Essay Questions

Why does the author deliberately ignore the issue of gender vis-a-vis character development?

The primary characters in the novel are A.I.’s—genderless machines—that enact their agendas through the use of cloned human bodies called Ancillaries. The ancillaries act like drone bees allowing the A.I. to operate like a massive gestalt organism. Because of this set up, gender effectively becomes a meaningless concept as it is inapplicable to a non-biological consciousness and throughout the narrative character development happens completely autonomous from the concept of a traditional binary gender mindset.

What does tea symbolize in the novel?

Tea did not just symbolize a social and cultural divide between humans and ancillaries, it also divided individuals of rank in the military as only officers were given the privilege of being able to drink tea. Being able to drink tea meant that one was important enough to be given a luxury item, as if to say that the recipient of the beverage was one of a kind; very different from ancillaries that were only given water to drink, as they were seen as expendable. Tea, therefore, symbolized respect not just for the recipient but also from the giver of the drink.

What is being alluded to in the title of the novel?

The word ancillary is defined as something or someone that provides help. Typically, an ancillary is someone that fulfills a small, unspecialized roles and in that regard, an ancillary is not afforded too much importance. In the novel ancillaries are cloned humans that are kept in large numbers aboard immense A.I. ships that serve both as extensions of it’s consciousness, and in many situations, a readily deployed standing army. The novel’s title is a reference to the main protagonist as well as the plot of the novel. The novel's plot features a character named Breq, who happens to be an ancillary. Breq is on single-minded quest of vengeance against a vast interstellar empire run by an A.I./ancillary like herself.