![]() ![]() ![]() Later, Lilith will read the body language of the humans she Awakens in order to gauge what they are thinking and how much danger she is in. As Lilith learns the Oankali language and assimilates to their way of life, learning to understand Oankali body language is an effective tool. Though these knots seem ugly to Lilith and put her off, she can understand their meaning and thus learn more about the situation she is in. Additionally, when they are feeling uncomfortable, their tentacles bunch up into "irregular, raised knots" (69). When Oankali are concentrating or insistent, their tentacles will point sharply in the direction of whatever it is that is consuming their thoughts. Their tentacles move of their own accord and will point towards stimuli in the room whether they like it or not. The Oankali's tentacles tell Lilith a lot about what they are thinking and where their mind is. Jdhaya does this in Lilith's room in "Womb" after he discovers that she has a drive to live: "His tentacles seemed to solidify into a second skin-dark patches on his face and neck, a dark, smooth-looking mass on his head" (23). When Oankali are happy, they smooth their tentacles. The first Oankali body language that Lilith learns is a demonstration of pleasure. It follows logically that they would have different body languages. The Oankali and humans have different bodies. Additionally, when Lilith is exploring the ship, she often has a hard time communicating with the Oankali that do not speak English: "Most of the time she wound up resorting to gestures-which did not work very well-and feeling impenetrably stupid" (62). In the end, she does not care "whether it missed the gesture or failed to understand it" (72). When Lilith has an altercation with Nikanj in "Family," she shrugs and Nikanj does not register her movement. The Oankali can speak English fluently, but that does not mean that they understand human body language. There is much room for misunderstandings when it comes to this kind of communication. The Oankali have their own set of gestures that she must learn the meaning of, in the same way that they must decipher the meaning of her unspoken gestures themselves. However, she cannot depend on body language in the same way that a human traveler in a foreign land might. At first, body language is a useful tool for communicating with and understanding Oankali as she is immersed in their world. Lilith pays attention to body language throughout Dawn and uses it to learn more about those around her. Additionally, it shows Lilith's growing comfort in the Oankali world as she accepts what they want her to do and changes herself in order to further the Oankali mission. ![]() This speaks to the power difference between Lilith and the group of humans she is meant to lead. Once Lilith is given more power and is tasked with Awakening a group of humans in Part 3, "Nursery," she will be the one who is in charge of the food. The Oankali use food, which is inherently tied to Lilith's drive for survival and her feelings of homesickness of belonging, as a kind of reward for Lilith's growing comfort in the Oankali world. Surely they could have given her a little of this instead of keeping her for so long on a diet that made eating a chore" (45). Where had all this been, Lilith wondered. There were whole bananas, dishes of sliced pineapple, whole figs, shelled nuts of several kinds, bread and honey, a vegetable stew filled with corn, peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, herbs, and spices. When Lilith finally sits down at Jdhaya's family's table and has her first meal with them, she is offered an incredible array of human foods: "Food and pleasure so sharp and sweet it cleared everything else from her mind. And you-you have a great deal to learn'" (27). He accepted a piece of it from her hand and sat down beside her to eat it. Out of curiosity, she broke the fruit and offered to share it with him. When she finally shares a bit of her orange with Jdhaya, he decides it is time for her to leave her room: "Sometime later he brought her an orange. The pleasure that Lilith gets from eating a banana and an orange puts her at ease in Jdhaya's presence. While Jdhaya spends time in Lilith's room in an attempt to acclimate her to his presence, he offers her human food two different times. She can derive no pleasure from this meal. This food is as foreign to Lilith as her surroundings. ![]() It is very far from the food that she loved eating on Earth: "It was the usual lumpy cereal or stew, of no recognizable flavor, contained in an edible bowl that would disintegrate if she emptied it and did not eat it" (4). When Lilith is in solitary confinement, the food the Oankali give her is bland and tasteless. Food is a symbol for comfort throughout Dawn. ![]()
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