60 pages • 2 hours read
Orson Scott CardXenocide
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1991A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Fence
Encircling Milagre is a fence comprised of a forcefield that delivers excruciating pain to anyone who touches it. The fence was intended to prevent the humans from interfering with the Pequeninos, but its function changes after the Pequeninos and humans start communicating openly. The fence is also the cause of Miro’s brain damage, as he became stuck inside the field while fighting for the freedom to communicate with the Pequeninos.
The fence is also a symbol of the division between the Pequeninos and the Lusitanian humans. Although the two species work together in the lab, the general citizens of Milagre are not comfortable with the alien species—“The human colonists of Lusitania wanted it that way. They wanted the boundary between human and pequenino to remain unbreached” (76). This hesitance to accept the unfamiliar species demonstrates the concept that rejection of otherness is deeply engrained in human nature. They view the fence as a symbol of protection that keeps them safe from the Pequeninos and their descolada virus.
The fence also serves as a symbol of entrapment, particularly after the hive queen comes to the aid of the Pequeninos. The citizens of the village are told to stay within the fence, and the hive queen’s drones stand guard. The fence no longer feels like a safe barrier, but rather feels like a prison wall. It becomes a tool of oppression rather than a tool of segregation.
Molecular Disruption Device
The M. D. Device, or the Little Doctor, is a weapon that has the capability of destroying a planet. It creates a chain reaction that disrupts the nuclear force that holds molecules together. The Little Doctor is a symbol of death, destruction, and misused power.
The device symbolizes death and destruction to those against which the weapon is targeted. The hive queen’s species had been nearly wiped out when Ender used it against her in the past, and everyone on Lusitania faces death as the fleet continues its journey toward the planet. The Little Doctor also symbolizes the power that Starways Congress holds over humanity. They do not use the M. D. Device for the good of humanity; rather they use it to stay in control of humanity.
Starways Congress
Starways Congress is both an antagonistic force and a motif of oppression and corruption. Starways Congress rules over the Hundred Worlds and its colonies, and it demands perfect obedience. When Lusitania rebels by not sending Miro to trial and by shutting off communication, Starways Congress plans to make an example of them by sending the M. D. Device. When Lusitanians do not concede, Congress sends the order to destroy the planet and everyone living on it. They value maintaining political control over preserving sentient life.
Starways Congress is also responsible for oppressing the people of Path by creating a hidden variant of OCD, so they could control the high levels of intelligence of the so-called godspoken. Congress uses the intelligence of the godspoken to their advantage, but they fear that, left unchecked, such intelligence could interfere with their power. They use science to create a disability then use The Power of Religion to manipulate the people of Path into compliance. The novel alludes to a rebellion of the Hundred Worlds against Starways Congress: “What happened then, as the Hundred Worlds and all the colonies learned of Congress’s crimes against Path—Qing-jao never knew of it” (392). However, the details of the rebellion are not given, suggesting that Congress, as a motif, continues in subsequent novels in the series.
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By Orson Scott Card
