Whelks

[Annie Potter]

When Marie is talking with Madame Manec, they give themselves nicknames. Marie chose to call herself "The Whelk." Whelks are marine creatures with a spiral shell. Why do you think Marie chose this certain nickname for herself? Later on in the book, Marie thinks of Whelks as being very strong creatures, so do you think she chose to be called a Whelk because she thinks of herself as strong and perseverant or rather the opposite and that she hopes someday she'll posses those qualities? "She thinks of the whelks in Harold Bazin's kennel, then thousand of them; how they cling; how they draw themselves up into the spirals of their shells; how, when they're tucked into that grotto, the gulls cannot come in to carry them up into the sky and drop them on the rocks to break them" (Doerr 446). 

[Hibah]

I think she picked the name whelk because it reminded her of the many hours spent at the museum of natural history just feeling the shells. All those shells that Dr. Geffard let her feel and learn about were from marine animals. She remembered the times she felt all of those hundreds of shells, some of them were the shells of whelks. She also picks whelks because they do not use the sense of sight, they use chemoreceptors which are Sensory extensions to their nervous system to allow them to feel around just like how Marie uses her sense of touch to feel around.

[Carolyn]

I think she picked the name whelk because she simply loves snails. As Hibah said, whelks don't use their sense of sight which also might have been a factor. Marie-Laure might feel like a whelk sometime, people are always telling her how brave and strong she is but also because she is blind. Marie-Laure might also think of her uncle's house as the shell of a Whelk, she can block herself from the rest of the world in that house. I think Marie might feel as though she is the snail and the house is her shell where she can get away from all the worries of the outside world, especially when she first arrives and doesn't know her way around Saint-Malo.

[briannaanderson]

Marie-Laure picked the name "The Whelk" because, like a snail she is inclosed. Instead of a shell however, it is the city of Saint-Malo.
Also as Annie quoted, seagull's beaks pose a threat to whelks, but the creatures remain unrelenting. Marie probably feels this an appropriate name when she joins the resistance because now she is going to have to stay persistent just like them. Whelks seem to have this peace, and with the War right outside her doors, Marie strives for that too. She might not have it at that moment, but she hopes she can.