Siatta Merchant
Seminar in Composition
Morality
“We are in a situation beyond morality” is a line from Solaris that perfectly conceptualizes the world in which Lilith and Akin live. I define morality as conformity to the concepts of right and wrong of a community in a world where judgment and self-superiority are accepted; self-superiority meaning our ability of placing ourselves above those that are not compliant to our standards. In this case, Lilith’s view of morality has no relevance to the Oankali re-creation of human life on earth.
Lilith’s newly altered existence is one in which all past judgmental and discriminatory forethoughts must be forgotten. Jdahya says to Lilith before she is introduced to his world, “this room will be nothing more than a memory soon (27).” The room represents all of these judgments and ideas of right and wrong, because in her struggle to accept him for all he is, her mindset transcends allowing acceptance of a new way and of a new people. By allowing herself, overtime, to be open to new formations of being, Lilith becomes detached from the existence of morality.
When Lilith is told that she must awaken no fewer than forty humans, she again faces a struggle, but this time it is a struggle that will assist her, as a leader, in helping others separate from this judgment and self-superiority. “No wall would open to let her or those she Awakened out until at least forty human beings were ready to meet the Oankali. (115)” They must all have a reawakening, one that involves overlooking what they have been taught is right, wrong, and normal. Morality is a concept that we as humans are taught within our societies, established in all of our many backgrounds, but it is only a barrier to complete tolerance and in Butler’s words “humanity in its attempt to destroy itself (15).”
Lilith’s continuous questioning and inconclusive reactions show that she has no idea what to make of what has happened to her and cannot bring herself to be completely trusting of the Oankali. They have already done the “immoral” thing, the Oankali have taken and kept a being locked up in one room for years, they have investigated and explored her nature and body without consent, and they have toyed with her perception of time in terms of day-to-day allotments, but also in terms of life and death. In their world distinguishing right and wrongful doing would only get in the way of the work the Oankali and oolio have set out to do. In order to save the human species, they must think and act in a way that is far, far beyond morality.
2 comments:
Your last paragraph has a strong connection to morality and the concepts of right and wrong, however I think your other examples are lacking a clear association. You defined morality as “conformity to the concepts of right and wrong of a community in a world where judgment and self-superiority are accepted,” and I think your second paragraph is a little bit of a stretch concerning this definition. How can the room represent all of judgments and ideas of right and wrong if when she leaves it, and symbolically “detaches herself from morality,” Lilith clearly still holds on to these judgments of right and wrong when she begins to Awaken people? Even though she is given an advantage over the other humans, she uses her morality and sense of what is wrong and what is right to control her behavior.
The second part of your definition of morality, “a world where judgment and self-superiority are accepted,” does relate to the example in your third paragraph, but is Lilith’s superiority really accepted by the others? Also, when you begin to talk about morality in general, I think that would fit best in your first paragraph where you defined morality.
I really liked how you broke down your definition and connected each part with an example, separating them by paragraph; it keeps your thoughts organized and creates a nice flow within the paper.
Siatta Merchant
Seminar in Composition
Morality
“We are in a situation beyond morality” is a line from Solaris that perfectly conceptualizes the world in which Lilith and Akin live. I define morality as conformity to the concepts of right and wrong of a community in a world where judgment and self-superiority are accepted; self-superiority meaning our ability of placing ourselves above those that are not compliant to our standards. In this case, Lilith’s view of morality has no relevance to the Oankali re-creation of human life on earth. Morality is a concept that we as humans are taught within our societies, established in all of our many backgrounds, but it is only a barrier to complete tolerance and in Butler’s words “humanity in its attempt to destroy itself (15).”
When Lilith is told that she must awaken no fewer than forty humans, she faces a struggle, but this time it is a struggle that will assist her, as a leader, in helping others and herself finally separate from this judgment and self-superiority. “No wall would open to let her or those she Awakened out until at least forty human beings were ready to meet the Oankali. (115)” They must all have a reawakening, one that involves overlooking what they have been taught is right, wrong, and normal. Lilith’s continuous questioning and inconclusive reactions show that she has no idea what to make of what has happened to her and cannot bring herself to be completely trusting of the Oankali. They have already done the “immoral” thing, the Oankali have taken and kept a being locked up in one room for years, they have investigated and explored her nature and body without consent, and they have toyed with her perception of time in terms of day-to-day allotments, but also in terms of life and death.
While some readers may believe the Oankali only hold a strong dominance over those that have chosen to go along with their ideals, they also have a force in the actions of the resisters. When the Oankali made resisters infertile, they provoked an evil and rather vengeful attitude within them, causing them to engage in immoral activities. In our society, we would say that the Oankali brought the resisters down to their level, where as the Oankali may say they brought them up to a new way of thinking and being. The Oankali, who have no separation between right and wrong, brought resisters to a situation beyond morality, one of survival. Instead of instilling Darwin’s concept of the survival of the fittest, the resisters attempted to make it so that if they couldn’t live on through their kids, neither could the others. This immorality would dismiss any chance of self- superiority and bring judgment to a hypocritical stance. Once this line was crossed, all were now led astray from morality. If the resisters finally understood the meaning of the Oankali way, they too, could live at peace.
In the Oankali world, distinguishing right and wrongful doing would only get in the way of the work the Oankali and oolio have set out to do. In order to save the human species, they must think and act in a way that is far, far beyond morality.
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