Week 15: We are Mermaids

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The poem “We Are Mermaids” was very interesting to me. I found the writing to be beautiful and believe there can be multiple interpretations of it. I interpreted the poem as being written from a mermaid’s perspective but also think this could be compared to the perspective of human life. The descriptive language of the ocean such as “the salt of the ocean is always the salt of tears”, “we know the consistent waves”, and “to nose along the floor of the rough world” all explain how the ocean is home to mermaids. The salt of the ocean being compared to tears shows that they feel every emotion in this home. This is where I can begin to compare this to human life. While humans do not reside in the ocean, home in real life is often a place where emotions are felt. Home does not have to be a physical house, but can be a place or person of comfort and feelings. The poem also refers to the mermaids as “both predators and prey” which I can also compare to human beings. Each person in the world plays a different role in other people’s lives. In some stories, people can be villains, disliked, or negative while in someone else’s story that same person could be a hero, liked, or a positive. This is similar to how mermaids are depicted differently in different stories. In some stories, mermaids are seen as beautiful creatures who do no harm while in others they might be villainous and evil. The poem ends by saying “Some of us are going to be okay”. This is another aspect that is apparent in both myth and real life. Life is unpredictable and there is no guarantee whether or not a persons life will work out the way they want it to. I liked that the poem said “some” and not “all” because of this lack of guarantee. Comparing mythical stories to human life in this poem is very powerful. The poem teaches valuable lessons for humanity while also telling the tales of mythical creatures and how they can be depicted differently.

Week 14: The Deep

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These chapters of The Deep made me feel a sense of sympathy for Yetu as she was experiencing an internal struggle between picking herself or others. She is torn between her duty to her community and her own need for self-preservation. Without her identity as a historian, who was she? When she first experiences life without the burden of memories, she finds herself capable of making a deeper connection with someone else. She experiences emotions, connections, and conversations that were previously out of reach for her.

The passage that ends chapter 7 is what really stuck with me. It reads, “At least with pain there was life, a chance at change and redemption. The remembering might still kill her but the wajinru would go on, and so, too, would the rest of the world. The turbulent waves were a chaos of her own making and it was time to face them (126).” Despite the pain Yetu endures as a result of the History, it affirms that these experiences are a vital part of her existence. She realizes that this pain is a testament to her growth and the ability to persevere in the face of adversity. She carries the immense burden of her peoples’ memories and is forced to experience the trauma and pain first hand. She is burdened by the weight of their memories and chose her mental and emotional well-being as she couldn’t continue to sacrifice herself for them. But, she ultimately realizes that she needs to help her people in order to save them. Even though she knows this will cause her pain that may even kill her, she is willing to put others first. She realizes that her role as the historian is not just a burden but also a vital aspect of her identity and purpose. Her people rely on her to preserve the History and their culture and that abandoning them would be leading to far-reaching consequences. She acknowledges that this chaos is in part of her decisions and is willing to face the internal and external struggles that await. She is ready to confront the painful memories she has been suppressing and embrace the responsibility she has as Historian. Although this is her “job,” I still find myself feeling bad for her as she did not choose to have this life. It seems unfair that she doesn’t get to experience much happiness in life unless she is away from her community where she doesn’t have to constantly relive trauma.

Week 14: The Ocean as Mother

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There’s something so profound about how the themes of creation and motherhood work within Rivers Solomon’s The Deep. We can see how important motherhood is held through the creation of the womb that protects the wajinru from being preyed on while remembering, the relationship between Yetu and her amaba, and the wanjiru’s origins as the babies of pregnant African women who were thrown overboard during the Atlantic slave trade. Most importantly, we can see it in how the ocean is portrayed as an entity that first taught the wajinru to breathe underwater.

In the last chapter of The Deep, Yetu tells her amaba that she is trying to remember what it was like to be in the womb that carried the very first wajinru, to have a two-legged mother, and to be born to breathe air instead of water. Amaba then tells Yetu that there is little to no difference between the waters of the womb and the ocean water that surrounds them all. In a way, they are all still in the womb, always in a state of growth, change, and potential. They were carried in water and born into water. “It is all waters.” (149)

The centering of motherhood and creation in The Deep centers the stories and experiences of women through the reframing of the ocean as the creator and holder of all life on land and in the sea, more than a womb and more than a home. The ocean serves as a protector for those who seek refuge in its depths and as a teacher for those who are willing to learn. The story allows its female characters–and the ocean itself–to define themselves as more than just mothers or warriors, but as explorers, teachers, and historians as well.

