“Ti Jeanne” presents a complete reversal of the roles typically painted of European water spirits. The Caribbean Water Spirit Maman Dlo chastises Ti Jeanne for her vanity, for admiring her reflection: “Whose that looking at herself?… vanity, vanity, my child.” Depicting the human as the one with vanity instead of the hybrid reiterates that this is a human trait. Not one that is learned from outside influences or from unnatural beings, but one that is inherent. When Ti Jeanne beholds the mother of water she is fearful. But she is not fearful of the “other”, Ti Jeanne is fearful of her possible offence to nature: “For the girl knew that punishment awaits the one who offends the forest creatures, the plants or the animals” Maman Dlo calls for the respect of nature, instead of a justification for conquering nature, like we have seen in other western mermaid stories. Maman Dlo punishes those who disrespect it. Not just the women, but the men too, “mortal men who commit crimes against the forest, like burning down trees or indiscriminately putting down animals… could find themselves married to her for life.” The Caribbean story still incorporates tales of intermarriage, like Western mermaid depictions, the men marrying the water spirit. But this intermarriage inflicts control upon men rather than the water spirit, opposed to what we have seen in traditional Western mermaid stories. The reversal of control in intermarriage reflects the reversal of the lesson from the story. Instead of asserting man’s dominion, Caribbean mermaid and water deities punish those who attempt to dominate nature. These deities reflect the value of an ecocentric society as well as the need for cultural exploration.