Fifteen-year-old Mafatu lives with his father, stepmother, and stepbrothers on the Polynesian atoll Hikueru. As the chief’s son, he should be known for his courage and skill, but instead, Mafatu is known for his fear.

Mafatu’s fear of the ocean stems from a traumatic experience at the age of three: he and his mother were caught in a storm while out on the reef, and his mother died. Mafatu feels he cheated Moana, the god of the sea, by surviving, but he believes Moana will eventually claim him. Mafatu’s fear of the ocean is full of irony and puts him at odds with his cultural identity. He cannot fulfill his purpose on the island as the chief’s son and a future warrior, nor can he contribute to the survival of the village, which relies on the ocean for food and resources. Mafatu’s competing nicknames—Stout Heart and the Boy Who Was Afraid—illustrate this tension.

Early in the novel, Mafatu is isolated and unhappy. His reputation as a coward keeps him from developing camaraderie with the other boys on the island, and his only companions are animals. He is not allowed to go out fishing, so he receives tasks on land—making nets and spears—that he despises.