Colin Conner
Dr. Adam Johns
Seminar in Composition
5 November 2008
Morality Questioned
Morality is defined as the quality of being in accord with standards of right or good conduct. I agree with this definition of morality saying that morality revolves around making decisions that you feel are right or just, but feel that it is immoral to try and impose your morals on someone else. In Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood, it seems as though morality has come into question because of the Oankali’s immoral practices. This idea seems to mirror the quote from Solaris, “we are in a situation beyond morality.” The Oankali are introducing procedures, such as genetic engineering that in today’s world are argued as immoral. Because the Oankali are in control of most of the Earth, they can get away with doing things that are against human morals without any argument from the humans that live among them. But the resisters, or the humans that oppose the Oankali and their ways, hold strong to their morals and do not allow themselves to succumb to “trading” with the Oankali. Although the resisters feel that they are acting as the most moral of beings, to me it seems as though they just as immoral as any of the Oankali, or the humans living with the Oankali. Everyone in Lilith’s Brood is acting in a somewhat immoral way, causing society as a whole to turn upside-down.
The Oankali attempts to push what they believe are moral ideals onto the humans that they have rescued from Earth. In today’s society many people feel that genetic engineering (which is the “trade” that Oankali want to make) is immoral. The Oankali give humans no real chance to choose if they want to “trade” or not, so this can create conflict. They could either accept this trade and live on Earth, or be left on the ship to try again or to live out their life. Lilith was given even less of a choice because since she was chosen she would have to trade with the Oankali, or as Nikanj offered, be killed by their sting and they would find someone else. Although morals that are shared between individuals in a society secure that society, people cannot be forced into accepting morals, they have to believe in the morals for true security. If people do not all agree with the morals, you have people that break off from the group and become resisters.
The resisters want the Oankali just to leave them alone and to let them live life on Earth like they did before the war, but since the Oankali want to “trade” the resisters resort to immoral practices. Because the Oankali have made it so human are infertile without Oankali interaction, the resisters decide to steal the new construct babies. This does nothing but make morality a thing of the past. When the raiders take Akin, not only do they steal a prized construct baby, but they also kill Tino, acting like a life is an easily disposable thing. None of their actions were justified, and no one truly benefitted from baby being stolen. The raiders eventually get what they had coming to them when Tino’s father and friends attack and kill many of the raiders. If the resisters would just live by positive morals, maybe the Oankali would believe that they could trust them and would be willing to adapt to their morals so that they could all live in harmony. Or if the resisters were able to accept the fact that the Oankali saved their lives and they should be willing to repay them by accepting their trade for the benefit of mankind. This could lead to a single, secure, and prosperous society of Oankalis and humans.
Morality allows for many different interpretations, many involving beliefs relating to “drinking, drugs, sex, gambling, etc,” but it seems that it deals with any conflict where you have a right and a wrong decision. Our morality states what we think is the right decision in those situations. Our culture, religion, friends, and family most often influence our decisions. It makes since that in a society where there is very little religion, and most of the friends and family know to us were killed in the war, that there would be many conflicts in morality. Everyone would have their individual opinion. Because of this, people will push their beliefs onto other people trying to convince them they are right. Because of this it seems this caused “a situation beyond morality” where there are only conflicts in morality, no agreed understanding. As A.J Ayer states in Humanist Outlook, “No moral system can rest solely on authority.”
2 comments:
Sorry this is a little late - I was traveling for an Ultimate tournament this weekend
Colin Conner
Dr. Adam Johns
Seminar in Composition
5 November 2008
Morality Questioned
Morality is defined as “conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.” (www.dictionary.com) I agree with this definition of morality; that it revolves around making decisions that you feel and know to be right or just. I define immorality as imposing your morals on someone else instead of letting him or her decide what is right. In Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood, coming up with a definition for morality is as difficult as determining the gender of the alien Oankali. The Oankali introduce procedures such as genetic engineering that, in today’s world, are argued as immoral. Since the Oankali are in control of most of the Earth, they can get away with doing things that are against human morals with only a small amount of argument from the humans that live among them. This predicament seems to mirror the quote from Solaris, “we are in a situation beyond morality.” The resisters, those humans who oppose the Oankali and their ways, hold strong to their morals and do not allow themselves to succumb to “trading”, or cross-breeding, with the Oankali. Although the resisters feel that they are acting as the most moral of beings by not allowing themselves to be changed by the Oankali, it seems as though they are just as immoral as any of the Oankali, or the humans living with the Oankali. Everyone in Lilith’s Brood is acting in a somewhat immoral way, causing society as a whole to turn upside-down.
