By the Water

I notice that in many of Bowles stories, the main character does not like their hometown and their hometown is often described as a depressing and/or stagnant place. This is the introduction we see of 'By the Water' and its setting. "He felt proud to be coming from a better and larger city" here we see that Bowles often favors larger, more condensed cities in his writing.

Something I found interesting is that I believe this is the first story I've read from Bowles with an Arab/(South and/or Eastern) Mediterranean influence. We see this through the character's name Amar, the oud instrument he listens to early on, and also of course, the hammam (Turkish bathhouse).

The creature in this story is interesting yet very creepy to me personally. The creature, in my mind, looks like a muscular huge tadpole with pincers and the ability to speak human language. The Lazrag also has some magical or metaphysical abilities as we see here:"Lazrag has found  us and changed us both into birds ...  No one will ever know us again" the boy said with delight. We also see he has the ability to turn into  crab later on. This would be the second story I remember from Bowles having a shape shifting character.

I found it odd that Amar was referred to as Amar and Sidi simultaneously. I googled what 'sidi' translates to in English and apparently it translates to: My master. In the last scene at the beach I sense a romantic undertone. The boy and Amar are the only two characters, they are at the beach with the waves crashing on their bodies and pushing their clothes away. The boy holds Amar after he is hurt and repeatedly says "I saved you".