47 pages • 1 hour read
Marge PiercyHe, She and It
Fiction | Novel | Adult | 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.
Chapters 37-49Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapters 37-40 Summary
Shira and Yod travel to the Y-S enclave, stopping in a rundown Chicago hotel for a night. As they travel on public transport the next day, Shira reflects on Yod’s state of being. She thinks about Ari and how much she misses him. They arrive in a frontier town and rent a vehicle to cross the vast, dangerous desert. Inside the vehicle, it is noisy and very uncomfortable. They pause to eat an expensive meal of real food—a treat—and Shira thanks Yod for his efforts to “extract her stolen son” (348). Shira knows that, soon, she will have to free Yod from Avram. They leave the vehicle and walk to a train refueling station, stowing away in one of the carriage cars that takes them into the dome of the Y-S enclave. Inside, they disguise themselves as gardeners; the officials barely notice service workers, allowing them to travel anywhere. They pass stores selling expensive, frivolous commodities and arrive at Ari’s day care center. After a long wait, Josh approaches with Ari and a security guard. They watch all morning as the guard stands in front of the center. Shira searches for Josh’s house but fails.
At noon, the children play outside. Shira spots Ari and watches him, desperate to have him back. She and Yod scout for exit routes and devise a plan. When Josh collects Ari, they follow him to a house where the guard sees them inside and then leaves. While Shira remains outside, Yod enters the house and disarms the security. He captures a woman who is inside and Shira knocks her out with a chemical. Shira runs to Ari and feeds him soup while Yod disables Josh. They put Ari to sleep with more chemicals and then place him inside a duffel bag. Shira runs upstairs to get Ari’s blanket; Yod tries to stop her. She discovers Josh’s dead body. Shira is furious at Yod but knows that Ari must not ever find out. They leave, joining the mass of day laborers on their way out of the enclave. They take public transport and, when reaching Chicago, Shira removes Ari from the bag and carries him in her arms. Yod explains that Josh had been calling for help and he had little choice; he regrets killing Josh. She tells Yod that Ari is now under his protection, “even more than I am” (362).
Malkah learns that her daughter is alive and her “mourning passes from grief into clownishness” (364). Ari has arrived in the town and is spending more and more time with Yod. They await the response from Y-S. In Prague, Thaddeus and his mob attack the ghetto. They have a battering ram to remove the gates. Malkah remembers riots from her youth. The ram thunders against the gates as Judah begins to lead his people in song. Eventually, the gate gives way and reveals the barricade inside the ghetto. Joseph grabs hold of the ram and swings it like a club. The crowd heaves into the ghetto as the inhabitants throw rocks from up high. People die. Chava tries to treat the wounded as the battle rages. Joseph recognizes men from the taverns. They charge at the defenders, who also charge. Joseph kills their leader, crushing his skull. He leads the Jews through the affray, killing and maiming as he goes. Joseph kills a group of musketeers and is shot in the process. By the time the fighting is over, the streets are strewn with bodies. There are 53 dead and around 70 wounded Jews. Chava tends to Joseph’s wounds and then he begins to repair the gates.
Shira watches Ari play with kittens. Gadi dotes upon Ari, ordering him expensive toys. Yod plays with Ari, having studied hundreds of books on childcare. Ari asks about Josh and his grandmother (the woman they drugged in the enclave); he begins daycare in the town. Y-S is silent. The townspeople arm themselves, trained by Nili, and speak often to Lazarus. Shira demands again to see Malkah’s notes, written while she was constructing Yod. Malkah finally relents. Shira reads and marvels, learning how Malkah differentiated Yod from previous, malfunctioning cyborg iterations, but she finds edited and removed passages. Shira deduces that Yod and Malkah were in a sexual relationship before she arrived; she confronts Malkah about this, furious and disgusted. Shira needs someone to talk to. She goes to Gadi and they talk. Gadi offers Shira a spike, an illegal simulation allowing her to “remember us as we were” (380). Shira says all she wants is to live in peace with her son. She leaves and walks through the town, going to pick up Ari from daycare. She thinks about how she deserves to be punished for Josh’s death.
Chapters 41-44 Summary
As Yod spends most of his days working, Shira joins a conversation between Nili and Malkah. Nili has been working to unite the disparate gangs of the Glop against the multis. Thinking about one of Gadi’s comments, Shira asks Nili whether she is a mother. Yes, Nili replies, and she misses her six-year-old daughter. Yod arrives and Shira takes him aside for a private conversation. Before she can say anything, Yod reveals that Avram plans to reveal Yod’s true nature to the rest of the town. While Shira worries that she will be mocked and Malkah worries about the integrity of the council, Yod worries how the townspeople will react to him. Later, Yod and Shira agree to find a way to spend more time together. She warns him against unleashing his frustrations with Avram through violence. He agrees to “try to impress the Council favorably” (390).
