Steve Clark
English Composition
Dr. Adam Johns
5 November, 2008
At the basis of every species, there is a necessity to put personal survival above all other priorities. Humans are no different, in this respect, from any other living creature, but humans perceive this “law” of nature a lot differently than other creatures. Humans have morals. It doesn’t matter how sick and twisted some humans can be, there is no doubt in my mind that at all humans possess morals. Can society reach such a point, where morality disappears, and survival is the only thing worth caring about? In “Adulthood Rites”, Octavia Butler creates a dystopian society void of everything humans had before an apocalyptic war. Akin and Lilith will soon find out that even though survival is on everyone’s mind, that they still have a very keen notion of morals. Octavia Butler uses certain scenes throughout “Adulthood Rites” to show that even the most dangerous can be weakened by their morality.
Morality is the one thing that separates humans from other creatures. Humans can consciously “reorder” their hierarchy of needs, and actually place survival below other priorities. Morality is the mechanism that allows us to do that. Morality says that when someone close to you in danger, that their life is more important than your own. Morality says that even though your survival is at stake, other people must be given an equal opportunity. Early in “Adulthood Rites” Lilith and Akin encounter a Resister in the woods; his name was Tino. Rather than distrusting him automatically, or even trying to kill him, Lilith risked being attacked, by lunging at the man and breaking his weapon. She sensed, through Akin, that the man was not entirely dangerous, and therefore possibly worth the risk of “saving”. Even a person she would have considered to be her enemy, became a member of her camp.
Even though she convinced him to stay at their camp, there is a lot more to Tino than meets the eye. He is a resister, but as Nikanj later explains, he also is a resister to other resister camps. He doesn’t really feel a part of any group. His morality will not allow him to be completely against any one side, so instead, he chooses to not be a part of any side. He had the chance to do harm to Lilith, and couldn’t go through with it. Even though he felt in danger of being attacked himself, his morality simply would not let him hate or kill another living thing.
Akin is a very interesting character. His youth comes with a very obvious degree of naivete, but also shows a great deal of curiosity. Much like any other human child, he is constantly asking questions, and easily becoming frustrated when he isn’t obliged by those around him. Octavia Butler uses Akin to show the development of morality. Although morals are at the basis of every human, they must still be learned and taught. Very early in his young life, he learns to “share any pain he caused”. Akin is quickly learning that humans are dangerous, but they can’t be seen as unanimously dangerous. Akin is learning how to use his senses, to understand human emotions, and to be able to differentiate between the dangerous ones and the not-so dangerous ones. Again, Butler is using Akin to show development of morality. It would be easy for Nikanj and Ahajas to just tell Akin that all full humans are dangerous, and never to trust them. They want to maintain the integrity of humanity, though, and they want to learn about them in hopes of being able to live peacefully again. Even in a completely dystopian world, with just enough supplies to survive, both Lilith and the Oankali understand the utter importance of being morally sound, rather than just surviving on their own.
Human nature is not always as irrational as it may seem. All humans have a need for interaction. It is not enough for humans to survive, if they cannot interact with other humans. It is another unique quality that sets humans apart from other living creatures. Morals will force us to live a certain life, even in spite of danger to our own lives. It is a set of laws that all humans must abide by. Although morality may differ from human to human, it is a common flaw to all humans. It is both our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. Individually, it actually gives us the ability to move survival below our greatest priority, and makes us prone to danger. Collectively, it makes us a superior race because it allows us to have a true bond that no other species could ever possibly have.
2 comments:
In your thesis you talk about morality as a quality that weakens but you could develop this idea more throughout the paper. I think this would make your paper a lot better. Especially look at your last body paragraph. Your point is not very clear. You say that Akin shows the development of morality but it seems as if your describing somehting other than morality. You need to make this connection stronger.
Also, part of the prompt is to adress why the world Lilith and Akin live in is not beyond morality. I don't think you really adressed this in your paper. Because people still seek human bonds?
Something to think about, use it if you want or don't: Tino's choice to not make a choice between the two groups shows morals. The resistors are definitly not morally sound and nor are the Oankali, so by not really assiciating with either one he is demonstrating morality.
He doesn't want to harm Lilith, Akin or the others, and he doesn't want to cause the resistors any harm either.
No citations?
I like your conclusion and the idea that morality is our greatest strength and greatesat weakness.
