Dr. Adam Johns
Assignment #2
March 30, 2009
Beyond Morality
Morality is what someone believes is the difference between right and wrong (and for most cultures it’s the same). In this world today everyone has to have so type of morals that they have to go by, so they can be a good person. It doesn’t always mean that they follow all of their rules but they do try. And if they don’t there is always some type of moral lesson that comes out of it. In the novel Lilith’s Brood, by Octavia Butler, one might ask is Lilith and her son Akin’s world is beyond morality or not?
To answer this question, for me I would say yes, Lilith and Akin’s world is beyond morality of what us humans believe is right and wrong. I believe, when the Oankali made Lilith the leader of the humans, and started to make different changes in her, her world and morals started to change. She tried to stand up for what she thought was right, but the Oankali did what they wanted anyway. Lilith lost her way of living and her life when she became the leader. Most of her ways of thinking has been changed by the Oankali.
As Lilith’s life went on she was forced to have children when she didn’t want to. It was against her morals to have a baby without even knowing or having some say in getting pregnant. The Oankali went against her will to get what they wanted out of her, with no care in the world. They even have done this with the father of the children Joseph. Joseph explained to Nikanj that he didn’t want to have relations with him, but Nikanj did it anyway. Joseph felt that it was wrong for him to have relations with Nikanj, because he thought of Nikanj as a male. For most humans having relations with the same sex is wrong.
Oankali manipulate humans into doing what they think is right or what they believe is good for you. They really don’t mean any harm, but I don’t think they understand certain things when it comes to humans. After they have gotten you to do what they want, and have shown you that they will make you no matter what; they humans just end up following the Oankali’s rules. Lilith realized this a long time ago that her morals didn’t matter anymore. She knew that now she would have to go by what the Oankali believes what’s right and wrong. And her children are already born with Oankali’s morals, so she doesn’t have to teach them as much as she had to learn.
In conclusion, I do believe that Lilith and Akin’s world is beyond morality, but beyond the human morality. The way they are living is going against human morals, but as you read how the Oankali are living, they are following their morals just fine. I do feel that it is wrong how the Oankali manipulate the humans, because they are making them change what they believe in. I think that they should have given them more choices to choose how they wanted to live, instead of just changing them. But overall Lilith and Akin’s world is going fine, because they are living by Oankali’s morals.
1 comment:
Hey Alisha!
I think I may have been your original partner and I don't know if you got assigned to a new one, so I'll comment on your paper!
I think your perspective on the morality of the Oankali way of life is really interesting, but I think you are lacking a strong counterargument to your thesis. To a human, what the Oankali do is wrong, but to the Oankali, the violence of humans is evil. You begin to discuss this in the conclusion of your paper, but I think you should put it in an earlier paragraph so it doesn't dilute your argument in the conclusion.
Also, it seems in this paper like Lilith is completely against the Oankali way of life, when in the book she really isn't. She is relatively open to the new way of life (compared to other humans). I think you can address this and still argue your thesis effectively.
Finally, I'm not sure if your paper addresses the prompt. It definitely discusses morality, which Adam talks about in the prompt, but the main idea is whether or not it is moral for Akin to develop the colonization on Mars. I think you could talk about this and still use a lot of the ideas you have in this paper.
That's about all I have! Happy revisions and good luck on your final project!
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