Joseph is hailed as a hero of the ghetto as the dead are buried. After turning down another marriage proposal, Chava returns to her work. Joseph has himself received propositions. Judah’s health is faltering. In rebuking another proposal, Chava pretends that there is “someone else” (394), meaning herself. However, gossip begins to spread about Chava’s mysterious partner, eventually settling on Joseph. He hears the rumors and begins to hope. The rumor reaches Judah, prompting him to leave his sickbed. He asks Chava for the truth; Chava is exasperated and reveals that she knows that Joseph is a Golem. Judah believes her when she says she loves Joseph platonically, rather than romantically. Judah accepts what she says. He then leaves the house, visiting the palace to discuss the reparations the Jews must pay for the gentiles killed during the battle.
The Council meets to discuss Yod. Before the reveal, there are discussions of security and business. Yod is only fifth on the agenda and half the attendees have already left. Avram and Malkah recuse themselves from the discussion. Avram then reveals the truth, taking full responsibility for the illegal creation of a cyborg. Yod stands to defend himself, admitting to being a cyborg but saying that he is “also a person” (400). A full investigation is launched; Yod is relieved of his guard duties until a decision is reached. Shira and Yod spend more time together over the coming days. Gadi announces that his multi wants to hire Nili, though she does not know. Gadi covertly recorded her and showed his multi without Nili’s knowledge. He wants to make her famous.
When Nili returns three days later, she brings a warning from Riva that Y-S is about to move against Shira in an unknown fashion. Despite all of this, Shira is happy. Nili arrives back from a mission and Gadi tells her what he has done. Nili, quietly furious, crushes a brick in her hand. Gadi tries to convince her that he has done a good deed. She tells Malkah that she wants the multi to be told that she was killed by organ harvesters. Nili goes to rest, telling Gadi not to follow her. Later, Shira finds Malkah and Nili talking in the courtyard. They are only discussing medical technology; wondering whether that means that Nili has forgiven Gadi, Shira realizes that she has forgiven Gadi herself.
Shira is scheduled to go on a community tree-planting trip. She runs into Gadi who wants her to play a role in one of his stimmie productions, recreating the Founding of Tikva for the local children. She declines. Returning home with Ari, the others are waiting for her. Y-S has issued an extradition for Yod, who they claim is a murderer. They meet with Y-S in the Net, neutral ground, and Shira fears what they will demand. Yod feels he will have an advantage over humans in cyberspace. Yod, Shira, Avram, and Malkah project into the Net and travel to the meeting place. The Y-S delegation arrive late, mostly populated by robotics and cybernetics experts, as well as Roger Krupp, one of Y-S’s most esteemed subdirectors. Last to enter is Josh. Y-S threatens to send wave after wave of assassins into Tikva if Yod is not handed over. Shira deduces that the projection of Josh is not actually Josh. The delegation from Tikva refuse all offers and leave, having been given three days to reconsider.
Chapters 45-49 Summary
Judah wakes from a dream with a “sense of foreboding” (419). He had dreamed that the Angel of Death had offered him a list of all the people in the community who would die in the next year. Judah refuses. He worries about the Golem he has created, which might live hundreds of years after Judah’s death. The emperor has arranged for Thaddeus to be called away. Judah notices Joseph starring longingly at Chava over the breakfast table. He calls for a meeting with Yakov and Itzak. Now that Joseph has fulfilled his mission, the rabbi wonders whether the Golems should be destroyed. Judah decides to “unmake” Joseph, leaving him intact should he be needed by future generations.
The next day, Joseph worries that Judah is displeased with him. He wanders around Prague, curious to find out more about the city. The further he gets from the bridge, the weaker he becomes. His strength only returns when he reenters the ghetto. He returns to Judah, who assigns him a task in the attic. He is told to lie down as the three men accompany him. He protests but he his body will not obey his commands. Joseph pleads as Judah chants. Gradually, Joseph’s features disappear and his face becomes like a rock. The men devise a cover story for Joseph’s disappearance and leave the clay body in the attic, locking the door. A short time later, Judah dies. His wife quickly follows. Chava grows old and finally travels to Eretz Israel but never arrives. The Golem remained in the attic but no one knew how to awaken him. Until now, Malkah believes.
Even before the deadline, Y-S sends assassins. Yod stops them, taking delight in the difficult duels he fights. The Council meets to decide whether Yod is a citizen. Emotions and temperatures in the room run high. While philosophical debates run rampant, Avram announces the Y-S attack but “no outside danger could abort the process of political discussion already engaged” (430). The meeting ends; the discussion set to continue the next night. A subcommittee of rabbis is set up to determine whether Yod can be a Jew. The next morning, Riva returns to Tikva. She tries to convince Nili to go into hiding but fails; she reveals that Y-S want to take Yod to a gathering of the corporation’s most important people, which is why they have accelerated their attacks.
Later, Shira finds Riva, Yod, and Avram huddled together in the lab. They plan to send Yod to Y-S, where he will self-destruct at the meeting. Yod agrees; if he does not, Y-S will continue to attack the town until one or all of the people he loves are dead. Riva leaves to meet with Lazarus. Malkah and Avram argue about the plan; Avram believes he can build another cyborg; Shira cannot accept Yod’s decision. Yod departs to say his goodbyes, making Shira and Malkah promise to remain at home until he has destroyed himself. He has left a message for her, not to be read until he is dead.
