The story, originally describing a lifeguard stud attracting the attention of dozens of girls, later turns into a story of tragic accidents and coming to terms with ones actions, as well as how it influences people afterwards. There are quite a few things going on, especially towards the start, and the majority of them didn’t get solved until the end.
One of the first things you learn about Pirate’s Point is that Josh has been a lifeguard for several years and that this was his last summer before moving to college. In addition to that, it became very clear that Joe was a typically chick magnet, thriving off the attention that these teenage girls give him. He even states that he looks at girls bare stomaches and looking down their bikini tops from his lifeguard stand.
However, he does use this to his own advantage when he asks Peggy Mandel out on date, only to ask her more about her brother’s drowning at the same beach for “lifeguard purposes.” He pushes her despite her obvious and clearly communicated discomfort on the topic to the point she asks him to take her back home. The next day, a different girl, Cindy, strives for Josh’s attention and a date only for Peggy to step in and brought up her own date. The brief interaction, as well as Cindy climbing up onto his lifeguard stand, caused enough distraction for what was believed to be a drowning. Becky had choked on a grape, and despite Josh’s best efforts, he couldn’t dislodge it. Mrs. Lovenhiem then step in and helped, quickly removing the stuck grape, much to the surprise from everyone watching.
While it’s not explicitly talked about, the ending holds subtle tones of traumatic experiences or maybe some slight PTSD. Josh ends the final paragraph with the line “…and I’ve never seen the water or the umbrellas of summer in the same way again”, specifically talking about the near-fatal experience with Becky and his inability to help, despite executing everything he’s been trained to do. That helplessness lingers in his mind even years later and the beach and ocean waves only bring up those memories of what he used to be.
It was really interesting for me to watch Josh and his behavior throughout the entire story. He starts off as quite the womanizer, and that was something that particularly irked me, but by the end of the story he didn’t seem to have further interest. In fact, at the end he sought the attention of widow Mrs. Lovenhiem, who he only really spoke to a few given times, despite their daily interactions at the beach. Even after that last interaction at her house, what she had done lingered in his mind forever.
I see what you mean regarding the PTSD. I find that is something very plausible that is now stuck with him and may never leave. I think Mrs. Lovenheim played a big role that lead to some of it as well when I think about it. The way he focused on her really brings about that she is what helped bring about this change in him that you point out, and I think, with that, he obsesses over her in a rather interesting way, moving from something he can use–sex–to much needed aspect in his life–parental care.