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Book 2, Chapter 8
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 up to the voices of Nikanj and Kahguyaht. Nikanj apologizes, saying that it didn’t realize Paul would act that way, but Lilith says the Oankali should have expected something might happen if you isolate a human for so many years by himself. Paul’s Oankali family wanted him to have sex with Lilith, although Lilith finds out that she is currently on the Oankali equivalent of birth control.
This passage shows all the ways that the Oankali have either lied or withheld information from Lilith. In particular, they have made her sterile without informing her of that beforehand. This once again draws a comparison between Lilith and livestock or pets (which can also be fixed to prevent reproduction).
Themes
Nikanj confirms that Paul probably has indeed fathered 70 children. Nikanj promises Lilith she herself hasn’t given birth on the ship. Still, he warns her that a print of her genes exists that could be used to make a clone thousands of years after her death. Lilith wants it destroyed, but Nikanj says it’s like a memory shared among multiple Oankali, and so it can’t be easily destroyed.
Given that Nikanj has failed to tell Lilith things in the past, she has no way of knowing whether it’s true or not that she hasn’t given birth on the ship. Nikanj tries to earn her trust by revealing an unpleasant truth—that it’s possible for the Oankali to create a clone of Lilith. This further shows how the Oankali don’t respect Lilith’s autonomy and treat her as a resource rather than as a full human.
Themes
Lilith has a broken wrist from her fight with Paul, but Nikanj promises to fix it while Lilith sleeps. She learns that Paul has been put to sleep for a long time—after Lilith left, he started attacking his family and refused to speak Oankali. Lilith feels bad for Paul, but Nikanj argues he was dangerous and hurt Lilith. Lilith says Paul was only doing what his Oankali family taught him to. As Nikanj puts Lilith to sleep to fix her wrist, she asks to be put back to deep sleep like Paul.
Although Lilith rejected Paul and was nearly raped by him, she places part of the blame for his actions on the Oankali that took care of him. She has seen firsthand how the Oankali take away agency from the humans under their watch, and this causes her to look into the deeper reasons for why Paul attacked her instead of condemning the behavior itself.
Themes
