He, She and It

“Now her life felt like a crystalline structure shattered into bright dangerous shards that left her bleeding.” 

The departure of Ari from Shira’s life has hit her hard. She is struggling to bring together the now disparate tendrils of her existence and has decided to return home in order to reassess who she is. This search for an identity in a world so regulated, so beset by cosmetic surgery and body modifications, is seemingly endless. Shira has decided to return to her past to resolve her future. 

“You love too hard. It occupies the center and squeezes out your strength.” 

With Shira distraught over the betrayal by Gadi, Malkah tries to offer her shreds of comfort. Her words are immaterial, however, as Shira does not want to listen. Amid the futuristic sci-fi world, the elderly, informed advice of a grandmother to her granddaughter remains a universal constant. Shira’s teenage grief is not unique but could come from any time in history, to the point where it seems almost anachronistic. Given the future conversation between Gadi and Shira, however, it is clear to the audience that the animosity between the two teenaged lovers will eventually—to some degree—be resolved.  

“What we cannot name, I said, we cannot talk about.” 

Malkah, explaining the story of the golem, refers to the inherent power of naming. The creation of the golem mirrors Avram’s own experiments, and the names given to the cyborgs empower them with near-personalities. Likewise, the naming of the love between Shira and Gadi made their relationship all the more real and, thus, all the more tragic when it collapsed. Malkah’s wisdom is readily apparent when she discusses the power of naming a thing. 

“A cyborg could not have less clothes sense than her ex-husband.” 

In meeting Yod so soon after her disastrous split from Josh, Shira finds herself with a new project. Yod is a blank slate, a being that will allow her to rectify all of the faults and flaws she has encountered in the men in her life. In doing so, he will inevitability invite comparisons to her male companions. 

“Have you never changed your sex, not even for an evening, Shira?” 

Shira’s grandmother advises her on the benefits of the gender fluidity permitted by cyberspace. Thanks to the Net, Malkah goes online as any gender, any age, and anyone she pleases. This variable identity is freeing for her, now trapped in an aging body. It allows her to express various identities and personalities that may be impossible to express in the real world. The interaction between cyberspace and gender is an extension of the novel’s fascination with the intersection between technology and self-identity.  

“She was like a cat in that she hated closed doors.” 

After the reveal of Riva’s true identity, Malkah delves deeper into her daughter’s character. The above quote is a demonstration of the skills—evident from an early age—that would allow Riva to become such a successful information pirate. A locked door is a metaphor for a closed computer network, and Riva is desperate to open it and look inside. She is intellectually curious, more interested in the challenge than the reward. 

“I’m a walking cemetery of clothes.” 

Judah dresses the Golem using whatever clothes he can, typically belonging to those who have died under the persecution of the local Christians. The Golem correctly surmises that he is a “walking cemetery” (122), though this is indicative of his character. The Golem has already killed two men and will need to employ violence if he is to satisfy the demands of his creation. He is draped in the clothes of the dead in an aesthetic and metaphysical sense. He has been created because of death, to prevent death, and—in some circumstances—to cause death. 

“She would seem almost middle-aged to him.” 

Despite everything that has happened between Shira and Gadi, she cannot help but want him to desire her. Their lives have taken different paths: She has suffered a failed marriage and has had her child taken away; he has become rich, glamorous, and famous. Shira feels the vast difference between their respective stations in life and worries that they will seem a different age, even though they grew up together. Added to this, Gadi is returning home shamed following a sex scandal, while she is working on the cutting edge of cybernetics. Still, Shira cannot divorce herself from her teenage feelings. 

“We were killing the world, but it was not yet dead.” 

The chapters that Malkah narrates provide fleeting glimpses into a past few other characters have experienced. Before the cataclysmic global warming took hold of the earth and the nuclear wars began, places such as Prague were much more hospitable to life. Given the younger characters’ familiarity with the poisonous environment, quotes such as this reveal the true tragedy of those from Malkah’s generation—those who knew how beautiful the world once was but know that they will never see it again. 

“Frankly, you were sort of my gift to Malkah, to make up for who I am.” 

After a lifetime of not knowing her mother or her father, Riva’s arrival in the town brings many uncomfortable truths. Nili the assassin is actually Shira’s niece; Shira was a test tube baby; and her mother feels no guilt or lingering doubt over her absence. In many ways, this confirms the status of Malkah as Shira’s real mother: Malkah raised Shira and gave her everything, from tech skills to looks to morals. Though Shira feels a latent interest in her mother, this meeting reinforces her bond to Malkah. 

“Gadi has arranged his life so that he never has to grow up.” 

Delivered by Avram, the above quote is more than just a throwaway insult. Rather, it is a stinging rebuke to a son from a father, delivered in the presence of the artificial life Avram has created to rectify the mistakes he made while raising Gadi. Furthermore, this is Avram’s idea of an introduction; if he is to explain Gadi in a few words, he emphasizes Gadi’s immaturity and his own disdain. 

“There’s too little pleasant in this nasty dying world.” 

Gadi tours the other characters around the party he has set up in the town, revealing what he does for a living. His skills are undoubted, though Nili and Yod struggle to understand the reasoning behind the artificial party environment. While Gadi’s above comment seems hedonistic, there is a revealing subtext. Gadi is a nihilist, a person who has little hope for the moral or biological future for the world. He and the world are both broken, so the only reasonable course of action is seemingly to indulge every whim and vice. Gadi’s reputation as a libertine is undercut by his fear and his dread of the true state of the world and of himself. 

