Lilith interacts and accepts the alien creatures as she is exposed to the food she is given by the other creatures. During her isolation, the food was nearly unrecognizable, but by the end, she eats something that she is very familiar with. One interesting observation I made while reading this novel was the interaction between Lilith and her food. In the first few chapters, she is shown to be eating at first unidentifiable substance, “She saw the food first. 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,” (6). As she interacts with Jdahya more, the food becomes more recognizable, “Her hand shook so badly that she spilled half the stew,” (23). Once she is finally allowed outside is her first exposure to something natural, “He brought her something that so surprised and delighted her that she took it from his hand without thought or hesitation: A banana, fully ripe, large, yellow, firm, very sweet,” (27). What is interesting is the correlation between her food and her fear for Jdahya. When she took the food from him, she displayed fear. However, after she had been led outside, she took the banana without a second thought. Those are significantly different reactions to the reception of food.
Lilith compares the physical aspects of Jdahya to something familiar to her despite their foreign appearance, “When she could go no farther, she stood against the wall, staring at him. Medusa. Some of the ‘hair’ writhed independently, a nest of snakes startled, driven in all directions,” (13). It is a curious thing as to the immediate reference to Jdahya’s sensory organs as snakes in relation to Medusa. I wonder if there will be any future references to that mythological allusion.
