It is made clear that their present life will simply never change their perspective of the themselves and the world to a live a joyful life without it.
Our encounters and relationship with others and society have a transformative effect on our attitudes and values and is depicted through characters Gwen and Coral. The way Gow does not set a bunch of positive transformations filled with fairy tale discoveries forces the responder to acknowledge the complex and tragic elements in his characters' lives. Gwen's transformation is the clearest, as she comes to realise the essence of naturalism, whereby people and relationships with them are more valuable than superficiality. Plainly seen through the natural imagery in act 4, scene 1 " Come on, down to the water. the water is so warm". This view juxtaposes her social class thinking she originated with. When Gwen is unable to swallow her regular medication after this discovery it is made clear to the viewer that she can symbolically no longer avoid the wrongness of her previous discriminatory perspective. Coral's transformation is also quite clear as she learns to pass through her grief. However this did not come without a great deal of self-reflection and relationships with other people. Tom's relationship in particular was most beneficial to her journey of new perceptions and is best portrayed through Gow's use of a play within a play seen in 'The Stranger on the Shore'. It dramatises symbolically how Tom has helped Coral pass through her grief and return to her life focussed on the living rather than the dead. .
A similar discovery about discovering ones self is explored in Shaun Tan's 'The Red Tree'. Tan's use of the colure red symbolises this through the little red leaf present on each of the pages, drawing meaning that hope is always present in ones life, but in order to receive it and experience it, one must embrace the little red leaf for it to nurture and grow into a big tree.