56 pages • 1 hour read
A Song Below Water
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Character Analysis
Tavia Philips
Initially fearful, but thoughtful, kind, and strong, Tavia Philips is one of A Song Below Water’s protagonists (along with Effie) and a siren. Since half the novel is told from her point of view, Tavia is given space to learn, grow, and change while also supporting Effie’s growth and offering opinions of her. She functions not only as a heroine, but Effie’s best friend, confidant, and protector. Accepting her identity and power as a siren, learning to speak up rather than stay silent, is Tavia’s primary conflict. For her entire life, she’s endured anti-siren culture, one her father, Rodney, fears and often warns her about. A life of hiding and feeling unworthy of her father’s love caused 11-year-old Tavia to attempt to “strangle” her siren voice out of her. Due to fear and immaturity, Tavia almost died by suicide. Though she wasn’t mentally unstable, she faced the consequences of being locked up in a hospital for treatment—when ironically, she could have Compelled everyone to let her go free. Teenage Tavia still feels pressured to keep her sirenness a secret, as she knows society mistrusts and abuses sirens: “I’m always holding something back. Even in gospel choir, surrounded by the network, I’ve always been afraid of the power in my voice” (72). She doesn’t accept or approve of people’s mistreatment of sirens, but doesn’t actively rally against this until much later, after she’s inspired by fellow sirens Camilla Fox and Gramma.
To complete her character arc of overcoming her fear and self-loathing, Tavia learns to own her sirenness, to use her influential voice to make a positive change. Tavia starts to embrace her identity when beloved YouTuber Camilla Fox admits she’s a siren and Compels everyone to listen and fight for Black rights. Before this moment, Tavia would use ASL (American Sign Language) with Effie interpreting, citing a voice-losing condition called spasmodic dysphonia: “When she defaults to ASL, [...] it means her siren call is close to sliding free—or she’s afraid it is, anyway (12). Though ASL is useful, Tavia realizes she’s used it as a crutch and soon cannot control her siren voice. After learning new songs from Gramma, Compelling a cop, and a life-altering protest, Tavia can no longer suppress her voice. At the protest in which Camilla Fox herself partakes, she decides to stay and fight for Black rights and siren rights, becoming courageous as police close in: “I’m not ready to leave this crowd. I’m not ready to go back across the river, to go back to hiding” (165). Tavia changes during the protest, empowered and bold enough to use her siren voice to Compel her friends to stay and protest.
By the novel’s end, Tavia flips the script on sirens because she is finally not afraid to be herself, educating people about sirens on her YouTube channel, saving the stoned children (“cursed” by Effie) with Awaken, and using Awaken on Effie herself (revealing her gorgon identity). Effie supports her decision to not live in fear, helping her overcome threats like mean girl Naema (an eloko girl who both acts as an ally to sirens and fails to do so, especially at the end of the novel). With Effie’s help, Tavia makes a life-changing difference for herself and others because she finally taps into her courage, anger, and persuasion to realize that her “voice is power” (234). Tavia is a siren activist by the end of the novel, and vows to keep fighting for equal rights for sirens and Black people (as the two are intertwined in the novel’s world, with sirens exclusively being Black women).
Effie Calhoun Freeman (Euphemia)
Initially uncertain about her identity, but feisty and supportive, Effie is one of A Song Below Water’s protagonists (along with Tavia). Like Tavia, half of the novel is told from her perspective and she is eventually revealed to be a mythological creature: a gorgon. In contrast to Tavia, Effie often cannot control her emotions. She finds it difficult to suppress her words and actions when she’s upset, such as when she calls Mama Theo a monster and argues with Naema. While Tavia suppresses her siren self and remains in hiding for safety, Effie actively tries to solve the mystery of what she is, spending much of the novel chasing her identity. Though she has confronted Mama Theo multiple times, Effie doesn’t learn the truth until the climax, when she transforms into a gorgon. Before this moment, she struggles with strange symptoms, like her shedding, dry skin and moving hair. Mama Theo eventually reveals that Effie’s the one turning various people to stone, as she once did to her childhood friends at Triton Park.
Because she’s determined to discover her identity, Effie looks to improbable answers, such as Gargy being her father and actually being the mermaid she portrays—and often blurs the line between reality and fantasy. Ironically, Effie embodies a classic mermaid in her love of water and romantic feelings for Elric: “I’m not Effie, the weird girl who survived the park, whose mom died and who never knew her dad. I’m Euphemia, daughter of Minerva the Chosen, love of Elric the Second Smith’s life. Who wouldn’t prefer that?” (57). After Effie meets with Elric/Rick at the movie theater, she realizes she’s been mistaking fantasy for real life: She’s not Euphemia the Mer, Elric’s fiancée, which causes her heartbreak. She was consumed by her emotions for Elric to the point of believing he truly loved her. Though not a mermaid, Effie is named Euphemia and is eventually revealed to be a gorgon. Effie fails to piece together that she’s the one who stoned people in the past and recent present (though her father Jacoby stoned most of them) due to her blacking out, further contributing to her struggle to define reality.
Overall, Effie is a determined character who, like Tavia, learns to face her fears and speak up for the greater good—shown most prominently when she faces her stoned friends at the park and apologizes for her mistake of turning them into statues. She’s retained PTSD from the park incident years ago, causing her to be anxious and afraid when she and eloko classmate Isabella return to the park for their project. Effie remembers her friends with loss and guilt, always wondering why she was spared. After she comes into her true form as a gorgon, she faces her friends’ statues and takes responsibility for accidentally harming them. Effie is forgiven because Tavia Awakens the children back to life. Like Tavia, Effie learns to control herself and her powers, but doesn’t shy away from who she truly is, choosing to live with her gorgon father to learn more about her identity.
Wallace/Gargy
Eventually revealed to be the same character, Wallace/Gargy functions as Effie’s love interest and protector. Wallace is an easygoing, reliable lifeguard at Portland’s local community pool. In contrast to Effie and her short temper, Wallace isn’t easily ruffled, even by Naema’s harsh words, and always stands up for Effie. A gargoyle, Wallace was made by Effie’s father to guard her, though Effie and Tavia initially believe he was sent to protect Tavia. He doesn’t abandon Effie at any point, except when she’s locked in a room at Mama Theo’s house. Even then, Wallace knew she was safe and eventually accompanied her to prom.
Wallace, as Gargy, is linked to themes of Hiding in Silence Versus Speaking Truth to Power and Identity. He knows Effie’s true identity as a gorgon, but would anger his maker Jacoby if he revealed it to her, and so chooses to remain silent. He doesn’t speak as Gargy for over half the novel, only talking to Tavia when she needs his help following her Gramma’s song. Fueled by love for Effie, Wallace transforms into a young man to earn her love in return. He risks Jacoby’s punishment by transforming from a gargoyle into a human, but can’t hide his growing love for Effie. At prom, Wallace fulfills his duty to protect her but also reveals his secret identity: “His light brown skin turned gray. His white shirt tore against the broadening of his back and the unfurling of his wings. [...] Wallace—the boy who watched Effie swim—is her guardian, Gargy” (210). Wallace’s fluid identity gives the theme of Identity another layer, as he is capable of literal and inner change, since Effie captured his heart.
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