“What you created to improve security seems to have attracted more danger.” 

Yod is about to think critically about his own existence and recognizes the inherent irony in his creation. To claim the technology Avram has invented to defend Tikva, Y-S has killed and destroyed. Though Yod has succeeded in protecting the town, his creation has created a paradoxical situation: Only he defends the town, yet he is also the reason the town is being attacked. That Yod is able to notice and describe this irony and Avram is not prompts questions about which of the two is actually more human. 

“A people in trouble are perceived as a troublesome people.” 

The story of the Golem has obvious parallels to the story of Yod, but the plight of the Jews of Prague is also a clear analogue to the troubles faced by the Jewish community of Tikva. Malkah makes this clear, using the story of the Golem to teach Yod about the plight faced by his people. Like the Jews in Prague, the townspeople are under threat from a far more powerful outside force. However, like those in Prague, they have the means of fighting back. They are people in trouble and, as such, they are viewed as troublesome by those in power. 

“Sexual privileges depended on your place and rank.” 

The juxtaposition between life in the Y-S enclave and life in the free towns is made apparent through the treatment of sex. In the free towns, individuals are free to choose who they wish to have sex with, as evidenced by the promiscuity on show in Tikva. For all the riches and privileges afforded to those in the multis, sex and other fundamental aspects of humanity are regulated and controlled. Freedom is removed and defined in relation to the corporations. For the most comfortable and privileged life, an individual must surrender their essential freedom to the multis. 

“She had chosen to sacrifice Josh to her desire for her child.” 

Part of Shira’s continued struggle to accept Yod’s possible humanity is internalizing the guilt for his actions. When Josh is killed, she knows that Yod was only acting on her instructions. She decided to retrieve Ari, and she failed to tell Yod not to kill Josh. Balancing the responsibility for the murder and the joy in reuniting with her son, Shira makes a moral choice. She accepts the former as the cost for the latter. Ari is the most important thing in the world for her, so Josh’s murder—while not the preferred outcome—is tolerable. 

“‘I don’t know,’ he said frankly, ‘but I worry about how people will respond to me now.’” 

The response of the characters to the issue of Yod’s identity being raised at a council meeting reflects their true characters. Malkah prioritizes the legitimacy of the town council, prioritizing Tikva above all else. Shira worries at first about how people will gossip about how she has taken a robot for a lover (revealing her insecurity) and then feels guilty (revealing her empathic nature). Yod, conversely, worries about how he is perceived by others. He has a need to be liked that has been programmed into him and is about to be tested to the extreme. 

“Perhaps she has chosen midwifery because it puts her in the direct service of women who are doing the work women are supposed to do.” 

The parallels between the past and the future are not limited to the Golem and the Cyborg. As well as the treatment of the Jews in both time periods, gender roles and the challenging of gender roles are evident in both. Just as Nili is a powerful fighter and Malkah a master programmer who disguises her gender when accessing the net, Chava both notes and rejects the contemporary expectations of her gender. She refuses marriage and enjoys her work as a scholar but also helps and appreciates those women who operate in more traditional roles. Her work as a midwife is her way of respecting these women, doing so in a manner that is not dictated by men. 

“I’m weary of uniqueness.” 

Despite his unique status as the only functional cyborg on Earth, Yod wants nothing more than to be treated as ordinary and dull. In that respect, he is the opposite of Gadi. While Gadi loves the indulgences offered by his fame and cultivates his own celebrity, Yod simply wants to exist. Though Yod is far more singular than Gadi, whose many surgeries make him seem unnatural and alien, Yod’s humanity derives from his desire to be treated like any other human, rather than as a celebrity. 

“Now Avram and I share with the Maharal the glory and the guilt of having raised the Golem to walk on earth with men and women, to resemble, but never to be, human.” 

Malkah has narrated the story of the Golem to Yod, providing him a historic and cultural context for his existence. After the story has finished, she continues her narration away from Yod. He does not hear the above quote, which reveals that the story is as much for Malkah as it is for Yod. Just as Yod empathizes with the Golem, she and Avram empathize with the creator. Just as Judah was forced to reckon with his creation, she and Avram are forced to reckon with Yod’s humanity. 

“I’m a tool of the future that wants to be.” 

In many ways, Riva is almost the opposite of Yod. He was created as a cyborg and has spent his life trying to become more human. Conversely, Riva was born human but has spent her life in the service of a higher calling, shedding herself of emotional attachments and other human qualities that she views as weaknesses. They are on the same journey but moving in opposite directions. 

“A weapon should not have the capacity to suffer for what it does, to regret, to feel guilt.” 

In killing himself, Yod removes the responsibility for his creation from the people of the town. His final act is one of defiant humanity, sacrificing himself for the good of Tikva. With this action, he confirms his own innate humanity and his own status as a member of the community, demonstrating a capacity for deep, reflective philosophy that is beyond most humans. With his final act, Yod demonstrates the humanistic capacity that many thought he could never possess. 

“The world dims, and I long for light with a hunger that hollows out her bones.” 

The analogy between Yod and Joseph is clear but, at the end of the story, a clear analogy emerges between Chava and Malkah. Like Chava, she studied at the side of the man who made the Golem/cyborg. Like Chava, she decides to make a pilgrimage in later life, traveling to Israel to learn more about the world. Where Chava dies en route, however, Malkah survives. She returns to her ancestral homeland and brings knowledge with her, helping her people return to the wider world.