A Song Below Water

“Part of the rea­son we im­me­di­ate­ly glommed onto each oth­er must be that we know what it is to feel like there’s some­thing wrong with us. And like our families know it. I didn’t know an­y­one else un­der­stood the sting of love mingled with obvious dis­ap­prov­al till I saw Mr. Phil­ips with Tavia.

And still some­times I envy them. Be­cause at least there’s blood be­tween them.

At least they know what Tavia is.

At least she knows what her fam­i­ly dis­ap­proves of.”

The theme of The Bonds of Sisterhood is present in this quote, giving context and specificity to Tavia and Effie’s unbreakable bond based on a shared feeling of being othered. Effie also reveals her envy over not knowing her identity and Tavia’s family’s disapproval. Searching for her identity is Effie’s plot line.

“I bare­ly have time to get in the house be­fore the lec­ture be­gins. Ear­li­er I’d been re­lieved not to have to see my dad all day, but re­al­ly that only made it worse. It’s meant that in the back­ground, eve­ry­where we were and no mat­ter what I was doing, I kept im­ag­in­ing his re­sponse.

Not his words, but the way they’d make me feel.”

Tavia’s anxiety over facing her father Rodney is a repeated conflict that suppresses her sirenness and ability to speak up. She doesn’t want to anger or disobey him, but Rodney is a fearful, harsh character whose concern for Tavia manifests as commands and disapproval.

“[Effie] doesn’t want to be in the mid­dle any more than I want to waste my breath. What else is there to say when some­one still thinks they can prove anything to the rest of the world. When they think there’s a way to be­have to avoid be­ing bru­tal­ized.”

The theme of prejudice and Racism occurs in Tavia’s internal thoughts while her parents argue over keeping her siren identity hidden. Hiding in Silence Versus Speaking Truth to Power, another theme, is apparent in the fact that Tavia knows her speech won’t make a difference in her circumstances, just as protestors for civil and racial rights in the past have been shut down without being heard. However, she later learns that making an effort is well worth it, at least for the sake of one’s own dignity.

“‘A si­ren made me do it’ is a pret­ty strong de­fense, I guess—even if the si­ren’s the one who ends up dead. […]

I don’t say that I’ve al­ways hat­ed the way Si­ren Tri­als makes it sound like si­rens were the per­pe­tra­tors and not the vic­tims. De­spite my mom’s ad­vice, I don’t tell the group how my stom­ach’s too up­set to eat sol­id food ei­ther. I don’t tell them that even though we’re in­ten­tion­al­ly say­ing her name and re­fus­ing to join the media in re­peat­ing her kill­er’s, I’m al­ready start­ing to cringe at the sound of Rho­da Tay­lor’s name, and how that makes me feel like hu­man gar­bage but I can’t help it be­cause I’m ter­ri­fied of what could hap­pen to me if the wrong per­son finds out what I re­al­ly am.”

Tavia describes the history of injustice against sirens and Black women. As sirens, Rhoda Taylor and Tavia are condemned for traits they cannot control and should not be oppressed for—which relates to social context outside of the novel as well.

“‘I’ve heard you kids say­ing, ‘Speak, si­ren!’ in these halls,’ Ms. Fish­er was saying, even though she ab­so­lute­ly had not. […] ‘I get it. I to­tal­ly get it. We should all speak like si­rens. Use our voices to make a dif­fer­ence, be­cause all of them mat­ter.’ […]

If I were brave, I’d have asked Ms. Fish­er when si­ren voices had started mattering. I’d have clucked my tongue or grunted the way Mama Theo does when some­thing’s so fool­ish, an­y­one with sense doesn’t need it point­ed out.

Tavia’s right. Eve­ry­body wants to be a si­ren, but no­body wants to be a si­ren.”

Again, the theme of prejudice and Racism is laced into this class discussion, which makes Effie feel self-conscious and triggered. It’s an ironic, hypocritical discussion in which Ms. Fisher tells the class to “speak siren” after a biased discussion about how sirens are dangerous and dampening collars “level the playing field” by silencing them. As an educator, Ms. Fisher should not be giving biased, contrasting views on sirens and freedom of speech, as doing so is irresponsible.

“Four kids fro­zen in time. They’ve be­come a pop­u­lar stop for Portlanders and tour­ists alike, num­ber six on the top ten “must see” list ac­cord­ing to the real Keep Port­land Weird site. [...] Peo­ple come to Tri­ton Park and take pic­tures with the stat­ues, flash­ing peace signs while they pose with kids who won’t grow up. (I’m sure there’s a crit­i­cism in there that Tav would be able to ex­plain. I just get sick.) […]

The mem­o­ry is swirl­ing now, and the guilt. I was the one who wanted to play Red Ro­ver even though we didn’t have enough play­ers.”

