Author Archives: Sierra Suelzle

Week 10: Thoughts on Vast Expanses

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I found the discussion of ocean history extremely interesting in this week’s readings. In the Introduction of Vast Expanses, Rodzadowski mentions that we must pay attention “to questions of how, by whom and why knowledge about the ocean was created and used” (Rodzadowski, p. 9). When discussing ocean history, there is a need to understand what information came from which culture because that plays large in role in understanding the relationship to the ocean at the time. As we have discussed in class, some cultures view the ocean as something to work with and others view it as an object to use. Additionally, this quote makes me question the knowledge that we have of the ocean. When I think of how we gain knowledge, I think of books, and while I know that information can also be passed orally, what information was published about the ocean, and what cultures’ knowledge was included? That shapes and influences our views of the ocean’s history and our history with the ocean. 

Since technology has evolved and humans have expanded their impact on the environment, it’s interesting to read about the different stages of human relationships with the ocean. I was fascinated with the idea of the modern relationship with the ocean. Rodzadowski describes how in the 1970s there was “concern for the great whales and about the dangers posed by major oil spills..but [this concern] did not translate into worry about the ocean itself, only its coasts and a handful of its more charismatic inhabitants” (p.11). Using sea animals that appeal to the masses to protest certain actions or policies is something that we still do today. 50 years ago people used their concern for the whales to protest oil spills and four years ago people used turtles to bring awareness to the amount of plastic being dumped in the ocean. This idea of concern for certain animals rather than the ocean as a whole is so fascinating because the state of the ocean directly impacts these animals but we had not acknowledged that until recently. I wonder how our relationship with the ocean will change in the coming years and if there will be any major changes culturally that will shift our outlook on the ocean. 

Week 9: Environmental Humanities

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I found the reading on environmental humanities extremely interesting because it brings up a lot of the themes that we have been discussing in class and has also introduced me to some new ideas. An idea that enlgihtened me was that in order to solve the climate issue, multiple disciplines need to come together to create a solution. I have heard a variation of this idea before, but it was a more political version. The idea was that scientists needed to come together with community members in order to create specific solutions for that city, state, etc because community members know what they need and what would work in their specific area better than politicians or scientists who’ve never been to that area. But this reading is a lot more inclusive because instead of just limiting it to scientists coming up with a solution, it suggests that a wide variety of people from different academic backgrounds need to come together. I find this fascinating because it seems like such a simple recommendation, but is so revolutionary because of how Western culture separates academic disciplines in order to make it much harder for them to mix. 

Another topic I found fascinating was that recognizing humans as being a part of nature could help with establishing a solution to the environmental crisis. A portion of the text mentions how humans play an active role in nature and that needs to be recognized if we are ever going to come up with any sort of solution or make any progress. This reminded me of the conversations we’ve been having in class the past few weeks because we tend to think that we are above nature but that way of thinking is what has allowed humans to harm the environment in the first place. Emmett and Nye explain that humans need to have a mindset shift so that instead of viewing “animals and plants in terms of their usefulness to humanity, we can see them as having an intrinsic right to exist” (2017, p.11). Thinking of the environment in this way changes our perception of the world from revolving around humans and instead places us on the same level as animals and plants. As much as we have a right to exist in this world, so does every other living organism and that is what makes our world function properly. I wonder if keeping this idea in mind when thinking about solutions for the climate and environmental crisis will produce more effective or safer results for the environment and us. 

Discovery: The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

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Sierra Suelzle

Dr. Pressman

ECL 305

3 March 2024

Axie Oh’s book, The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, is a modern feminist retelling of the Korean folktale “The Tale of Shim Cheong” in which the main character, Mina, sacrifices herself to the Sea God by jumping into the ocean for her village. Mina is then guided to the spirit realm by a dragon where she discovers the Sea God has been placed under a spell. She embarks on a journey to free the Sea God from the spell to save her community by stopping the extreme weather and famine ravaging her land. Axie Oh’s The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea (2022) reveals the symbiotic relationship between humans and the ocean and how the fragility of that connection can lead to either’s destruction. Through the development of nuanced character relationships and rich symbolism, young readers in the United States are urged to recognize that their relationship with the ocean is threatened by environmental instability. 

