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Book 2, Chapter 9
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 wakes easily and knows that means it can’t be an Awakening. Nikanj is sleeping nearby. Lilith notices a smell on herself and tries to wash it off, but it doesn’t come off. Nikanj wakes and explains that she’ll soon learn to ignore the smell. Nikanj has given her the power to open walls in the ship. Nikanj apologizes, saying this is all it can give Lilith—not solitude or a long rest like she wants—but Lilith still isn’t satisfied.
Nikanj promised to do only a simple procedure while Lilith was awake to fix her wrist, but when she awakens, she notices an unfamiliar smell and finds that she has new powers. This shows that Nikanj continues to limit the agency it gives to Lilith, making decisions on her behalf while she’s still asleep.
Themes
Nikanj starts to tremble on the ground. Lilith doesn’t understand or care what’s happening and leaves it, going to make herself a meal for the first time on the ship. Eventually, Lilith decides to come back and learns that Nikanj’s metamorphosis has started unexpectedly early. Lilith asks about the changes happening to Nikanj’s body, and it admits that it is becoming sexually aroused as part of the maturation process. Lilith is alarmed, but Nikanj assures her it’s just part of the process and the same would happen if it was alone. She asks if she should look for Nikanj’s parents, but Nikanj says the walls have probably already alerted them. The best thing Lilith can do is just stay and wait for Ahajas and Dichaan, the female and male that Nikanj will eventually mate with, then help the two of them carry Nikanj out.
In this passage, Lilith has the potential to abandon Nikanj but instead decides to show sympathy and come back for it. This shows how Lilith is a fundamentally caring person, even for those who don’t always treat her with care in return. Metamorphosis is a process more associated with insects than humans, emphasizing the alienness of the Oankali, but Nikanj’s sexual maturation also resembles the human process of puberty. Nikanj’s description of what’s happening shows how much ritual and custom there is around mating in Oankali culture.
Themes
