Prejudice Quotes in The Host

Jeb might not be trying to be cruel here, but he still refers to Wanda's entire species using insect terminology. At this stage, however, he's just ignorant as to how their society works.

Once again, insect terminology, this time used by Melanie even though she's kind of gotten to know Wanderer by this point. Using epithets like this makes the person using them feel superior and the person they're used against feel inferior—even though in this case Wanderer's species is now dominant. Calling her "worm" brings her down to the humans' level.

Many times Wanda sees the humans acting in concert, as though they make decisions strictly through a mob mentality or a hive mind. Maybe she thinks this way because her own species operates in a similar manner—or maybe she understands how hive-like humans can be.