As we explore the role of aquatics in works this week, which represent the sea as a source of black tragedy as well as hope, I’ve become interested in the difference, if any, that might present itself in symbolism of the river versus the sea. There is a persistent theme of aquatics in relation to African American literature – but I wonder if there may be an emphasis in specific occasions on rivers or seas. Is there a difference in the context of Langston Hughes’ speaking of the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Mississippi in “The Negro speaks of rivers,” (not included in this week’s assigned readings) versus the ocean referred to by Xandria Phillips in, “For a Burial Free of Sharks”?

Perhaps the river symbolizes hope and the black American spirit in the face of historical (and continual) exploitation. The river has numerous religious and mythological connotations as a place of purity, or spiritual crossing (ie, the river of Styx in Greek mythology and a place of rebirth in Hesse’s “Siddhartha”). Perhaps it was this mysticism of the river that made it a place of refuge or sanctity for many black Americans in the time of slavery and beyond –  seen in Sam Cooke’s lyrics “I was born by the river, in a little tent… and just like the river I’ve been running, ev’r since.” But perhaps it was the physical and tangible source of escape the river provided to slaves who worked in land-locked areas with no access to a coastal ocean- as a place for bathing, recreation, and perhaps most importantly, a means of escape. As ironic as it is, this same river that may have been used as a vessel for release for many slaves was also the same river white slaveholders depended upon to transport people and proliferate slavery. Perhaps in this way, the river is a representation of a twisted fate, of hope found in a broken place. The river, which is not as deep as the ocean, may be a symbol of changing something hurtful to an entity of grace and hope and life.

The ocean is much more permanent, and vastly deeper than the river, which leads me to wonder if it may symbolize the permanence of racism in America. Phillips depicts the danger of the ocean, and the anomaly that is the ship carrying souls across the middle passage. The ship is a vessel of evil and destruction, but is, in a way, a life raft. Ironically, the ocean is itself a source of danger. Being sent overboard meant a perilous death by sharks, which begs the question – which fate is worse?

In these two interpretations of the river and the ocean, we cover two central issues I’ve been grappling with this term. The ocean, in all its depths, represents the permanence and irreversible damage done by racism in this country. It can never be undone. It would be foolish to ignore or erase our past. The ocean will always be there, with its bodies lying in the dark depths. The river represents a sense of hope in regards to the future and acknowledgment of the work done by so many black Americans in turning what was once hateful and evil, into a symbol of hope and black life.