Willful Ignorance
Throughout the text, characters intentionally ignore the political unrest surrounding them and choose to forget or repress traumatic memories. For decades, Triton and Mister Salgado live in a world of their own, Triton focusing only on his cooking and Mister Salgado focusing on his coral reef research. They do not discuss or seem to care about events outside their immediate sphere of reference, as Mister Salgado's wealth and status allow them to be "protected from the past." Even when confronted with the realities of a changing Sri Lanka, Mister Salgado and Triton are unwilling to engage with the political climate and their role in it, preferring to focus on domestic tasks. For example, when Mister Salgado and Nili's friends discuss the assassination of Palitha Aluthgoda, Mister Salgado only says that the situation is "a bad business" without taking action or even opining further. Similarly, when Nili and Mister Salgado attend a party to launch the Mahaweli Scheme, the couple only thinks of what they will wear and the scandalous nature of their personal relationship rather than the impact of the government program. At the end of the text, Mister Salgado tells Triton that people are "only what we remember, nothing more," demonstrating that willful ignorance is Mister Salgado's way of coping with life's disappointments.
Identity and Codependency
Triton joins Mister Salgado's household as a young child after accidentally burning down a schoolhouse. With little identity or sense of self, Triton obsesses over Mister Salgado, glorifying his employer's persona and trying to imitate him. For example, Triton tries to "better" himself by making lists like Mister Salgado and reading the magazines and books Mister Salgado prefers. For years, Triton cannot see himself as separate from Mister Salgado's life. Eventually, as anti-capitalist sentiments grow, Triton begins to imagine himself living a life somewhat independent from Mister Salgado, perhaps running a restaurant at Nili's hotel. Only when Mister Salgado physically separates himself from Triton by returning to Sri Lanka, which Triton "wanted deep down inside," can he begin to develop an independent identity.
Environmental and Social Change
Mister Salgado is a pioneer in marine biology who studies the effects of a changing environment on coral reefs out of pure academic interest. Gradually, Triton observes how human beings destroy the ocean. For example, fishermen remark on the dwindling number of fish in the sea, and Mister Salgado bemoans sea erosion. Though Mister Salgado collects a wealth of data, he fails to put his research to practical use by writing reports or consulting with government conservation agencies.
Similarly, the social fabric of Sri Lanka changes throughout Triton's life as workers grow increasingly disillusioned by the capitalist system. What starts as a "bungled coup" and offhand remarks about injustice grows to violent protests. Like with his research in the reef, Mister Salgado refuses to work for change and instead flees to England.
Classim and Injustice
Reef is also a study of classism in post-colonial Sri Lanka. As a child, Triton begins to work for Mister Salgado with clear boundaries between himself and his employer. For example, Triton finds it difficult to eat before Mister Salgado, though Mister Salgado often refuses to eat at regular times. Triton hesitates to converse with Nili, even after she gives him a Christmas present because he is "only a servant" and thus "unable to bridge the gulf" between them. Though Triton lives with Mister Salgado for decades, their class differences prevent them from creating an equal relationship.
The destructive effects of classism are illustrated most clearly in Joseph's character. Even as a child, Triton looks down on Joseph for his cultural background. After Joseph is dismissed, Triton realizes that Joseph's bitterness and cruelty resulted from living in a class system where he could never advance to a higher standing.
Ultimately, the injustices of a classist society ignite the Sri Lankan Civil War. Still, social capital and wealth dictate how individuals are affected by the crisis. For example, Mister Salgado is able to flee to England. In contrast, Nili, of a lower social class, is traumatized after her business is burned to the ground as revenge for her having helped Tamil families.
Scientific Investigation
According to Mister Salgado, a self-taught oceanographer who devotes his life to scientific research, science differentiates human beings from other animals and is a skill that has to be "learned methodically, by study." Mister Salgado lives this philosophy, studying all forms of life sciences and publishing articles on a variety of environmental topics. Mister Salgado documents his life through comprehensive lists and inventories and encourages Triton to do the same.
Though Triton is not part of Mister Salgado's team of research scientists, he approaches his own life and domestic duties with a scientific perspective. For example, Triton analyzes his recipes, such as the love-cake he makes for Nili, and methodically experiments with changes to ingredients and measurements, recording his successes.
Motion
Mister Salgado is fascinated by the concept of motion. He believes "the secret is in the motion," meaning that by investigating the motion of soundwaves and tides, he can unravel all of life's mysteries. In his oceanography research and his personal life, he believes "the most important bit of information is in movement," as motion creates subtle changes in the environment, which can be observed and analyzed. A well-traveled and intellectually curious individual, Mister Salgado's life is constantly in motion.
Triton believes motion is an essential part of the human condition, reasoning that "history is always a story of somebody's diaspora." Triton experiences firsthand how conflict can be evaded using motion when he and Mister Salgado escape Sri Lanka and sail to England.
Memory
Triton and Mister Salgado cope with the "changes that happen around them" by choosing to forget painful memories. Guided by the idea that "history is flexible," Mister Salgado decides to ignore the colonial domination from which he economically benefitted, and which wrought injustice in Sri Lanka. In his personal life, Mister Salgado also struggles to suppress his painful memories. For example, when Nili leaves him, Mister Salgado refuses to acknowledge his relationship with her for years, preferring to forget.
Triton, emulating Mister Salgado, tries to put past traumas behind him, though he discovers the past "hangs on the robes of the soul." It is not until he meets a fellow Sri Lankan at a gas station that Triton is forced to engage with his memories.
