The Deep

One of the novella’s central animating themes is the perceived conflict between one’s own interests and those of society. This theme is explored primarily through Yetu’s eyes and experiences. Although she is already 34 years old, Yetu undergoes a transformation similar to one found in a bildungsroman, a genre that traces the development of an adolescent to an adult. These types of novels typically chart the spiritual and psychological development or “coming of age” of a protagonist through a hero’s journey. Yetu’s main animating conflict, as is often the case in bildungsroman, is her perceived sense of alienation from society, the constraints imposed by societal expectations, and her family’s demands on her.

The novella begins with a belated Remembrance ceremony, which exacerbates a tension that Yetu perceives between her interests and those of her society. This is a conflict that manifests most clearly in her relationship with her amaba, who pushes Yetu to remember her duty without empathizing with or understanding what this duty entails for her daughter. Leading up to the ceremony, fear and anger are building within Yetu. In conversations with her amaba and