Effie’s backstory gives her character more complexity, as the reader learns about the conflict that formed her fear of sprites and guilt over her childhood friends’ fate (when in reality, she stoned her friends with her gorgon gaze). This backstory challenges the line between fantasy and reality, as no one understands how the children were stoned until Effie is Awakened to her true form.

“I’m stud­y­ing the side of [the gargoyle’s] face. It’s ac­tu­al­ly chis­eled, put­ting to shame all those dudes on my mom’s ro­mance nov­els who aren’t lit­er­al­ly made of stone, but it doesn’t look hu­man. His brow is an awn­ing pro­trud­ing over his deep-set eyes. His cheek­bones are sharp peaks be­neath which the rest of his face slopes into a nar­row chin. I can’t see his neck be­cause his moun­tain of a shoul­der is rolled for­ward, start­ing right be­low his chin, and the stone col­umns he thinks are arms are long enough that he’s press­ing his weight into his knuck­les.”

This detailed description of Gargy the gargoyle’s face immerses readers in the world—and a character who later turns out to be important to Effie (Wallace). Gargy’s brow being described as an “awning” and his “mountain of a shoulder” build a picture in readers’ minds, while also hinting at his mythos, another major theme (as it builds the foundation of the world, whether true or not).

“The white is gone from Ef­fie’s fin­ger but what­ev­er I’m peel­ing keeps right on com­ing, like it’s a ma­gi­cian’s scarf. It’s Ef­fie’s skin, ex­cept that when it lifts it isn’t brown, it’s silky and trans­lu­cent like the stuff I took off her fin­ger­tip. I pull and pull, but slow­ly, watch­ing Ef­fie’s face to see wheth­er she can feel this, to stop if this is hurt­ing her.

This isn’t ec­ze­ma. It isn’t flak­ing. It’s com­ing off like a se­cond skin and by now it’s long and get­ting wid­er. I’ve peeled down the cen­ter of her palm and am fol­low­ing it up her fore­arm, watch­ing the col­or glint in the light.”

The mystery of Effie’s identity, core to the plot, is expanded upon in this skin-shedding moment. Tavia finding out about Effie’s snake-like skin before Effie increases the tension, as she unintentionally foreshadows her gorgon form.

“I ha­ven’t asked be­cause I nev­er want to be the one who brings [Effie] down, but now I feel hor­ri­ble. I’ve nev­er lost a par­ent and I guess I should’ve been more sup­port­ive of her keep­ing in tou­ch with Dr. Randall. He told her that grief can be cy­cli­cal. Years pass and you trav­el around the cir­cle, think­ing you’ve left the hard part be­hind, un­til you get back around and it knocks you down again. Time does not heal all wounds. I al­most tou­ch the ke­loid on my neck. I don’t know if time heals any.”

Tavia’s empathy is clearly shown in this quote, as she cares deeply for Effie and struggles to act in a way that will help her through grief, rather than accidentally hurt her. The description of grief as a cycle from which there may be no clean escape subverts the cliche that time heals wounds.

“So much for be­ing the sav­ior sis­ter who’s gon­na fix eve­ry­body’s prob­lems but her own.”

Tavia shows mature introspection and self-awareness when she realizes she’s always willing to help others, not herself. She’s lived her life to please everyone else, particularly her family, by not sharing she’s a siren. Often, she suppresses her thoughts, feelings, and voice (linking to the theme of Hiding in Silence Versus Speaking Truth to Power) to worry about others instead of herself.

“‘I’m sorry,’ I say, shaking my head [...]. ‘I just. Have no idea what joy bully means.’ ‘It means I’m not broken just because I’m not happy at the moment, Tavia. Gimme a break.’”

This conflict between Effie and Tavia shows that they don’t always agree or have to be peaceful with each other to be “sisters.” Effie doesn’t tell Tavia about the man she unknowingly stoned (the real reason she doesn’t want Tavia to visit her mother’s grave) and erupts with emotion, a realistic reaction for her in her current stress. The girls’ bond of sisterhood still remains, as they make up afterward.

“I un­furl the heat in my throat and it shoots down the cen­ter of me, simultaneous­ly pool­ing in my core and cours­ing through me like it’s tak­en the place of my blood. This is the part I love, the part I rare­ly let my­self feel be­fore Naema made space for me this morn­ing—when it plumes all the way back up. […]

The po­lice of­fic­er is star­ing be­cause, be­fore the call, there’s a breath that draws them in. They’re al­ways wait­ing by the time we speak, to see wheth­er we will Appeal or Com­pel them.