Shira and Malkah sit in the courtyard in silence. Nili joins them. Malkah says that she regrets building Yod. Shira flings herself onto her bed in despair, hoping somehow that Yod might survive. A blast rattles the windows. Shira jumps up, worried that Y-S have attacked. They run to Avram’s house, toward the plume of smoke. Something has exploded in Avram’s lab. It takes an hour for the fire to be brought under control. Avram’s body is found and his entire life’s work has been destroyed. Shira leaves to listen to Yod’s message. Yod appears before her and announces that he has “died and taken with me Avram” (441), so that no more cyborgs may be created. He tells Shira to raise Ari and forget him, as he was a mistake. The screen goes blank.
Malkah thinks about Chava as she prepares to leave, travelling to Israel with Nili. She leaves behind a “household of deep depression” (443). The Glop is rising up in rebellion. Malkah hopes to get treatment for her rapidly fading vision in Israel and Shira cannot convince her to stay. Yod is destroyed, as is Avram’s lab, and Tikva is no longer of interest to what remains of Y-S. She grieves and feels guilty for the death of Yod and grieves for Avram, too. Malkah hopes to introduce Nili’s people to the Net and bring them into the global community. Malkah arrives in the port of Saloniki and accesses the Net for the last time. She arrives in Nili’s town and meets the people and the doctors. On the night before her eye operation, Malkah stays up talking with a friend, recounting the story of Yod.
Shira and Gadi spend more time together. Both are depressed and grieving, both try to hide their unhappiness from Ari. Gadi has moved into his own small house. When visiting him, Shira feels something, the first time in months she has felt anything but grief. They have sex; tired of grieving, Shira can no longer think of any reason why she and Gadi should not be together. Both of them are a little disappointed, not having found what they were looking for. Shira has become more involved in the running of the town’s Base, taking over from Malkah. Y-S has been left decimated by Yod’s attack and Tikva returns to a relatively peaceful state.
As Ari grows up, his mannerisms remind Shira occasionally of Josh, and she feels guilt and regret. Malkah sends a message from Israel: Her operation was a success, and she will return soon. Gadi is finally recalled from his exile. Hannah and Shira become friends but feels no inclination to escalate any relationship beyond friendship. One day, while spring cleaning, she finds Avram’s old logs. They would allow her to rebuild Yod, making him as a lover instead of a weapon this time. As she rushes to get started, she finds herself in front of the space where Avram’s lab had once stood. It reminds her of Yod’s final message. Shira decides that she cannot undo Yod’s final act, so she destroys the logs. In doing so, she believes that she has finally “set him free” (456).
Chapters 37-49 Analysis
In the final chapters of the text, Yod sacrifices himself. He self-destructs at a meeting of the highest-powered people in Y-S. Not only does this remove the threat to the town and to the people Yod loves, but it takes the question of whether Yod can be considered human out of the hands of the townspeople. At the council meetings, the citizens have been arguing whether Yod should be considered a human or a machine, as well as whether he should be considered Jewish. They never reach a definitive answer. Instead, it is left to Yod to provide the answer for them. He chooses not to live life as a weapon with a conscience. His final act does not answer the philosophical question, but it does end it.
As well as himself, Yod kills Avram. He prevents the creation of future cyborgs and ensures that there will never again be a community that tears itself apart over the notion of whether a machine can be considered to be alive. This is a final demonstration of agency and free will; Yod turns against his programming at the same time as he is following orders. Though he has been programmed never to harm Avram, he overcomes this. At the same time, he is killing himself as Avram has commanded. Yod is showing his power and his humility and, in his final actions, he comes to resemble the literary figure with whom he became obsessed: Frankenstein’s monster. Like the monster, Yod and his creator find themselves locked in a tumultuous battle that ends with their mutual destruction. Like the monster, Yod kills himself. Like Frankenstein, Avram is driven to his death by his scientific pursuits.
This final act of agency leaves Shira with a difficult problem. She is devastated by the loss of Yod; not only does she have to deal with her personal grief, but she has to explain to Ari why he has lost another father figure in his life. The extent of this grief is what makes the discovery of Avram’s logs such a potent opportunity. In the logs, Shira recognizes the ability to resurrect Yod and bring him back to life. Though she is initially delighted, she ultimately chooses to destroy the data instead. This final act confirms her belief in Yod’s humanity. Firstly, it demonstrates that she recognizes that any cyborg she brings to life will not be Yod. It will be a different robot, a machine with different experiences and understandings. Though it might look and sound like Yod, it will never be the same. This shows that Shira believes that there is a humanity to Yod beyond the raw coding of his intelligence. Secondly, it is a recognition of Yod’s final wishes. In his message, Yod explained why he wanted to kill himself and why he did not want any more cyborgs to be made. Shira chooses to respect that; rather than overruling the request of a machine, she accepts and acknowledges the final decision of a loved one. Shira’s acceptance of loss positions Yod as more human than ever before.
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By Marge Piercy