Week 14- The Deep

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After reading further into the Deep, Yetu’s story got more interesting. At the opening with chapter 5 and the descriptions of being immobile the last year, lost in memories and floating, which I found quite intriguing. Just picturing her floating, lost in remeberingings of others, and having to carry that will is an insane concept. Even though her body was slowly failing on her, for lack of movement, she was still strong in her Will. This is such an impressive and personable aspect of Yetu, the survival it takes to do something like this. I liked her connection with the Wajinru and her link to their history, buried and untold. Her need to escape this pressure and her people was sad, but also thinking about having that burden is a lot to carry, remembering the trauma and loss of others.
I want to focus on the section in chapter 5, with Yetu being in and out of conciseness. It says “Strangely, she was breathing with her mouth and nose, too, sucking in air from her surrounding with the two narrow slits in her face and her wide mouth. She didn’t know that she could do that. It was a new, uncomfortable feeling, and her lungs felt unsatisfied.” (page 71) This specific scene in chapter 5 stood out to me because of the descriptions of the uncomfortablility that Yetu felt- for the fact that this was an unnatural act. This just reminds me of the connection of nature and mermaids- especially the ocean- as they are made to be in the ocean and not land. They way that the land was supposed to represent Yetu getting away from her respoaseibilites and the weight she carried, further showed how it was “wrong.” The land is not her nature place, she is not meant to be there, and she knew that with the fact that her breathing on land felt wrong. She knew that she was supposed to be in the ocean, to feel the weight of her life, even if It was hard. This entire scene in chapter 5, when she saw the “two-legs approaching” and how she bared her teeth and prepared to attack, further shows my statement from before to be true. She is not meant to be on land- she is an creature of the ocean and animals. Overall, I really liked how this reading further showed the connection of Yetu to the Ocean and nature, and her natural state is where she is supposed to be.

The Deep Chapter 5

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In this week’s reading of The Deep, I would like to focus on a passage in the text that I found rather comforting. While Yetu is leaving the Wajinru, she experiences different memories and rememberings in different parts of the ocean. She realizes she’s unsure of if these memories are hers or not, but in drifting she feels a sense of identity has appeared. Something that she has struggled with since she carries the remembering of her community. Specifically, “Rememberings didn’t haunt her. She was just Yetu. She wasn’t quite sure who that was, but she didn’t mind the unknowing because it came with such calm, such a freedom from the pain.” This part of the chapter brought me some comfort, mainly because in Western and/or certain individual perspectives, the Ocean has been seen as this scary vast force that entails danger. This part of the book challenges that. The feeling that there could be comfort and familiarity in this huge space even though it is unknown. And the factor of it being unknown it doesn’t deem it scary or dangerous was a refreshing point of view.

I appreciate this specific part of The Deep because it pushes me to hold (even more) of a personal and intimate perspective on the Ocean and I also like that it challenges the view of sublimity associated with the Ocean since it suggests that the Ocean can heal and comfort individuals, like Yetu in this case.

Week 14 – Yetu’s journey

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While this entire section of “The Deep” by Rivers Solomon was interesting, I was especially interested in reading about Yetu’s initial escape in chapter 5, and her relationship to the Wajinru through her pain. What interested me the most about the initial escape from the Wajinru was how the journey she went through after the Remembrance could be an anecdote to the pain and suffering that people have experienced as a result of slavery and the slave trade. Yetu’s body gives out while trying to escape but her will keeps her pushing through. She goes days without eating and has horrible migraines and pain in her limbs. Historically, there have been forms of systemic racism that have been implemented to prevent people of color from achieving what white people have been able to achieve throughout the generations post-slavery. This has been proven true even in recent decades. I believe that her experience was a big focus because it alludes to what people of color have gone through due to the History. I also liked the idea of being a unified group of people because of the history. While Yetu is suffering, she has a “deep, restful sleep. There were no nightmares, Remeberings didn’t haunt her… She wasn’t quite sure who [Yetu] was, but she didn’t mind the unknowing because it came with such calm… (70). I thought this was an interesting sentence because it shows that the history serves to not bring pain, but create a relationship of unity with her people. There was calamity and comfort in her pain, and although she left her tribe, she subconsciously knew they felt the same way. She feels a sense of “freedom” (70) from her pain. I believe that this is one of the main points of the entire novel. History is a painful subject that needs to be embraced in order to have a sense of unity, as horrible as it may be sometimes.

The Deep Ch 5-7

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While reading through this week’s chapters, many thoughts went through my head with even some personal reflection on my life. Yetu’s responsibility and role of being a historian is obviously a huge task to take on especially at such a young age and personally, I don’t blame her from swimming away from that duty. I view the Wajinru’s “Remembrance” ceremony pretty selfish of them where they have a desire to remember their history and suffer the pain like Yetu has only for them to wipe their hands after a few days of pain and dump everything back on that poor girl. When Yetu was conversating with Oori about her past, Oori said, “All dead I’m am the last of the Oshuben” (pg92) I feel like this brings out a similarity between the two because Yetu is the only historian as the previous one Basha has already died. I think this is good for Yetu because she can sort of relate to someone for once when she couldn’t even relate to her Amaba. On page 99 Amaba asks Yetu what about the History could be so maddeing. When Yetu says the part about three children exploding Amaba replies, “Why are you telling me these horrible things” indicating that Amaba had barely any effort to understand where Yetu is feeling. Looking from a broader view, I believe history should be available to everyone (and not for a limited time) so people can learn from previous mistakes and understand their culture, values, and traditions. Leaving history to one person allows the opportunity to manipulate it to one own’s advantage, not saying that Yetu will do this, but we see this being done in today’s education system.