But I don’t want to be some­thing else to­day, not even if he just thinks I am. No. He’ll be the one to change, not me.

‘You had no right to stop me.’”

In a moment of change, Tavia uses her first siren song in the open. She faces racial injustice head-on, confronting a major theme of the novel. Though she’s still afraid, she steps into her siren power, rather than away, transforming into someone braver, stronger, and more willing to act.

“I freeze as my twists pull away slight­ly from my face. I’m over­come by the feel­ing I had in the cem­e­tery, and that threat­ens to bring the whole ep­i­sode back into fo­cus. Ja­mie’s play­ing in my hair, mak­ing it rip­ple like waves, and I shake as a twist shimmies across my cheek, de­ter­mined not to over­re­act.

‘Please,’ I snap. ‘Do not tou­ch my hair. Why would I have to ask you twice?’

Eve­ry­one falls si­lent.

When I look up at them my twists are mov­ing around my face like I’m a mod­el in a Pantene Pro-V com­mer­cial. And Ja­mie’s on the far side of Naema. She’s well over an arm’s length away.”

Displaying the theme of Identity for Effie, this quote foreshadows who she truly is with her moving hair. The other girls gape at the sight of Effie’s hair, since gorgons’ snake hair and eyes can hypnotize people and make them turn to stone.

“Be­cause kill­ing si­rens is not a crime.”

The theme of Social Justice is apparent in Tavia’s reaction to the unfair trial of Rhoda Taylor’s murderer. The obvious injustice of the situation is conveyed in one line. The unjust verdict hits Tavia with strong emotions, such as fear, rage, and helplessness. Rhoda’s trial is one of the factors that push Tavia to attend the protest for Black rights.

“I’m afraid that some­one knows what I am be­cause I outed my­self in front of a cop. I’m afraid peo­ple are go­ing to be on high alert for­ev­er now, and they’ll find me out even­tu­al­ly. […]

If I’m in trou­ble—if Pri­am’s dad knows and Naema can’t be trusted, if the world is on the hunt and eve­ry­thing’s com­ing down—this pow­er might be all the pro­tec­tion I have. Af­ter eve­ry­thing I’ve been through, that realization fills me with equal parts bold­ness and ap­pre­hen­sion. I feel my­self bounc­ing be­tween fear and fe­roc­i­ty, my heart and my call fight­ing for space in my throat.

You don’t have to take my voice, I tell my grand­moth­er. Just teach me how to use it.

I blink, and it’s like it seals a prom­ise.”

Tavia changes dramatically to use her own siren voice, vowing to honor who she is and learn how to use her voice, rather than reject it any longer. Her decision to learn from her grandmother instead of continuing to suppress herself shows she’s becoming bolder and more courageous. In contrast to the novel’s start, Tavia has grown into a more active, dynamic character who wants to use her sirenness to stand up for herself and others.

“‘I would’ve been a dis­trac­tion,’ I tell her, be­cause it isn’t the whole an­swer but it’s still true. ‘I don’t know the world like you do, and you would’ve lost time in your own sto­ry try­ing to show me how to learn mine.’”

Because of the novel’s structure, Tavia and Effie sometimes “get lost” in each other’s stories. The Renaissance Faire is Effie’s world, and Tavia doesn’t want to intrude on her safe space (despite finding the place fun and potentially freeing, as someone who used to despise herself). Ironically, it is Tavia who helps Effie find her own way—who helps her learn she’s a gorgon.

“Things are dif­fer­ent now. Rho­da Tay­lor’s life didn’t mat­ter, Pri­am’s dad might be as fick­le as his son, I’m not sure I can trust eve­ry­one in my net­work, and the whole world knows about Lexi and Ca­mil­la. I asked Gramma to take my voice and in­stead I’m pret­ty sure she taught me a new si­ren call, and it’s be­gin­ning to feel like may­be my dad was right. May­be this gar­goyle’s ar­ri­val was a bad omen and it’s only be­com­ing ap­par­ent now.”

Tavia lists her hardships throughout the novel, making her character growth more impactful. Events like Rhoda Taylor’s murder and learning a new siren song compel her to become bolder—to become the heroine she was always destined to be, despite life proving difficult.

“‘Wait, then who did you mean when you said, ‘be­fore he knows I’m gone’? And what’s she be­com­ing?’

The gar­goyle relaxes on the spire, his feet loos­en­ing their grip with­out slipping even slight­ly. Af­ter the sound of his mas­sive stone form ad­just­ing, his voice sounds even more di­vine.

‘Her­self.’”

