The World We Make

Content Warning: This section references xenophobia and racism.

R’lyeh’s tendrils appear throughout the narrative. Described as white and living, they vary in shape and size as well as functionality, latching to the back of people’s necks to control them, attempting to attack the avatars directly, or sprouting up and infecting local wildlife. The tendrils are R’lyeh’s way of exercising power over any individual’s faculties and serve as a symbol of control; although R’lyeh calls them guidelines, Aislyn comes to think of them as leashes, suggesting a striking imbalance of power (as between a pet and its owner). Those whom R’lyeh manipulates can become aggressive and violent or void and apathetic as she sees fit. While these tendrils are derived from the tentacles of Lovecraftian horror, Jemisin makes them her own by imbuing them with connotations of white nationalism. Their color is symbolic, and their effects—transforming individuals into unthinking agents of hate—mirror those of cultish xenophobia and racism.

The Proud Men are a clear-cut reference to the Proud Boys, a far-right and exclusively male organization rooted in white nationalism; its followers position themselves as advocates of justice but promote violence. Jemisin uses the Proud Men to satirize and critique such real-world extremism.