Tag Archives: Penguin Book

Week 6: Tricked by the Feejee Mermaid

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Good evening, everyone.

This week’s reading took me on a trip through time, back to when I was about 6 years old. In elementary school, I would always listen to The Show on Rock 105.3 – a talk show hosted by younger people talking about things I was far too young to be hearing about – on my way to school every morning. I remember one day, they talked about the Feejee Mermaid – they were trying to figure out whether it was real or not. I think it was a bit, often the cast of the show would poke fun at how gullible and silly Boston Rob (one of the hosts) was – so perhaps they were trying to gaslight him into believing the hoax. But to me, I was sold on the idea that the hideous half-man, half-monkey they would make jokes about existed. When I got home from school I hopped on the family Mac and looked up the hoax for myself. Seeing as I was 6, I expertly ignored all the big words that disproved the Feejee mermaids existence. I was amazed and proceeded to tell everyone I saw and met about it for about a week – and then I forgot about it and moved on with my life until this weeks reading. Even reading the words “Feejee Mermaid Hoax” didn’t connect those dots in my head until I looked it up on google images. It was fun reliving that really small but exciting time of my life.

Week 6: Undine

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Right off the bat I can see the similarities between Undine and Melusina: two water spirits/mermaidesque creatures who get married to mortal, human men and then eventually reveal their true selves. But it deviates because Undine willingly revealed it to her husband, whatever his name was (Huldbrand?) after they had gotten married. There’s still that strong element of The Other infiltrating (through the dreams): “Wonderful and horrible dreams had disturbed Huldbrand’s rest; he had been haunted by spectres, who, grinning at him by stealth, had tried to disguise themselves as beautiful women, and from beautiful women they all at once assumed the faces of dragons….” (102)

This could be some sort of premonition, but also to me it reflects the fear the patriarchy has with women who are also pretty. Thats a very surface level interpretation, I know. At the same time, I think it’s also a reflection of how people are afraid of their true selves, or the true selves of other people. That there is a nasty side, a dangerous side. There’s a huge contrast between these really scary nightmares Huldbrand is having, and then how pretty and dainty and lovely Undine is. It could be a testament to how the true nature of things is something people fear? Coming back to comparing Undine and Melusina, the thing they have in common is this fear of the Other, even when a couple are married. Discovering your wife (because we have only seen stories where the wife is a Creature and not the husband) is not what she seems is a reoccurring thing.

Also side note: very interesting seeing this story and having played Undertale becuase there is an NPC called Undyne who is a fish monster (could you call her a merperson?) who is the literal opposite of how Undine is described in her folklore. Interesting to see how meanings deviate or how people take inspiration from old things and make them into new things.

Week 4 (Penguin Book)

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The first few myths of the book are so far, pretty interesting. It was really neat to see how some elements of the mermaid have stayed the same (the fish features and the connection to water, for example). But I think the one that really spoke to me this time was the sharing of information, particularly with Oannes, the first myth we had to read. He seemed very fun, but his description boggled and intrigued me. (here is my mspaint interpretation of Oannes, bless his heart. I drew this with my fingers) “…the whole body of the animal was like that of a fish;and had under a fish’s head another head, and also feet below, similar to those of a man, subjoined to the fish’s tail.” (pages 3-4)

You’re telling me THIS CREATURE MAN was giving people advice and sage wisdom?

Real talk, I think this connection of water and knowledge is interesting. “…and he gave them an insight into letters, and sciences, and every kind of art”. (page 4) So were all of their cultural advancements solely centered around the ocean? Around Oannes? Or did Oannes know of things beyond the ocean? From his section in the book, he doesn’t come off as malevolent. Perhaps the people of Babylon had a very beneficial relationship with their ocean. Or maybe Oannes had Good Vibes ™.