Kaitlyn Sisk
Everyone has different morals and views of what is right and wrong. In Octavia Butler’s book “Lilith’s Brood,” humans are forced to make a moral decision after the Earth is destroyed: reproduce with another life form, the Oankali, or resist and never have children, which would lead to the end of the human race. This dilemma can be related to the present day debate of the morality of genetic and germline engineering of humans, where the Oankali are the scientists and the resisters are the people against genetic engineering.
One of the present arguments against genetic engineering is that it is time to say enough. Bill McKibben has argued this in his book, “Enough.” He believes that we have progressed enough to live happy, comfortable lives. Genetically engineering humans would cause them to question whether they were the person they are only because of the way they were engineered. He feels we will become dehumanized and we will be “posthuman”(McKibben 113). McKibben also believes that we will begin to lose the meaning of life (McKibben 46). Overall, the point is that this is all meaningless progression, leading to a more meaningless life for humans. McKibben states, “We have reached a point of great comfort and ease relative to the past; the real question is whether, having reached that point, we want to trade it in for something essentially unknown”(McKibben 117). But in “Lilith’s Brood,” the only way to continue life is to make that trade of something unknown. These morals McKibben argues do not have relevance in Lilith’s world.
Although this moral argument may be appropriate and right in our present time, in Lilith’s world, it has no meaning at all. The arguments McKibben and others have against a posthuman future are no longer relevant. It is no longer meaningless progression that is raising these arguments either. There is only one choice for these humans, and sticking to their morals about gene modification on humans is not just progression anymore, it is necessary. It is not enough anymore- they cannot live comfortably without it.
The Oankali have given them their choice though and the ones who join them seem to have enough, but it is the resisters are the ones who do not. The resisters seem to be the ones losing the meaning in their lives. When Tino arrives at Lo, he tells the community, “‘in one week, two guys and a woman hung themselves’”(Butler 280). The resisters are denying themselves what they truly want because they believe it is wrong and immoral to have children who are not completely human. This belief may have been relevant before the war, but now, it is the only way to reproduce. It may also be the only way for these people to feel as if their life has any meaning.
Because of this lack of meaning, and their desire for children, they steal children from the Oankali villages. This is contradictory and shows the people’s inner conflict as well. Lilith says to Tate, “‘your only answer has been to steal kids from us. The same kids you’re too good to have yourselves’”(Butler 417). Another way that the morals of humans from the pre-war world come up is when the sisters Amma and Shkaht are captured with Akin. Neci wants the girls very badly, but she cannot accept the fact that they have sensory tentacles like the Oankali, so she plans to cut them off. Neci seems to be forgetting her morals about hurting others because of her strong desire to have normal children. This reveals that the resisters are only being held back by their morals from the pre-war world, but given their situation, they no longer have relevance, but the resisters still cannot forget them.
In Lilith’s world, there is no longer genetic modification to progress and become better humans, now it has become necessary to continue the human race, at least in some form. Morality, as we know it, must change and Lilith’s world is beyond it.
2 comments:
I think you first need to make your thesis, or argument, more clear in your introduction. I like the way you introduce your topic and the analogy you use with the Oankali and the resistors, but I can't pinpoint your exact argument.
Overall, I think that a key missing part to your paper is *your* opinions and views. Try incorporating yourself into your paper and saying what you think of the situation. Do you agree with McKibben that if we don't say "enough" then we are just going to lead meaningless lives? Why do you think it is so hard for the resistors to change their morals and beliefs and force themselves to stay away from the Oankali, even though that's the only way they can get what they really want? By including your own ideas on these issues, I think you can strengthen your paper's argument and you can decide for yourself whether morality has any relevance in Lilith and Akin's world.
You incorporate a lot of good quotes on McKibben but I think you could elaborate on them a bit more and try to relate them further to "Lilith's Brood." Especially focus on *why* McKibben's morals have no relevance in Lilith's world. You touch on it a little bit in your third paragraph but I think you bring up a really good point and could provide a further explanation about it. Maybe discuss how necessary it is for the humans to either keep their morals and become resistors, or change their morals and live in the Oankali society and have the ability to have children.
You make another good point when you talk about how the only way the resistors are able to bring meaning to their lives is by reproducing, but they cannot because there's a conflict with their personal morals. Maybe you can use Tate's attachment to Akin as an example of this. We know that Tate would like nothing more than to have a child of her own, but her morals and her husband influence her decision to stay with the resistors.