The Oankali people attempt to push what they believe are moral ideals onto the humans that they have rescued from Earth. In today’s society, many people feel that genetic engineering (which is the “trade” that the Oankali want to make) is immoral. The Oankali give humans no real chance to choose if they want to “trade” or not, so this creates a conflict. The humans can both accept this violation of their morals and live on Earth, or they can be left on the ship to try again or to live out the rest of their life as a captive. Lilith was given even less of a choice because since she was chosen she would have to trade with the Oankali, or as Nikanj offered, be killed by their sting and they would find someone else. Although morals that are shared between individuals in a society secure that society, people cannot be forced into accepting morals. Consider the history of the Spanish conquistadors and what they did to the native Mayan people in the name of Christianity and the King of Spain, and how it lead to the extinction of the Maya. The conquistadors felt they had God on their side, and that their actions were moral. The Mayans, however, wanted no part of the Spaniard’s morals because they had created their own values, beliefs and society, and, like the resisters, often killed their captors or killed themselves instead of being captured. Just like the Oankali changing humans with their "trading", the conquistadors introduced diseases the Mayans had never experienced when the Spanish men began having relations with the Mayan women, often against their will. This imposition of one group upon another is captured in this exchange between Tino and Nikanj:
“Trade,” Tino said scornfully, “I don’t know what I’d call what you’re doing to us, but it isn’t a trade. Trade is when two people agree to an exchange.”
“Yes.”
“It doesn’t involve coercion.”
“We have something you need. You have something we need.”
“We didn’t need anything before you got here!”
“You were dying.” (Butler 289).
The resisters want the Oankali just to leave them alone and to let them live life on Earth like they did before the war, but since the Oankali want to “trade”, the resisters resort to immoral practices like murder. The Oankali have made it so humans are infertile without Oankali interaction, so the resisters decide to steal the new construct babies. This does nothing but make morality a thing of the past. When the raiders take Akin, they steal a prized construct baby, and they also kill Tino, acting like a life is an easily disposable thing. None of their actions were justified, and no one truly benefited from babies being stolen. The raiders eventually get what they had coming to them when Tino’s father and friends attack and kill many of the raiders.
If the resisters would just return to making moral decisions, maybe the Oankali would believe that they could trust them. Maybe they could all live in harmony. Or, if the resisters were able to accept the fact that the Oankali saved their lives, they should be willing to repay them by accepting their trade for the benefit of mankind. This could lead to a single, secure, and prosperous society of Oankalis and humans. Lilith says, “I don’t want to know what you call us. But spend some time with us. Maybe you’ll accept our definition of ourselves,” (Butler 271).
Morality allows for many different interpretations, many involving beliefs relating to “drinking, drugs, sex, gambling, etc,” but it seems that it deals with any conflict where you have a right and a wrong decision. Our morality makes us do what we think is the right decision in those situations. Our culture, religion, friends, and family most often influence our decisions. For the resisters, it makes sense that in a society where there is very little religion, and most of the friends and family known to them were killed in the war, that there would be many conflicts in morality. Everyone would have his or her own interpretation of morality. Because of this, people will push their beliefs onto other people, trying to convince them they are right. This combination of stress and desperation caused “a situation beyond morality” where there are only conflicts in morality, no agreed understanding. As A.J Ayer states in Humanist Outlook, “No moral system can rest solely on authority.”
I think you did a great job of bringing your ideas into a sense of understanding for the readers. I really liked your links between Christianity within the Spaniards and how their morals were not accepted by the Mayans. Same goes with the Oankali and the humans. The humans act as the Mayans in that they don't want to adopt the Oankalis morals because they have their own. You did a really nice job of making this apparent. You also did a good job of bringing out a nice definition of morality throughout your paper and how sometimes morality leads straight to conflict, as it is in this book. Overall, good job.
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