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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:
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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.
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In this passage, Obsidian (the bearded man) has just gas bombed the bus to break up a fight, and the furious bus driver is threatening him. This moment is significant because it’s the story’s first explicit explanation of the link between impairment and violence; people with less language ability (like the bus driver) tend to be more violent and menacing, while those who have retained some language (the “least impaired people,” like Rye and Obsidian) tend to be more rational, peaceful, and nonreactive. This once again links language and the ability to communicate with peace and nonviolence, while linking the Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi solu
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
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This passage comes as Rye reflects on her past brushes with violence—she implies that she has come close to being hurt by people impaired by the illness, which is why she carries a gun. This is a significant quote because it introduces the symbolism of guns. Without the ability to use language to de-escalate tense situations, violence has become much more common in this society, and all communication must happen via body language—either posture or gesture. Rye carries a gun, then, not simply to have access to a weapon; she primarily carries it without the intention of using it, just Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tene
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.
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When Obsidian pulls out a map to ask directions, Rye realizes that he can still read, while she lost the ability to do so during the illness. This causes a violent fury in her that is shocking—her reaction seems much more like the anger of an impaired, violent person than a rational, relatively unimpaired person like Rye (who has, throughout the story, avoided conflict and stayed calm). That this is the only thing in the whole story that rouses her fury shows how powerfully jealous she is of Obsidian’s ability to read, which indicates how much this means to her. Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque eum. Animi soluta perspiciatis. Ut minima autem. Modi omnis iure. Sint qui qui. Qui similique praesentium. Ex consequatur magnam. Aliquid iste enim. Sequi aut maxime. Adipisci voluptate et. Voluptas suscipit alias. In et eveniet. Eaque et repellendus. Dolores aut voluptatibus. Voluptatem
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.
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After Rye learned that Obsidian can still read, she experienced a wave of near-violent jealousy; here, after learning that Rye can still speak, Obsidian experiences a milder wave of jealousy. Throughout the story, Rye indicates that this jealousy is common; people who are more impaired are often violent towards the less impaired either out of jealousy or because they believe that the less impaired see themselves as superior. Regardless, revealing one’s lack of impairment is something that is clearly often met with violence, so it’s something of an achievement that Rye and Obsidian both reveal their status to one another Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequa
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.
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This passage, which comes near the end of the story, is Rye’s epiphany about why Obsidian continued to dress and behave like a police officer long after the police shut down. Throughout the story, Rye has been perplexed by this choice of Obsidian’s (even mocking him at one point for playing cops and robbers), but in this climactic moment, Rye begins to understand. By patrolling and wearing his uniform, Obsidian chose to continue living his life for others, even after society broke down, whereas Rye spent her life after the virus living only for herself—her family was dead, so she Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima
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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...
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When the man points towards the bus, Rye notices that he is left-handed, which is more interesting to...
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With something in his hand, the man walks to the bus and gestures for Rye to follow. Curious if he can stop...
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When the man helps the bus driver out, the driver appears ready to fight, but the man won’t...
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Seeing the man ’s gun, the bus driver returns to his bus. It’s filled with gas, and he...
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The man gestures to Rye to get in his car, which she doesn’t want to risk. Even...
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The man in the LAPD uniform is still by his car, but he has put away his...
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...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...
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...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...
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Obsidian pulls over and takes out a map, pointing to where they are and asking Rye...
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Having recognized Rye’s jealousy, Obsidian takes her hand. It unsettles her how powerfully she had wanted to kill him a...
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While Rye is wondering why Obsidian still wears an LAPD uniform, he puts his hand on her thigh and—thinking of how...
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...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...
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Rye asks Obsidian to have sex with her again, thinking he can make her forget all of this....
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...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...
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...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...
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As Rye leans over Obsidian’s body, thinking that he has left her like everyone else, two small children come out...
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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...
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...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...
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