Binti Question 10 - the Edan

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Binti has a strange device that works in various ways throughout the series. At one point it comes apart, and in the end reassembles itself into a new shape. It also had some sapience - at least to the level of the One Ring. Binti was fascinated by it yet never understood it. What do you think the Edan was? What was it trying to do? Did it symbolize something? What was your understanding of the Edan?

Comments

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    That was another element of the book I found hard to wrap my head around. It seemed like an astrolabe (which wasn't an astrolabe at all, but a smart phone) but better. There were so many setting-specific terms in this book I started to loose track, and sadly it didn't come with a glossary. And many of these terms sounded kind of similar - Okwu, Osemba, Oozma, Okuruwo, Okuoko, Otjize - that I started loosing track and confusing what I had learned another one thing with other things.

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    All those terms are from various African languages. I know "Otjize" is the Himba word for their red clay and oil skin and hair treatment. "Okwu" means 'word' in the Igbo language, which is Okorafor's tribe. The others are from Yoruba and other African languages - mostly from Nigeria.

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    Agree with @Apocryphal that it never had much explanation and remained a kind of rabbit-out-of-hat device. But I don't think that really mattered in terms of the intent of the book - we weren't really supposed to get hung up on what it could and could not do, and (I think) were mainly supposed to think of it as an externalised representation of Binti's internal state of development.

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    @RichardAbbott said:
    Agree with @Apocryphal that it never had much explanation and remained a kind of rabbit-out-of-hat device. But I don't think that really mattered in terms of the intent of the book - we weren't really supposed to get hung up on what it could and could not do, and (I think) were mainly supposed to think of it as an externalised representation of Binti's internal state of development.

    Oh! That works! I like that!

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    @RichardAbbott said:
    Agree with @Apocryphal that it never had much explanation and remained a kind of rabbit-out-of-hat device. But I don't think that really mattered in terms of the intent of the book - we weren't really supposed to get hung up on what it could and could not do, and (I think) were mainly supposed to think of it as an externalised representation of Binti's internal state of development.

    I think you've nailed it. The edan is a representation of the mysteries of the universe, and more of it is revealed only when Binti grows in her understanding. Good insight!

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