The relationship between humans and the ocean is established and changes multiple times throughout the novel. The connection between humans and the ocean is explained and revealed by the string of fate that ties Mina to different characters throughout the novel. Oh uses this relationship to showcase how dependent we, in the United States, are on the ocean and how our relationship with the ocean has to shift with the changes in the environment. When Mina first enters the Spirit Realm, she is left alone with a red string tied around her palm, realizing it is the Red String of Fate. The “Red String of Fate ties a person to their destiny” (Oh, 2022, p. 21) or “to the one person [their] heart desires most” (Oh, 2022, p.21).  Following the string to discover her destiny or her person, she is led to the Sea God’s palace and finds the other end of the string attached to who she believes to be the Sea God’s hand. Later on, the string attaches itself to a character named Shin whose job is to protect the Sea God. This shift signifies a change in humans’ link to the ocean. Mina is initially attached to the Sea God to protect her village from the storms of the sea but that changes when it is realized that the ocean itself needs protecting. In this novel, the Sea God is a physical representation of the ocean and the ruler of all nature, but Shin is his protector. Oh utilizes this connection between both men as a way to demonstrate to young readers that as the instability within the environment and the ocean has increased, they need to take on a protective role to enhance their association with the ocean. Humans are not separate from the ocean, we are tied to nature but our actions have to change depending on the problems that we encounter, such as climate change.

The relationship between oceans and humans is threatened by the refusal of humans to change or limit their actions that are harming the environment. Oh creates the relationship between the emperor of the land and the Sea God to showcase how fragile human relationships truly are with nature and the environment. The Sea God was said to love the emperor and even blessed the emperor’s people, but the emperor was defeated in battle, and that angered the Sea God. When the Sea God was angered, first “rivers and streams dried up” (Oh, 2022, p. 31) causing a horrible drought, then “rain fell from the sky in sheets of icy water” (Oh, 2022, p. 31) which caused flooding and for some people to drown in their sleep. Oh uses the wrath of the Sea God as a symbol of the environment fighting back against human actions. The anger the Sea God had over losing the emperor represents the consequences of not treating the environment with care and respect. This manifests in both the real world and the story as unpredictable and extreme weather conditions that are made worse by the continuation of polluting the earth.

 In addition, in the story, the emperor decides to sacrifice women to the Sea God as a way to solve the problem. Instead of relinquishing power and restoring it to someone whom the Sea God loves, he chooses to hold onto his position and sacrifice his citizens. Humans have come up with a similar solution because, in the past few years, we have seen how the environment has been affected by human selfishness, but we are not doing anything to stop it. Especially in the United States, people propose solutions that target the symptoms, not the problem itself. One example of this is trying to prevent coral reef bleaching, but continuing to mine oil and dump waste into the ocean. Oh utilizes this relationship as a way to warn her audience that our reliance on the ocean cannot be trusted if we are not treating it with the respect it deserves and making the climate crisis worse by abusing our natural resources. 

Comparatively, the role of the environment in the daily lives of people in the United States has been routinely underappreciated. The environment provides people with most goods, food, travel, and a place to live. Oh shows how a lack of appreciation and care for the environment leads to an inability to live in harmony with the world. The people of Mina’s village consistently pray to their gods who take care of all parts of nature, but these gods are not eternal. It is said that: “when rivers are polluted and the forests burn, the gods fade and disappear” (Oh, 2022, p. 250), and when a god fades, “all [the] memories of [what they] once [were], of what [they were] meant to protect” (Oh, 2022, p. 250) are lost. So, when humans are careless with the environment and do not cherish the natural resources they have for them, the environment turns it back on them. When humans start to take advantage of the environment and all that it provides for us, there is a shift in mindset from working with nature to working against it. This pressures our relationship with the ocean, specifically, because it controls the production of so many resources humans use constantly. The relationship with the ocean in the United States becomes even more fragile than it already is and is put more at risk when people disregard its importance to overproduce. 

The relationships between characters and groups of characters, as well as the symbolism of connections, in this novel, are vital to demonstrating the importance of the ocean. Mina’s village is shown to rely heavily on the ocean and the esteem that the people hold of the ocean is high. Axie Oh displays this feeling of the ocean to an audience that normally does not put much thought into how paramount this body of nature is in their lives. People, especially young people, in the United States are encouraged to shift and value their relationship with the ocean at a time when the environment is experiencing drastic changes. 

