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.
Literature and the Environment: Mermaids
Professor Jessica Pressman. Spring 2024
Hi Kiersten,
I didn’t take into account how uncomfortable she was when she came on land and how that represented her sense of not belonging there. Her reactions to the “two-legs” shows how she has an instinctual response to protect herself from the unknowns. Her home is still in the ocean even though she still faces challenges there.
Hey Kiersten, I really liked reading your post because I almost thought the opposite as she began to befriend the humans and develop an attraction towards Oori. However, after coming to the end of the story and seeing how much happier she is reunited with her people, I think your point stands true. To further reinforce your point is the fact that Oori ended up becoming a water being at the end of the story. She submerges underwater and without gills, is somehow able to breathe underwater. Similar to your take and admiration for Yetu’s strength demonstrated by her will to survive and keep going in chapter 5, I was amazed and impressed by her drive and passion towards finding Oori at the end, and found it to be a very wholesome and happy ending.
Hi Kiersten,
I really appreciate your commentary on Yetu’s place of belonging. Even though the land provides a temporary escape from the pain of remembering, Yetu is not meant to live in that absence. It is very insightful how you state that she is meant to “feel the weight of her life”, as that fact is manifested in the text with Yetu’s body being naturalized to the physical pressure creatures living in the depths of the Ocean are born into. The pressure of the deep is therefore a metaphor for Yetu’s natural need to carry the weight of those memories. Thank you so much for your analysis!