Significance of The Lazy River

The Lazy River is a symbol of life extended throughout this story as the author approaches it from multiple different angles. "Even if you don't move you will get somewhere," the narrator explains, "and then return to wherever you started" (25). This implies that the direction of one's life is more or less preordained and out of one's control. This is reiterated when the narrator notes that "A few people...make a point of turning the other way, intent upon thrashing out a stroke against the current" (26). This is, of course, largely futile. The story ends with the image of a man cleaning the Lazy River with a mop, a representation of the fact that the people who actually live in Almería have much more difficult lives than the narrator and her friends and family, as they are conducting manual labor rather than floating, cleaning up after the tourists.