Genre
Science fiction
Setting and Context
Near future, aboard an alien spaceship after a nuclear war destroys almost all life on Earth
Narrator and Point of View
The story is told by an anonymous third-person narrator whose scope of knowledge is limited to Lilith’s perspective.
Tone and Mood
Fear of the unknown, Violent, Distrustful, Sensual
Protagonist and Antagonist
Lilith is the main protagonist. The antagonists alternate between the Oankali and other humans, specifically Curt Loehr, Peter Van Weerden, and Gabriel Rinaldi.
Major Conflict
The main conflict in the novel is the struggle to preserve what remains of humanity, either with or without the involvement of the Oankali and their genetic manipulation.
Climax
The climax of the novel is when Curt Loehr kills Joseph, prompting the ultimate battle between the humans and the Oankali that determines which humans will be sent back to Earth.
Foreshadowing
The aggression between Lilith’s followers and Curt’s followers in the nursery foreshadows the more brutal violence that is to occur in the artificial jungle at the novel's conclusion.
Understatement
The Oankali view Lilith’s lethal cancer as beautiful. They admire the cancer’s ability to regenerate and affect so many cells, despite being deadly to humans if left untreated.
Allusions
The catastrophic nuclear war on Earth that the novel depicts as the result of fighting between the United States and the USSR is an allusion to the real-world Cold War and the looming threat of mutually assured nuclear destruction.
"Medusa" (12)
Imagery
The physical appearance of the Oankali, slightly humanistic but distinctly non-human, represents the internal struggle that Lilith faces: whether to ally with the alien Oankali or with her own people.
Paradox
Lilith’s initial struggle to escape from the Oankali transforms into a desire to be with them despite the fact that they are alien. She is driven away from human society and into the welcoming tentacles of the Oankali by her own people's viciousness and brutality.
Parallelism
Parallel sentence structure can be found in chapter 8 of section 3 when Lilith talks about the Oankali: “That’s what I know. That’s what I’ve told you all.”
Metonymy and Synecdoche
During her Awakenings, Lilith finds herself held captive in a bare room. From overhead she hears the Oankali speak to her but is unable to see her captors. Their eerily human-like voices are the only sensory inputs she can associate with them. Thus, the voices she hears begin the represent her captors which is an example of synecdoche.
Personification
Throughout the novel, the Oankali and their ship are represented as having human emotions and attributes.
