Water has important meaning for each of the protagonists in Surviving Savannah. It symbolizes life and death as well as birth and rebirth; it is mystical and mercurial. Everly’s life starts in water. Later, as she heals from her trauma, she is reborn in the ocean. Facing the choice of life or death, Everly embraces life and is renewed. For Lilly and Augusta, water is both the key to their survival, as something to drink, and the cause of great tragedy. Lilly can’t swim, but when it is time for her to go ashore, she learns to endure the waves. Augusta is stranded at sea, surrounded by water, but can’t drink anything. Her dehydration causes her to lose consciousness at times. The lack of drinking water leads to Thomas’s death, the ultimate tragedy for Augusta. However, when she is saved, the first thing she runs to is fresh water to sustain her life.

Water transports all three women to a new world. For Everly, diving lets her confront her trauma and grief and move forward to embrace life. For Augusta, being stranded in the ocean lets her drop social propriety and pursue the life she always wanted.