Previous
Valerie Rye
A former Los Angeles police officer who has retained his ability to read and write, Obsidian is Rye’s companion and lover for much of the story. Obsidian is a kind and peaceful “protector” who is devoted to helping others and maintaining some semblance of public order, even though society and institutions have broken down in the wake of the illness. He is young, bearded, handsome, and relatively unimpaired—a rarity among men, whom the illness affected more than women. Obsidian meets Rye when he breaks up a fight on a bus she is riding; he keeps the peace with a gas bomb and refuses to engage when the bus driver tries to intimidate him. Impressed that Obsidian seems peaceful and unimpaired, Rye accepts his offer to ride in his car instead of continuing on the bus. Obsidian puts Rye at ease by following her directions and behaving respectfully towards her. When he asks (through gesture) if she would like to have sex, she accepts, and afterwards the two decide to become a couple. As they drive back to Rye’s home, where they plan to live together, they witness a man with a knife chasing a woman across the street. Obsidian pulls over to help, but the man murders the woman and kills Obsidian with Obsidian’s own gun. Afterwards, Rye reflects that—as a cop—Obsidian should have known how lethal domestic violence can be, although she recognizes that the knowledge wouldn’t have kept him from helping someone in need.
Obsidian Quotes in Speech Sounds
The Speech Sounds quotes below are all either spoken by Obsidian or refer to Obsidian. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Speech Sounds Quotes
The bearded man stood still, made no sound, refused to respond to clearly obscene gestures. The least impaired people tended to do this—stand back unless they were physically threatened and let those with less control scream and jump around. It was as though they felt it beneath them to be as touchy as the less comprehending.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
As a result, she never went unarmed. And in this world where the only likely common language was body language, being armed was often enough. She had rarely had to draw her gun or even display it
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Obsidian lifted her hand and looked under it, then folded the map and put it back on the dashboard. He could read, she realized belatedly. He could probably write, too. Abruptly, she hated him—deep, bitter hatred. What did literacy mean to him—a grown man who played cops and robbers? But he was literate and she was not. She never would be. She felt sick to her stomach with hatred, frustration, and jealousy. And only a few inches from her hand was a loaded gun.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
She nodded and watched his milder envy come and go. Now both had admitted what it was not safe to admit, and there had been no violence. He tapped his mouth and forehead and shook his head. He did not speak or comprehend spoken language. The illness had played with them, taking away, she suspected, what each valued most.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Related Literary Devices:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Obsidian had been the protector, had chosen that role for who knew what reason. Perhaps putting on an obsolete uniform and patrolling the empty streets had been what he did instead of putting a gun into his mouth. And now that there was something worth protecting, he was gone.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Speech Sounds LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Obsidian Character Timeline in Speech Sounds
The timeline below shows where the character Obsidian appears in Speech Sounds. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Speech Sounds
...dangerous, since drivers sometimes use them as weapons. For this reason, Rye is wary when the man driving gestures for her to come over to him. She watches this big, bearded young...
(full context)
When the man points towards the bus, Rye notices that he is left-handed, which is more interesting to...
(full context)
With something in his hand, the man walks to the bus and gestures for Rye to follow. Curious if he can stop...
(full context)
When the man helps the bus driver out, the driver appears ready to fight, but the man won’t...
(full context)
Seeing the man ’s gun, the bus driver returns to his bus. It’s filled with gas, and he...
(full context)
The man gestures to Rye to get in his car, which she doesn’t want to risk. Even...
(full context)
The man in the LAPD uniform is still by his car, but he has put away his...
(full context)
...deadly consequences” of getting into a car with a stranger, Rye decides to go with the man . As she walks to his car, she thinks of her neighbor, an unwashed man...
(full context)
...his neck: it’s a piece of obsidian. Rye isn’t sure if his name is actually Obsidian, or whether it might be “Rock or Peter or Black,” but she decides to think...
(full context)
Obsidian pulls over and takes out a map, pointing to where they are and asking Rye...
(full context)
Having recognized Rye’s jealousy, Obsidian takes her hand. It unsettles her how powerfully she had wanted to kill him a...
(full context)
While Rye is wondering why Obsidian still wears an LAPD uniform, he puts his hand on her thigh and—thinking of how...
(full context)
...seat of his car and eagerly have sex. Afterwards, they lay together and—through gestures—Rye tells Obsidian that her children have died. To fight her grief, she tells herself that children deserve...
(full context)
Rye asks Obsidian to have sex with her again, thinking he can make her forget all of this....
(full context)
...and best of all, her predatory neighbor will back off. She puts her head on Obsidian’s shoulder to rest, but he suddenly brakes; a woman is running in front of the...
(full context)
...woman jabs the man in the face with a piece of broken glass, and before Obsidian shoots the man in the stomach, the man manages to stab the woman. Rye leans...
(full context)
As Rye leans over Obsidian’s body, thinking that he has left her like everyone else, two small children come out...
(full context)
Back at the car, however, Rye realizes that she wants to bury Obsidian, so she returns to his body and sees how frightened the children are. She realizes...
(full context)
...his jealous violence, his commonplace desire to “destroy what [he] could not have.” Unlike him, Obsidian had been a protector—maybe he had patrolled the streets in his uniform so he wouldn’t...
(full context)
