Water is a cleansing motif in Libertie, symbolizing the way in which characters can wash themselves clean of the past and bring about a new future. This symbolism can be both optimistic and tragic. The death of Ben Daisy is an example of the latter. Unable to come to terms with his existence as a free man, Ben dives from the dock into the water, drowning himself in the mythical arms of a woman who lives beneath the waves. He gives himself over to the water rather than deal with the pain of existence, and he washes away the trauma of his past by killing himself.

At the same time, Libertie becomes obsessed with the mythology that emerges surrounding Ben’s death. She writes poems to the woman under the water, providing her with a creative outlet and a means of expressing herself that she never had before. The water and the woman who washed away Ben’s pain become the focus of Libertie’s creativity, allowing her to form a new identity that exists beneath the water and out of reach of the rest of society. These experiences constitute a more optimistic spin on the water-based escapism that Ben succumbed to.