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.
Hey Elise, I liked your point about Yetu’s struggle for self-identity representing how collective trauma impacts a person. I think that what makes collective trauma more bearable to carry is being able to connect with other people who also understand the history. When the wajinru collectively remember their history, they share the trauma, and Yetu experiences relief from having to carry it alone. Carrying history is an important and difficult task but when shared becomes doable.