Speech Sounds

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1983

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Summary

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Quiz

Symbols & Motifs

Rye’s Pin

In the world of “Speech Sounds,” people have “name symbols.” These symbols are items that represent the name of the person who owns them. Valerie Rye’s name symbol is “a pin in the shape of a large golden stalk of wheat” (Paragraph 42). This symbol works because her last name is the common grain closely related to wheat and barley. She may go only by Rye because it is the only part of her name that her symbol can represent. The reader is invited to know Rye in the same way that another character might know her, as they would have no way of guessing at her first name.

The wheat pin represents not only Rye’s name but also herself. When she wants to communicate to Obsidian that she will stay with him even as he continues to be a vigilante police officer, she pins her wheat pin to his badge. As the badge and the pin are put together, the two characters also proceed together for the rest of the story until Obsidian’s untimely death.

Obsidian’s Pendant

Obsidian also carries a name symbol with him—a gold chain necklace with an obsidian pendant. The stone is “smooth, glassy,” and “black” (Paragraph 41). Rye has several guesses to choose from, as this could be “Rock or Peter or Black” (Paragraph 41). Peter is an option because it derives from the Greek word petra, which means rock or stone. Here the story offers a glimpse into Rye’s intelligence, illness notwithstanding, and her long-gone past as a college instructor. Of all the choices, Rye settles on knowing him as Obsidian because it is memorable.

Obsidian’s pendant represents not only his name but also his character. As a solid material often used to build structures, stone is reliable and strong. Likewise, Obsidian is strong and “a big man” (Paragraph 12). He also shows himself to be reliable. When Rye decides to ride with him, he allows her to give him directions, proving to her that he is trustworthy: “If he was willing to go where she directed, perhaps he was safe” (Paragraph 40). This is further supported when he asks for Rye’s consent to have sex, rather than demanding it. Rye perceives him as someone solid that she can trust and with whom she can start a new life in Los Angeles. Obsidian’s pendant is also black, a color that can represent authority and intelligence. Those characteristics are reflected in Obsidian’s role as a vigilante police officer and his problem-solving skills with the bus fight.

Obsidian’s Police Uniform

Soon after Rye meets Obsidian, she sees that he is wearing a Los Angeles Police Department uniform. This is unusual, given that the police department no longer exists, along with all other forms of organized government and law. His uniform is a reminder of a distant time when there was a government, but it also represents his current efforts to create law and order in small ways. As Obsidian carries out his unpaid work, the uniform communicates to others what his mouth cannot: he is a public servant. When he addresses a situation, the people around him can infer that he means to help.

It is ironic that Obsidian’s uniform is meant to invoke law and order because of the history of police brutality against marginalized racial groups in Los Angeles County. Incidents that recall this history might include Bloody Christmas (1951), where seven civilians were beaten severely by officers, and the Watts Riots (1965), which broke out in response to a drunk driving arrest of an African American man where excessive force was used. Obsidian’s use of the uniform to protect and serve reminds onlookers of how dangerous law and order can be. His use of the uniform for good underscores what law and order are at their best: selfless social services.

Silence

Butler uses the term “the silence”—a synonym for “the apocalypse”—to refer to the world in the age of illness. Despite this name, the postapocalyptic world is not entirely silent. Most people have lost their capacity for verbal speech but can still make wordless sounds. Obsidian, for instance, uses his voice: “He made the same sound over and over the way some speechless people did, ‘Da, da, da!’” (Paragraph 84). Still, without the ability to use such sounds meaningfully, society is far more silent than it used to be.

Silence is also a characteristic of the “less impaired,” as Butler calls them. Rye does not use her voice until the very end, and when Obsidian uses his voice once, it is “hoarse from disuse” (Paragraph 84). Additionally, the woman who runs out in front of Obsidian’s car is silent, while the man chasing her “shouted what sounded like garbled words” (Paragraph 82). The woman’s silence indicates that she may be “less impaired.” Because the two small children can speak, they likely learned from her. When the little boy tells his sister to be quiet, it is clear that those who can speak typically choose not to. On the other hand, characters who suffer the worst effects of the illness are noisy, and they “scream and jump around” when they are upset (Paragraph 23).