For the Wajinru, the role of the Historian greatly differs from historians for us as humans, or “two-legs”. When Yetu reveals her role as historian to Oori, Oori asks Yetu “‘Were you like a storyteller then?'”. For humans, being a historian is the same as a storyteller, sharing our histories throughout the ages with stories.
While our history can often be painful, we do not experience it in the same way as Yeti, but are not completely void of it as the rest of the wajinru. We are able to share histories both verbally through stories and recorded in words. We have the pleasure of being able to pick up a book and read history, a luxury the wajinru do not get in the ocean. We learn in chapter 6 that even sharing the history verbally with other wajinru is not possible, or too painful an experience for anyone other than Yetu. When she tried to tell her Amaba about her rememberings “frothy water spewed from Abama’s mouth as she made gurgled, choked noises. This is why Yetu was to remain silent about the things she knew” (Solomon, 100).
The wajinru are “consumed with desire” to know the history and understand the past (Solomon, 8). But for Yetu, she describes her role to Oori as holding all the memories of the generations inside her as “six hundred years of pain” (Solomon, 94). A fight sparks between Yetu and Oori when Oori learns that Yetu gave up the memories of her ancestors. Oori explains “‘I would take any amount of pain in the world if it meant I could know all the memories of the Oshuben… Doesn’t it hurt not to know who you are?'” (Solomon, 94). For Oori, a human, it is difficult for her to understand why Yetu would let go of her memories of the past. Especially as a person who has lost all of her history. However, the history of the ocean cannot be recorded in the same way as the history of the land. The characters different orient of views, ocean and land, creates a rift between them. The novel reveals a lot about the importance of history, how we view history, desire of knowledge of the past and self, and the weight the truth carries.
Great point: ‘However, the history of the ocean cannot be recorded in the same way as the history of the land.” How do you understand this, specifically, and in the context/content of the novel?