Week 14: Nature Doesn’t Need Validation.

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Sorry for the short post, everyone. It’s been a very difficult weekend, so my creative juices aren’t flowing as freely.

This remark encapsulates an important aspect of Wajinru living. The whale, which represents nature’s protective and caring features, cares for the Wajinru and even feeds their smallest members. Our need to assign specific meanings and purposes to everything contrasts dramatically with nature’s intrinsic ability to exist in harmony and serve its surroundings.

People frequently seek meaning and purpose via their actions and lives. Everything, to humans, has a certain function. We provide little to no wiggle space for these specified reasons to change, and we are terrible at admitting when something does not contribute to society in the way we EXPECT. As we strive to understand our place in the world, we assign events, objects, and relationships significance. Nature, however, functions in a different way. Without making a conscious effort to define its function, each component of the ecosystem operates in tandem. This natural hierarchy is best demonstrated by the whale in the quotation, which provides care and nourishment without needing to justify its actions or seek acceptance from others.

Entering Chapter 3 of “The Deep,” readers are prompted to consider the complexities of human perception and our proclivity to provide meaning where it is not required. We are urged to contemplate the natural world’s intrinsic equilibrium of cohabitation, as well as the balance of seeking meaning through the lens of the Wajinru’s story and their relationship with the whale.

Sorry, again, for the brevity. I’ll see you all in class.

Week 14: Identity in The Deep

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Chapter five of The Deep explores Yetu’s struggle with her identity as she chooses to leave the Remembrance in fear that the weight of carrying her ancestors’ memories will kill her. As Yetu is leaving, she considers how her actions will impact the wajinru and wonders if her community will “be as lost in the face of [remembering] as she’d always been” (66). This moment demonstrates the emotional burden that these memories have on Yetu. The suffering of her ancestors weighs heavy on her mind, at times even consuming her. For example, at the start of the story, Amaba finds Yetu in a circle of sharks. In chapter three readers learn that Yetu “went to the waters of the great whites” because the act of remembering has “pulled her deeper and deeper into the abyss of the past” (40). In other words, the memories consume her to the point where she forgets “who she is altogether” (38) and embodies her ancestors. The burden of history becomes intertwined with Yetu’s sense of self, making it difficult for her to separate herself from the responsibilities of being the Historian.

Since Yetu is completely immersed in her ancestor’s experiences, she is given little time to discover herself or process the weight of these memories. In chapter five, when Yetu is traveling up to the surface, she concludes that the area “was familiar” but she couldn’t decide if it was from personal experience or a part of wajinru history. She explains that “whenever she tried to concentrate on anything specific, it slipped through her mind like sand through her webbed fingers. She could feel it still, but she didn’t know it” (67). To put it simply, Yetu’s inability to differentiate her experiences from those of the past has made her disconnected from herself. This moment highlights the central theme of identity and encourages readers to consider how collective trauma impacts individuality. Yetu is consumed by the suffering of the past and it’s inhibiting her from creating her own memories and experiences. Overall, this chapter helps readers understand the weight of collective trauma and the difficulties that come with navigating this suffering.

Week 14: Individual Identity vs The Culture/History of a People

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For this weeks’ blog I want to zone in on the big debate I found to be posed in chapter 5: Does history and culture give significance to the human existence or does our own personalities and experiences do that? I feel like throughout the chapter Yetu was sort of going back in fourth between wanting to be apart of the culture and history of her people saying how “she missed being a part of not just the sea, but the whole world. Without the History, she felt out of place and out of time. She missed being connected to it all.” (Page 82) These are feelings are arising after she, herself, decided to abandon her people and let them remember the history of their past all by themselves, knowing it would bring them suffering and maybe forgetting it all together, as they were innately compelled to do. On the opposite side of that very same coin though, she understood that with “connection came responsibility. Duty choked independence and freedom.” These two differing views give me the impression that there is a fine line in honoring culture and giving up your own identity to follow a lifestyle that was made by a people at a time you didn’t exist to now exist in a time that they don’t.

One may ponder the idea of why should we remember our culture at all? Why dont we make our own new experiences as we go along? I think the answer to that perplexing question is that the feeling of belonging to something bigger than ourselves feeds our insatiable hunger to feel special; like we have a purpose and importance in this big world. I feel it’s important to find a balance between what came before you and what is presented now. Times are ever changing, therefore adjusting traditions in order to keep them from being fully rejected by the people it no longer serves can not only cultivate an environment that does not infringe upon personal expressions and freedoms, but also preserves that sense of belonging to a bigger purpose and therefore satisfying our inherently primal instinct for connection all in one fell swoop.