Work Cited

Oh, Axie. The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea. Feiwel & Friends, 2022.

Week 7: The Little Mermaid and Christianity

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The Little Mermaid contained a lot of Christian imagery and ideology, but I found the contrast between air spirits and mermaids really fascinating. The two different creatures were representations of heaven and hell where souls were either present or not. Mermaids are described many times as not having an immortal soul which signifies that they cannot live in an afterlife. For instance, the grandma of the little mermaid explicitly tells the little mermaid that their “souls are not immortal. [They] shall never enter upon a new life” (Andersen, p. 116). This means that a mermaid’s soul is returned to the earth and is not meant for anything further than that. In Christianity, a person who has been “saved” by Christ is seen as having an eternal soul that will continue to exist in another plane after death. However, people who are not saved by Christ are not allowed to experience eternal life. In this way, mermaids represent those who were considered unholy and destined for hell at the time. Their souls will never be able to experience the “greatness” of the “unknown and favoured regions” (Andersen,p. 116) humans enter after death. 

Comparatively, the air spirits are a clear representation of heaven and godliness. The imagery of the air spirits resembles angels who are messengers of God in Christianity. The aerial spirits exist to do good deeds for humans and are given the chance to live in the human afterlife. It is explained to the little mermaid that “the daughters of the air, although not possessing an immortal soul by nature, can obtain one by their good deeds” (Andersen, p. 128). This opportunity to get an immortal soul is the closest that un-human entities can get to being human. From my understanding, this is a representation of becoming “saved” in Christianity. In the religion, a person must follow God and do good deeds, which is what the aerial spirits are doing. They depict the people who at the time were considered to be righteous and who would do God’s work. 

This dichotomy also made me think of the discussion in class we had about verticality. The mermaids are underwater which hints at hell because it’s below and the only way to get an immortal soul would be through duplicity. The air spirits are in the air which hints at heaven because it’s above everything and the only way to get an immortal soul would be from doing good in the world.  

Week 6: Undine and Marriage

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The way that the story of Undine discussed marriage was very telling about the way that women were looked at during this time. Throughout the section of the story that we read, how Undine changes and defers to her husband shows how women, no matter how powerful they might have been before, needed to become secondary to their husbands. I first noticed this when the story mentions how the three people who knew Undine best were waiting for “some whimsical vagary of her capricious spirit [to] burst forth” (pg. 102). The paragraph goes on to mention that she was “mild and gentle” (pg.102) which is a complete change from her previous personality. This change only comes the day after she is married to the knight Huldbrand, which hints that marriage has caused her change of spirit. The shift in Undine has two different representations because she is both a woman and a water spirit. I believe that calming her personality can represent men taming both women and nature. This story places men at the top of all hierarchies, they are the ones who control the estate and can impact how nature itself acts. During the 19th century, the man was the head of the family and the woman was supposed to answer to him, but this show of power was also extended to nature in some ways. As a water spirit, Undine acts like water, she’s unpredictable and wild. But once she is married and gains a soul, she calms and is “tamed”. Huldbrand notices this when they go to a stream and see it “rippling along in gentle waves, without a trace of its former wildness and swell” (pg. 103). Since Undine can control a certain body of water, that water would represent how she is feeling and her personality because it is an extension of her. In this case, this stream represents Undine and her new disposition. Before being married, the stream and Undine were free and wild, as nature tends to be, but after they are both subdued. This shows that men at this time were trying to find ways to control women and nature.

Week 5: Melusine and the Environment

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The reading this week was very interesting in the way that it talked about human’s connection with nature. There were multiple times throughout the first chapters where the story described a mutually beneficial relationship between the environment and people. The first instance I noticed of it was in “The Great Old Hunter” where the author mentions that: “Man developed without dissociating or abstracting himself from the world. In short, he knew how to love it, to give and to take in many ways, as he needed” (Lebey, p.12). Humans, men specifically, at this time were able to peacefully coexist with the world. They were not taking excessively from the land but living in harmony with it. This quote explains that this was a process because men “developed” into learning their position and did not just automatically know how to respect the environment. While humans are benefiting from the resources that the environment provides, the environment is benefiting from the love and care of humans. I found this interesting because there is not often any mention of love or giving when discussing the environment. Many modern stories do not acknowledge the respect that the environment is owed and there is hardly any reference to giving back to it in any sort of way. Another moment that stood out to me that revealed a lot about the relationship with the environment was in the description of the wands that Melusine gave to her husband. The wands were made from the elements and contained stones that would help whoever had them with living and battles. These wands were a literal manifestation of what the foundations of the world can help men with. Melusine explains that the core of the stones “is also influenced by what we imagine, and the stones do the rest” (Lebey, p. 28). My understanding of this is that the stones worked depending on the intention of the person using them, so to want to do something that is out of line with nature, in general, would end with not the best results. While the Earth is giving these gifts to someone, they are not meant to be used in a way that would be detrimental to the environment. The environment provides for people but in return requires respect, care, and honesty. 