I liked your example with Neci forgetting her morals about hurting others because she wants the two girls to look as human as possible. You could elaborate on this and show how Neci is able to influence others into forgetting their own morals too.
There are some parts where you summarize the plot a bit too much, but I think if you elaborate on the examples you included, you can show why these quotes are significant and meaningful to your paper. Your conclusion seems to just abruptly end. Maybe try to add a few more sentences to it to show why your points and arguments are important and expand on why Lilith’s world seems to be beyond morality.
Everyone has different morals and views of what is right and wrong. In Octavia Butler’s book “Lilith’s Brood,” humans are forced to make a moral decision after the Earth is destroyed: reproduce with another life form, the Oankali, or resist and never have children, which would lead to the end of the human race. This dilemma can be related to the present day debate of the morality of genetic and germline engineering of humans, where the Oankali are the scientists and the resisters are the people against genetic engineering. In this new world, these same morals have no relevance anymore.
One of the present arguments against genetic engineering is that it is time to say enough. Bill McKibben has argued this in his book, “Enough.” He believes that we have progressed enough to live happy, comfortable lives. Genetically engineering humans would cause them to question whether they were the person they are only because of the way they were engineered. He feels we will become dehumanized and we will be “posthuman”(McKibben 113). McKibben also believes that we will begin to lose the meaning of life (McKibben 46). Overall, the point is that this is all meaningless progression, leading to a more meaningless life for humans. McKibben states, “We have reached a point of great comfort and ease relative to the past; the real question is whether, having reached that point, we want to trade it in for something essentially unknown”(McKibben 117).
Although this moral argument may be appropriate in our present time, in Lilith’s world, it has no meaning at all. The arguments McKibben and others have against a posthuman future are no longer relevant. The only way in Lilith’s world to continue life is to make that trade of something unknown. It is no longer meaningless progression that is raising these arguments either. There is only one choice for these humans, and sticking to their morals about gene modification on humans is not just progression anymore, it is necessary. It is not enough anymore- they cannot live comfortably without it. But Butler is trying to show us that in the present, real world, if we progress any further, it is inevitable we will blow ourselves up and end the world. Only with the chance of starting completely over and having the Oankali supervise are the resisters morals not relevant.
The Oankali have given them their choice though and the ones who join them seem to have enough, but it is the resisters are the ones who do not. The resisters seem to be the ones losing the meaning in their lives. When Tino arrives at Lo, he tells the community, “‘in one week, two guys and a woman hung themselves’”(Butler 280). The resisters are denying themselves what they truly want because they believe it is wrong and immoral to have children who are not completely human. This belief may have been relevant before the war, but now, it is the only way to reproduce. It may also be the only way for these people to feel as if their life has any meaning.
Because of this lack of meaning, and their desire for children, they steal children from the Oankali villages. This is contradictory and shows the people’s inner conflict as well. Lilith says to Tate, “‘your only answer has been to steal kids from us. The same kids you’re too good to have yourselves’”(Butler 417). Tate wants to have children but her husband and her pre-war morals are stopping her. Another way that the morals of humans from the pre-war world come up is when the sisters Amma and Shkaht are captured with Akin. Neci wants the girls very badly, but she cannot accept the fact that they have sensory tentacles like the Oankali, so she plans to cut them off. Neci seems to be forgetting her morals about hurting others because of her strong desire to have normal children. Neci almost convinces everyone to do this, even though they know it is wrong. Akin tells Tate about her influence and says, “’People believe her after a while. They do what she wants them to’”(Butler 398). These examples show that morals are strongly influenced by other people. This reveals that the resisters are being held back by their morals from the pre-war world and each other. The resisters cannot let go of these beliefs because they have been part of humans since the beginning of time. Humanity’s fear of the unknown, influences from others, and their desire to go back to their old world has led them to resist.
When comparing the Oankali with genetic engineering, we see that nothing they do is meaningless. They are constantly progressing and bettering themselves and their offspring. But we are not Oankali and we cannot expect to keep progressing and only have positive effects. We are humans with many flaws and high intelligence, and if we are not careful it could lead to our self-destruction. We should not genetically engineer ourselves; we have to learn to say enough. In Lilith’s world, there is no longer genetic modification to progress and become better humans, now it has become necessary to continue the human race, at least in some form. Morality, as we know it, must change and Lilith’s world is beyond it.
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