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Book 1, Chapter 2
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Dawn, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Humanity, Evolution, and Genetics
Motherhood and Leadership
Consent and Autonomy
Sexuality and Gender
Summary
Analysis
Lilith is apprehensive about leaving. She wants to be alone, but Jdahya stays in the room with her. She asks him about the scar on her stomach, and Jdahya says that they had to remove a cancer growth. Lilith recalls how her mother died of cancer. The aliens learned human anatomy through all the dead and dying humans on Earth. Jdahya’s relative, who is neither male nor female but “ooloi,” performed the surgery on Lilith.
Even though Lilith has spent much of her time in the isolation room looking for a way out, when she actually has an opportunity to leave, she becomes apprehensive. This again shows how humans—even pragmatic and open-minded humans like Lilith—are afraid of the unknown. In a way, Lilith seems relieved that her scar was from removing cancer, because the novel implies she was afraid it might instead be from a birth (with the stomach scar being evidence of a cesarian section). Although Lilith’s fear of giving birth without her knowledge was unfounded in this case, it foreshadows later events in the story.
Themes
Jdahya still unnerves Lilith. She asks what his species calls themselves, and he says they are the Oankali. The word means “traders,” and Jdahya says that the Oankali trade is “ourselves.” Lilith asks if this means slavery, but he says it’s something different. He doesn’t say any more on the subject.
“Trading” was often the euphemistic word applied to people who bought and sold other humans for enslavement. Although Jdahya denies that what his race does is like slavery, Lilith’s mention of the topic invites the question of whether the Oankali’s plans to control the future of humans are indeed a form of slavery, even if the Oankali don’t recognize these plans as such.
Themes
Jdahya tells Lilith that she is actually now 28, due to the time she’s aged while being awake. Still, he tells her that she’ll likely live beyond 113 years and remain biologically young for much of it. Lilith asks to touch Jdahya, and he allows it. His skin feels smooth and tough, like a fingernail. Lilith says she thinks she knows what Jdahya wants from her and the other humans—he is planning to test her in some way, which is why he has been holding back information from her. Jdahya admits this is true.
The toughness of the skin of the Oankali reflects how they tend to be guarded and distant in their interactions with humans. While the previous passage raised the possibility that the Oankali might be like slave traders, in this passage, Jdahya promises to extend Lilith’s life and give her extra youthful vitality. This complicates the arrangement between humans and the Oankali, and the more Lilith gets to know Jdahya, the more she begins to wonder whether in fact that Oankali might be benevolent, in their way.
Themes
When Jdahya holds his hairlike tentacles still, Lilith can get used to him, but when they move like snakes, she starts to panic. He offers his hand, however, and she takes it. He tells her that soon, after she leaves this room, it will become little more than a memory.
When Jdahya offers his hand and Lilith takes it, this symbolizes the two of them temporarily finding a way to bridge the gap between their two different species. Still, the snake-like sensory organs are a sign of the potential perils ahead.
Themes
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