In the context of Sam’s character arc, Annabel Monaghan frames Long Island as symbolic of freedom. Throughout Sam’s childhood, she longed for summers at the beach and “kicked off her shoes” as soon as she and her family “went through the Midtown Tunnel in mid-June” (35). She and her family have had a beach house in Long Island’s Oak Shore town since she was a little girl. This setting is located on the beach and therefore gives Sam the opportunity to swim and surf when she wants. In the past, the setting let Sam be her impulsive, adventurous, and spirited self.

In the narrative present, Sam fears returning to Long Island, because she believes that the freedom she experienced as a child resulted in heartbreak. She doesn’t want to lose control of the orderly, adult self she’s constructed to protect herself from pain, and she fears that Long Island will destroy “all of [her] hard-earned defenses” (29), leaving her vulnerable to hurt and disappointment all over again. Throughout her time on Long Island, Sam does become freer and less inhibited. The setting helps her to reconnect with a less calculated, youthful version of self, liberating her and giving her the safety and courage to be her truest self.