Previous
Motifs
Definition of Oxymoron
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to make a point—particularly to reveal a deeper or hidden truth... read full definition
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to make a point—particularly to reveal... read full definition
An oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two contradictory terms or ideas are intentionally paired in order to... read full definition
Book 3, Chapter 12
Explanation and Analysis—Strike Like a Cobra:
When the Oankali first reveal themselves to the group, many of the humans require extensive drugs to calm down and be near the sea-creature-like Oankali. Unlike most others, Tate eventually musters the courage to touch Kahguyaht, whom the novel describes with an oxymoronic simile:
Lilith turned and saw that Tate had extended a hand to Kahguyaht. Gabriel grabbed it and hauled it back, arguing.
Tate said only a few words while Gabriel said many, but after a while, he let her go. Kahguyaht had not moved or spoken. It waited. It let Tate look at it again, perhaps build up her courage again. When she extended her hand again, it seized the hand in a coil of sensory arm in a move that seemed impossibly swift, yet gentle, nonthreatening. The arm moved like a striking cobra, yet there was that strange gentleness. Tate did not even seem startled.
When Tate reaches her hand out, Kahguyaht fears that she does not have enough courage to complete the gesture. He seizes her hand in a move compared to the striking of a cobra, once again painting the Oankali as slippery, non-human creatures. Snakes are also well-known symbols of deception and villainy, framing the simile so as to cast doubt on the Oankali’s intentions.
The novel also identifies the movement of Kahguyaht’s sensory arm as both “impossibly swift, yet gentle, nonthreatening,” two inherently competing descriptors. This oxymoron underscores the potential two-facedness of the Oankali. Not even Lilith, who has accepted and integrated with the Oankali, completely knows their unaffected thoughts and intentions. Nikanj, for example, told Lilith that she would not become pregnant until she was ready, but Lilith incorrectly assumed that Nikanj would ask her permission. And yet, it impregnated her when it thought she was ready without consulting her. Though Nikanj stayed true to its word, it violated her bodily autonomy all the same.
Related Themes:
