. According to what Caroline has heard about the slaves on the island, it is a place of magic: “magic so no one could see its hills except the people who already knew it was there […] so I’m invisible whenever I’m on Water Island too. Nobody ever looks my way anyway” (46). The island is often forgotten in comparison to the sainted islands surrounding it, which parallels Caroline’s own feelings of being forgotten.

There is a contrast between visibility and invisibility throughout the novel and character arcs. Caroline notices Bernadette and her mother are staying in the forgotten house. She sees the two women holding hands at the shops with Kalinda. She notices physical things that others could see but either choose to ignore or don’t want to see.