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Rye, the only name by which readers know her until the story’s final lines, is the protagonist of “Speech Sounds” and the character through whose perceptions and thoughts readers come to know the ravaged, post-pandemic city of Los Angeles and its impaired residents. The illness that killed so many and impaired survivors cost Rye her husband, sister, parents, and children. It robbed her of her ability to read and write, a devastating loss for a history professor and writer. Rye worries about what other impairments she may have; her memory is not as sharp, she knows. Yet readers soon learn that Rye is observant, analytical, and empathetic despite her impairments. These are traits that many survivors have lost to the illness or, in the case of empathy, have repressed in order to survive.
As the story opens, Rye’s loneliness and purposelessness have driven her to try anything to hold off thoughts of suicide. Because the illness killed more men than women and because right-handed males, like her brother and nephews, often suffered greater impairment, Rye knows that the hope of finding her brother alive is slim. Yet even the possibility is enough to motivate her to keep going. What Rye needs is a reason, even a flimsy one, to live. She thinks she finds it in Obsidian, and his murder devastates her. In fact, she finds it in the orphaned, unimpaired children. Rye can channel her experience as a mother, a teacher, and someone who can protect herself toward creating a future for herself and the children. Her choice not to abandon them provides a hopeful note as the story, with its vast tragedies and losses, ends.
