Waterland | Tested × 2027 |

The narrator and protagonist. A history teacher who believes that to understand the present, one must look at the past, although his faith in history is shaken by personal tragedies.

Tom's older, mentally disabled brother. He is a local legend for his strength in the water, but is haunted by his parentage (he is the product of incest between his mother and grandfather).

The Fenland landscape—partly reclaimed, not quite solid land—symbolizes the precarious nature of civilization, memory, and personal identity. Waterland

Contrary to the idea of linear progress, Waterland suggests history moves in circles. Just as the fens are frequently flooded despite attempts to drain them, human life is constantly returning to its past mistakes.

The novel contrasts the need to live in the immediate moment (Price's perspective) with the necessity of remembering (Tom's perspective). The narrator and protagonist

A skeptical, 16-year-old student who challenges Tom on the relevance of studying history in an age threatened by nuclear annihilation.

Tom Crick , a 52-year-old history teacher in Greenwich, London, is forced into early retirement because his wife, Mary , has stolen a baby, claiming it is a gift from God. Amidst this personal crisis, Tom abandons his scheduled curriculum and starts telling his bored students personal tales from his youth in the Fens. He is a local legend for his strength

Tom argues that humans are "story-telling animals". Storytelling is a defense mechanism against the fear of chaos, an "explanation" for the "empty space" of reality.