Week 4: Oannes and Sedna

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I found both the stories of Oannes and Sedna fascinating this week. They both alter what we normally believe mermaids to be and their abilities. Oannes completely changes the modern concept of a mermaid from the start because he is a man rather than a woman and he is not a typical half-human half-fish hybrid. He is more fish than man and is more of what we would consider a “monster” to physically be. However, instead of fearing him and dreading the sight of him, the people in the myth are appreciative of him. Oannes gave the people order and a way to structure their society when they were lost. The myth clearly states that Oannes “instructed them in everything which could … humanise mankind” (p.4). This is so interesting to me because the myth hints that an animal being helped humans to become “civilized”. These actions are not what is normally portrayed of mermaids. They are normally seen as hybrid beings who lack humanity and can be animal-like, they are not seen as representations of civilization and the development of the world as we know it. Oannes completely challenges the perception of modern mermaids because he is an intelligent and giving creature.

Sedna, on the other hand, is close to what we think of as a modern mermaid. She is half-human on the upper part of her body with a tail like a fish on the lower half. Sedna differs from the expectation of a mermaid by taking on a more active role in the ocean. She is called the “mother of all sea creatures” (Lindeman) and is the one who allows sea creatures to be used by humans. She controls how fruitful hunts can be and what animals are available to humans which has historically not been an ability mermaids have. The role she takes in the sea is a much more protective and maternal role than I have seen of mermaids before. In nature, it is known that you do not mess with an animal cub because the mother could attack and to me, this is almost the role I understand Sedna is playing. She protects the sea creatures from being hunted like a mother would protect her cub from predators. 

Week 2

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While reading this week’s chapters, I found it very interesting how the discovery of the Americas relates to mermaids. Because the concept of mermaids had already been well established in the Medieval period, when explorers ventured west, they brought their beliefs along with them. Those beliefs led to “mermaid sightings” that then led to images of mermaids being physically distributed more and more through maps. The interaction between the images on those maps and the motivation to explore the world is fascinating. The author explains that “representations [of mermaids] only further primed explorers to find mermaids” (Scribner, p. 19) which encouraged cartographers to keep including mermaids. It makes me wonder how many discoveries that we discussed in school were made because the person initially wanted to find mermaids. 

At the same time, it is intriguing to me that putting mermaids on these maps also indicated a new environment filled with unknown animals, people, etc. In this way, it seems to me that mermaids had an important and impactful role in the colonization of the Americas. There were more motivators during this time than just seeing mermaids, however to the public, it was probably something that made a difference in whether or not they supported these ventures. Mermaids in this sense represent exploration and new opportunities. They were a physical manifestation of the new environments that the Western countries were uncovering.

I also found it interesting that Scribner mentions that the way that each country understood mermaids was a representation of the way that they tried to understand the new worlds that they were discovering. It shows how culture plays an important role in a person’s relationship with the environment. I question if the way that different cultures viewed the mermaid impacted the way they interacted with the ocean. For instance, if a culture feared the mermaid, did they see the ocean as something to conquer?  

Introduction

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Hi! My name is Sierra and I’m a sophomore. I am a psychology major with a minor in statistics and I am not really sure what I want to do with my degree. My major is pretty unrelated to the subject of this class but I found the description of this fascinating! l was interested in how literature and the environment would intersect, but now I’m interested in learning about mermaids!  

I’m from southern California, so I love to be outside. Some of my favorite activities to do are going to the beach with my friends, visiting flea markets, hiking, and reading. I love reading any type of literature, so I’m very interested in reading the myths about mermaids. I am excited about this semester and getting to know everyone!