The Hotel Suite Symbol Analysis

The Hotel Suite symbolizes the gulf between humanity and the monolith’s creators, as well as the monolith’s creators’ attempt to bridge that gulf. Designed to make Bowman feel at home, the suite attempts to mimic a hotel room seen on Earth television. However, close inspection of the room reveals errors in the illusion: book pages appear blurry, fabrics are synthetic and unfamiliar, and the contents of the fridges, though edible, consist solely of identical blue slime. The monolith’s creators, in other words, are too far removed from human existence to create a plausible facsimile of human habitation. Still, that they even try is a testament to their goodwill, despite the immense gulf between their two species. Accordingly, the Hotel Suite is a work of translation, a gesture of peace from an alien species. It represents the profound power of communication, even on a purely gestural or symbolic level. Though Bowman can tell the Hotel Suite is not Earth, he quickly picks up on the aliens’ intentions to make him feel comfortable—and he does.