Chapter 16: Call Us – Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Chapter 16, titled “Call Us,” consists of a single poem that reframes personal identity through the lens of the human microbiome. The speaker begins with a petition for the day to grant something that bruises the collective self, immediately establishing a tone of vulnerability and shared experience. The poem then acknowledges that over half of our bodies consist of non-human cells, making our persons vessels for microbial life. From the perspective of those microbes, we are a “boat of a being”—essential transport. The metaphor expands outward: to them, we are a country, a continent, a planet. The voice defines the human microbiome as all the writhing forms living on and inside this body, drafted into service under our life. The pivotal turn comes with the declaration “We are not me—We are we,” dissolving the boundary between individual and collective. The chapter ends with a direct call: “Call us / What we carry,” inviting readers to define identity not by the self alone but by all that is borne within.
Key Events
- Opening petition for a day that bruises the make of the collective.
- Recognition that a majority of the body’s cells are non-human.
- Metaphor of the body as a vessel, specifically a boat, for microbes.
- Scaling of that metaphor to country, continent, and planet.
- Definition of the human microbiome as all forms dwelling on and inside the body.
- Shift from singular “me” to plural “we.”
- Final invitation to be named by what we carry.
Character Development
The poem’s central “character” is the collective voice—the “us” that speaks and is spoken to. This voice moves from a passive, vulnerable posture (grant us, bruise us) toward an active, unified declaration of identity. There is no individual protagonist; the development is communal. By the end, the collective speaker has accepted its nature as a host environment and embraces a definition that includes the microbial passengers. This arc represents a shift from fragmentation to wholeness, from isolated self to ecological self.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- Collective Identity: The refrain “We are not me—We are we” is the chapter’s central theme, arguing that human identity is inherently communal and includes non-human life.
- Vessel / Boat: The body becomes a boat or vehicle for microbes, symbolizing dependence and inter-species relationship.
- Scale: The metaphors grow from boat to country to continent to planet, implying that the body contains multitudes and that the micro-world mirrors the macro.
- Microbiome as Motif: The poem uses the scientific concept of the microbiome as a concrete image for abstract interdependence, grounding it in biology.
- Carrying: The final line “Call us / What we carry” frames identity as a burden or responsibility that is also a definition.
Why This Chapter Matters
“Call Us” is a turning point in the collection that explicitly challenges the reader’s sense of self. It builds on earlier explorations of carrying history, trauma, and collective memory by extending the idea to the most intimate level: the cells inside us. The chapter redefines what it means to be human in ecological and relational terms, urging a humility about our own bodies. In the broader arc of Call Us What We Carry, this poem crystallizes the theme that we are never alone, even within ourselves, and that identity is always shared. It serves as a philosophical anchor for the rest of the book.
Study Questions and Answers
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What does the metaphor of the body as a “boat of a being” suggest about the relationship between humans and their microbiome?
The metaphor suggests that humans are merely vessels or vehicles for the microbes that inhabit them. Just as a boat carries passengers and is essential for their journey, the body provides transport and sustenance for non-human cells. This reframes humans not as masters of their biology but as hosts, emphasizing interdependence and a reversal of scale: we become essential to them, not the other way around. -
How does the poem use scale (country, continent, planet) to reshape the reader’s perception of identity?
By expanding the vessel metaphor from a boat to a country, continent, and planet, the poem suggests that each human body is a world unto itself, containing a vast ecosystem. This scale shift makes the microscopic seem monumental and encourages the reader to see their own body as a landscape of relationships. It challenges anthropocentrism and invites a planetary consciousness that sees the self as a microcosm of larger systems. -
In what way does the line “We are not me / We are we” challenge conventional ideas of individuality and ownership of one’s body?
The line rejects the notion of a self-contained, autonomous individual. By asserting that “we” rather than “me” is the correct pronoun, the poem argues that the body is not exclusively owned by a single consciousness but is a shared environment. This undermines ideas of bodily sovereignty and privacy, replacing them with a model of distributed agency. It asks readers to consider that their identity includes the trillions of microbial lives they carry, making the self inherently plural.