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Messages Found in China Mieville’s Embassytown Essay

Decent Essays

Science fiction is often looked down upon as if it were some how a lesser literature than other forms of fiction, however in one way science fiction is better than other forms of fiction. While all books will convey messages to the reader science fiction is especially good at doing so. A reason for this is perhaps that in science fiction we are looking not at our world, but at a place our world might someday go. In science fiction the world we see is our world distorted, and when you see a slightly different world from the one you know, it helps you to inspect the world you do live in a bit more. Embassytown has several underlying messages and values in the book. When interviewed for Book Lust China Mieville said “That’s not to …show more content…

‘Our guests, the Hosts, have been…’ JoaQuin paused and conferred. ‘There’s been a small misunderstanding…’ ‘…absolutely nothing to be concerned about…’”(94). Even if, assuming the Ambassadors are aware of what has happened with EzRa and the Hosts, they refuse to explain what has happened. They do not want to explain because as the saying goes knowledge is power, and as they are the only ones able to communicate with the Hosts the have almost all the power. Had they been more willing to help foster understanding between their people and the Hosts than perhaps much of the mess that happened in the book could have been avoided.

Another thing that demonstrates this point is that the way Avice fixes the problem is by forcing the Hosts to understand her better. Before the Hosts did not understand that she was sentient, that the noises she made were her trying to communicate. “’I’m sorry but I need them to understand that you’re two people because I need them to understand that I’m one. That these bloody squawks I make are language” (307). Her teaching them that she was a person, who spoke and communicated like they did was the thing that saved them. It was only after Avice made them understand that she was a person that they were able to communicate with the Absurd. They were able to communicate because now they were thinking in the same way, where as they hadn’t been before.

This theme is also demonstrated by

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