A Song Below Water

Though sirens are mistakenly seen as conniving and manipulative beings who use their songs to their advantage (especially since they can Compel others), they aren’t villains. Their myths and associated prejudices have made people mistrust them unfairly, which also relates to the themes of Racism and Social Justice. Since sirens are exclusively Black women, they experience double prejudice for their mythological identity and racial identity, which Tavia struggles with often. Effie recognizes the unjustness toward sirenness when her history class talks about freedom of speech and siren speak. Her eloko classmate, Isabella, points out statistics about sirens: [I]t just sounds like we’re com­par­ing hurt feel­ings to ac­tu­al dan­ger and suf­fer­ing. [...] The si­rens that were outed could’ve been killed, some of them were” (56). Even those outside of the siren community, such as Isabella, understand that sirens/Black women have been suppressed for years. 

When sirens like Camilla Fox and Tavia later own their voices, their songs become symbols of power and force for radical change. Tavia explains the two main siren songs, Appeal and Compel: “If Com­pel bends some­one to a si­ren’s will, Ap­peal bends the si­ren to some­one else’s, even though she’s the one in control” (46). Compel may be the most powerful siren song, as it can force others to follow a siren’s will.