At the end of the narrative, G. plays with a pebble on the beach. He grows attached to it and hides it, but the pebble is gone the next day. The pebble’s disappearance affects G. and his outlook on life: “I held it long and felt its shape and saw its texture until it was no longer a pebble. It had become one of those things one can’t bear to see for the last time” (214). For G., the pebble represents something solid—a constant state of being. A pebble doesn’t change shape. G.’s attachment to the pebble indicates his fondness for the status quo, for the security of things that don’t change without his permission. The pebble’s disappearance symbolizes how much change is upending his life. Though G. wants to grow and educate himself, he’s afraid because there are so many “pebbles” in his life that are disappearing and that will disappear when he leaves, including Trumper, the village, his mother, and Pa.

The crabs that G. and his friends watch on the beach are constantly moving; they either fight, work, have sex, or flee, all activities that the villagers engage in.