This reveal of Effie as Gargy’s ward instead of Tavia furthers the mystery of Effie’s identity. Gargy’s important reply of “herself” is an ideal, quick way to say Effie is coming into her own identity, personality, and form without taking away suspense.

“Our sign­ing stories aren’t the same.

For me, it’s been a de­cep­tion. I can ad­mit that to my­self, bu­oyed by this tide of peo­ple. I adopt­ed it to sell a dis­a­bil­i­ty I don’t have so I could es­cape an­y­one finding out about the li­a­bil­i­ty I do. I’m not a mon­ster be­cause I live in a world that gives me im­pos­si­ble choices, but I’ve met my grand­moth­er in the blue place. Camil­la Fox is on the lad­der, stand­ing out above the crowd by choice. She’s facing down dan­ger, and mem­bers of her own com­mu­ni­ty who want to use her power­ful voice or else think her ex­ist­ing in this space is mak­ing things worse. She’s hold­ing Ken­yon’s moth­er’s hand be­cause hers is the only ap­prov­al needed to­day, tak­ing to the lad­der and be­com­ing vis­i­ble be­cause, if an­y­one’s go­ing to use Ca­mil­la’s voice, it’s go­ing to be Ca­mil­la.”

Tavia’s internal thoughts showcase the theme of Social Justice and the multiple “impossible choices” putting pressure on her. She’s inspired by the camaraderie, positive energy, and persistence to stand up for Black rights at the protest. Tavia believes in the cause and Camilla Fox’s power with a new fierceness that shows character growth.

“Calls don’t work on si­rens, but may­be Gramma did more than teach me Awak­en; may­be she used it on me. May­be she chose to give it to me so that I would wake up. So that I would stop try­ing to mask my pow­er.”

This reinforcement of the themes of Hiding in Silence Versus Speaking Truth to Power shows that Tavia is finally accepting her sirenness. She’s contemplating the meaning of being a siren and realizing that she doesn’t need to mask her power, as Gramma has been trying to tell her. Tavia is “waking up” to the reality of living openly as a siren, which she never thought possible before.

“‘You’re brave, Vivi,’ she tells me, and she may not be a si­ren but she’s my mom; her words have pow­er. My chest shud­ders as though the breath es­cap­ing it is the last of its kind, mak­ing space for some­thing new.”

Tavia’s mother’s comfort and apology after years of going along with Tavia’s oppression as a siren show that she’s proud of her daughter’s newfound courage. Geneva reinforces the theme of Hiding in Silence Versus Speaking Truth to Power, as she admits to Tavia that she should have argued against her father’s mistreatment years ago. Geneva and Tavia’s repaired mother-daughter relationship and the quote’s framing of speaking up as powerful are appropriate considering Tavia’s siren lineage.

“‘I’m dat­ing a cop’s son, re­mem­ber?’ For a mi­nute I have no idea what that’s sup­posed to mean. If it’s sup­posed to be some sort of threat, (a) it’s sick, com­ing from an­oth­er Black girl, and (b) Pri­am’s dad al­ready knows about Tavia. But then it gets worse. ‘What makes you think it’s fake?’ […]

She did not just say that. She did not do that. Who wears an ac­tu­al si­ren-si­lenc­ing col­lar in front of a se­cret si­ren, know­ing she can’t say an­y­thing? That’s not even a micro-ag­gres­sion. It’s vi­o­lent, af­ter what Tavia saw. If there’s any jus­tice in the net­work, I hope it co­mes down on Naema and hard, eloko prin­cess or not.”

Naema is an antagonist who causes many conflicts, including this climactic scene at prom. Regardless of motive, she exhibits aggressive, “violent” measures toward sirens by wearing a dampening collar. Her cruelty and prejudice show that she is insensitive, even if she thinks she’s in the right to be advocating for sirens’ continued oppression.

“This must be what it re­al­ly feels like to be a si­ren, to have a cap­tive au­di­ence. To be heard. So in­stead of giv­ing any introduction, in­stead of mak­ing them wait an­oth­er mo­ment, I open my mouth to speak. I think I hear faint whis­pers, but my au­di­ence is si­lent, ex­pec­tant. Hope­ful but afraid. What­ev­er it is—the elec­tric­i­ty and the faint whis­per­ing—I qui­et them with one word.”

When Tavia speaks at Triton Park before saving the stoned children (Effie’s childhood friends), she shows character growth. Her view has flipped from believing her siren song was a curse to seeing it as a powerful gift, a gift she uses to make a meaningful difference. She embodies the theme of Hiding in Silence Versus Speaking Truth to Power by honoring her voice, by proving the positive influence of sirens.