Analytical Response: The Deep By Rivers Solomon

Rachel Heinen
Dr. Bolis
Analytical Response - The Deep
24 February 2023
Analytical Response #3 In the novel, The Deep, by Rivers Solomon, there is a frequent use of flashbacks. Solomon uses these flashbacks creatively throughout the novel to serve a few different purposes. The first one being for the plot. In the story, Yetu is the historian, and it is her job to remember the past. For this reason, it is reasonable for Solomon to always use flashbacks to add content to the story as well as examples of what a flashback looks and feels like for Yetu. For example, in chapter 3, Yetu describes a remembrance as “...felt a remembering tug her away from the present. Amaba, Nnenyo, and his children were reduced to a distant tingling, and the wajinru

During most flashbacks, Yetu remembers pieces of history which give background and origin information about the wajinru. For example, in chapter 4, “As we grow, we learn, until we can make sense of almost every noise that comes from the two-leg’s mouth” (45). This flashback was added by Solomon as a clever way to provide background to the reader while also showing Yetu’s historian abilities. This flashback specifically shows how the wajinru learned to speak, as well as how they learned they descended from two-legs, which is important later in the story when Yetu is able to speak English. Later in this same chapter, Solomon adds another flashback serving the same purpose. This later flashback is about the drowned pregnant lady who gives birth to a wajinru. Having this flashback provides the reader with the origins of the wajinru. Because of this flashback, readers now know the wajinru descended from pregnant slaves who were overthrown and gave birth in the water. These babies developed gills and were able to survive underwater. These are just two examples of the importance and cleverness of the way Solomon uses Yetu’s flashbacks throughout the