At the basis of every species, there is a necessity to put personal survival above all other priorities. Humans are no different, in this respect, from any other living creature, but humans perceive this “law” of nature a lot differently than other creatures. Humans have morals. It doesn’t matter how sick and twisted some humans can be, there is no doubt in my mind that at all humans possess morals. Can society reach such a point, where morality disappears, and survival is the only thing worth caring about? In “Adulthood Rites”, Octavia Butler creates a dystopian society void of everything humans had before an apocalyptic war. She does this because it puts humans into a hypothetical situation where there are only two legitimate choices. One is to follow their morals, and attempt to rebuild, and the other is simply to forget morality and survive at all costs. Akin and Lilith will soon find out that even though survival is on everyone’s mind, that they still have a very keen notion of morals. Octavia Butler creates a new humanity torn apart by years of seclusion to show that no situation can ever overcome humanity’s dependence on morality and that even the most dangerous can be weakened by their own morality.
Morality is the one thing that separates humans from all other creatures. Humans can consciously “reorder” their hierarchy of needs, and actually place survival below other priorities. Morality is the mechanism that allows us to do that. Morality says that when someone close to you in danger, that their life is more important than your own. Morality says that even though your survival is at stake, other people must be given an equal opportunity. Early in “Adulthood Rites” Lilith and Akin encounter a Resister in the woods; his name was Tino. Rather than distrusting him automatically, or even trying to kill him, Lilith risked being attacked, by lunging at the man and breaking his weapon. She sensed, through Akin, that the man was not entirely dangerous, and therefore possibly worth the risk of “saving”. Even a person she would have considered to be her enemy, became a member of her camp. Lilith, especially at this point, understands that she is nothing special compared to the other humans. Maybe in Dawn, she played a bigger role, but on Earth, anything is fair game, and her survival will always be at stake. Even with this in mind, her morals led her to put her own safety at risk for this opportunity.
Even though she convinced him to stay at their camp, there is a lot more to Tino than meets the eye. He is a resister, but as Nikanj later explains, he also is a resister to other resister camps. He doesn’t really feel a part of any group. The resisters are too horrible and have no morals whatsoever, but he is not convinced the Oankali are any better. He had the chance to do harm to Lilith, and couldn’t go through with it. Even though he felt in danger of being attacked himself, his morality simply would not let him hate or kill another living thing. He doesn’t believe all that happened with the Oankali, but he also does not know for sure that it is incorrect. Much like Lilith’s situation, he is put into a position where his disposition would lead him to be at the very least reluctant, but he cannot force himself to cause harm to Lilith. He is human, and therefore, is required to abide by his morals. Octavia Butler uses him, much the same way she does Lilith and rest of the human characters. They provide a contrast to the always calculating Oankali in that not every decision they make can be made by a computer. Morals often blind humans from seeing the “big picture” because they become the main priority in any situation, no matter how desperate or dangerous. That is why Butler changes the focus from humans to crossbreeds of humans and Oankali in “Adulthood Rites”.
Akin is the main focal character in “Adulthood Rites” and also a very interesting character. His youth comes with a very obvious degree of naivete, but also shows a great deal of curiosity. Much like any other human child, he is constantly asking questions, and easily becoming frustrated when he isn’t obliged by those around him. Octavia Butler uses Akin to show the development of morality. Although morals are at the basis of every human, they must still be learned and taught. Very early in his young life, he learns to “share any pain he caused”. Akin is quickly learning that humans are dangerous, but they can’t be seen as unanimously dangerous. Akin is learning how to use his senses, to understand human emotions, and to be able to differentiate between the dangerous ones and the not-so dangerous ones. It would be easy for Nikanj and Ahajas to just tell Akin that all full humans are dangerous, and never to trust them. They want to maintain the integrity of humanity, though, and they want to learn about them in hopes of being able to live peacefully again. Akin’s morality will likely develop differently from that of a full human because his foundations simply operate differently. He is unable to forget, and also possesses that need for a definitive answer like the Oankali often do. Human nature teaches us that there will not always be a definitive answer, and that must sometimes be acceptable. Whether Akin becomes more Oankali than human or vice-versa will ultimately depend on his ability to understand this, since no full Oankali would ever have been able to.
Human nature is not always as irrational as it may seem. All humans have a need for interaction. It is not enough for humans to survive, if they cannot interact with other humans. It is another unique quality that sets humans apart from other living creatures. Morals will force us to live a certain life, even in spite of danger to our own lives. It is a set of laws that all humans must abide by. Although morality may differ from human to human, it is a common flaw to all humans. It is both our greatest strength and our greatest weakness. Individually, it actually gives us the ability to move survival below our greatest priority, and makes us prone to danger. Collectively, it makes us a superior race because it allows us to have a true bond that no other species could ever possibly have.
Post a Comment