In Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, the shark attacks occur around the fictional Amity Island.
Amity is presented as a New England resort community whose summer economy depends heavily on visitors. When a great white shark begins attacking swimmers, Police Chief Martin Brody wants the beaches closed, but local officials fear the financial consequences of losing the tourist season.
The island is fictional, although much of the film’s coastal setting was created on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. Several locations there, including the town of Edgartown, were used during production. This has led some viewers to answer Martha’s Vineyard, but that is the filming location, not the story’s name for the community.
The fictional setting lets the film combine an ordinary beach holiday with a contained crisis. Amity’s public beaches, ferry routes, harbor, and surrounding waters become part of the suspense as Brody, marine biologist Matt Hooper, and shark hunter Quint prepare to confront the animal.