After a global illness robs most people of the ability to use language, the world is left in chaos: institutions have collapsed, minor miscommunications spiral into brawls, and people feel isolated and vulnerable, unable to connect to others. Everyone seems on edge and ready to use violence at the smallest sign of danger. However, some of the story’s characters are notably less violent: those who have maintained some language ability. Rye can still speak and understand spoken language, while Obsidian can read and write; significantly, these two characters are the story’s peacemakers, associated with cooperation and order in the face of chaotic violence. By associating peace with language ability and showing how Rye and Obsidian communicate and develop a partnership, Butler suggests that language is the foundation of peace and social order.
Throughout the story, Butler shows how successful communication—verbal and nonverbal—keeps people safe. For example, carrying a gun helps keep Obsidian safe, not because of its firepower but because of what its presence communicates to others. Butler demonstrates this when the bus driver becomes physically aggressive with Obsidian, but then backs away. Obsidian’s gun being on “constant display” sent a clear message to the driver that Obsidian is dangerous, which (ironically) helped to keep the peace. Butler also associates successful communication with safety when Rye and Obsidian are first driving in his car. The two are strangers, and Rye suspects that Obsidian might be dangerous until she gestures to him to turn left and he follows her instruction. Rye reflects that if Obsidian is willing to listen to her, then the situation seems safe. In other words, the mere fact that they’re able to communicate indicates that they’re in a safe situation and they can begin to trust one another.
Perhaps most poignantly, communication promotes peace and safety because human connection helps fight despair. Without language, people are hopelessly isolated from one another, which leads Rye to contemplate suicide. However, in the moment when she holds up two entwined fingers and Obsidian grabs them—a gesture that affirms their intent to be in a relationship—Rye no longer feels that she needs to go to Pasadena, a trip she was making to keep herself from suicide. Communicating with Obsidian, then, seems to have given her a hope and happiness that could save her life.
In addition to communication leading to safety, Butler links language ability—even when characters aren’t actively using it—to peace. This is clearest after the fight on the bus, when Obsidian refuses to react to the driver (who has no language ability) shouting wordlessly and making violent gestures towards him. As Rye watches this interaction, she reflects that “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.” In this moment, Butler makes clear that people without language are more likely to be violent and erratic, while those with some language capacity (the “least impaired”) are more inclined towards peace. To make this connection between peace and language stronger, Butler notes that Obsidian is wearing an LAPD badge, even though the police department is long defunct. This emphasizes Obsidian’s commitment to order in the face of the chaos that surrounds him. While these examples are relatively passive, Obsidian’s connection to peace is also apparent in how he acts. For example, he breaks up the fight on the bus by releasing tear gas and then helping passengers get outside. Rye was initially worried that the fight would end in shooting, so it’s reasonable to infer that Obsidian’s intervention might have saved lives.
For most of the story, Butler shows how language and communication help fight the violence, chaos, and despair of this dystopian world—but she generally shows language losing the battle. After all, practically nobody has language ability, and the moments of successful communication are few compared to the many instances of devastating disorder and violence. Within this dynamic, language and communication can provide individual comfort and can defuse some tense situations, but disorder seems to be the more powerful force. This perhaps changes at the end of the story, though, when Rye finds two children who can speak. These children were born after the outbreak, which suggests that maybe the disease has receded—maybe the next generation’s language ability will be intact. Neither Butler nor Rye addresses this outright, but the story’s ending implies a hope that the world might return to peace and order: if language is, in fact, returning, then peaceful society might be restored.
Related Themes from Other Texts
Language, Communication, and Peace ThemeTracker
Language, Communication, and Peace Quotes in Speech Sounds
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.
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
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.
