Julie Vandervort
Morality is, and will always be, a necessary part of any civilization. Even the most unfamiliar and foreign cultures believe in some form of morality whether or not it is apparent to an outsider. In order for a society to function there has to be a set of ethical principles that everyone is expected to follow. If someone acts in an immoral way, there are often consequences. Moral enforces order and harmony within a society. Without morality, there would be chaos and a society would be unable to flourish. Lilith’s past world is an example of a society that lost all morality. Her immoral world ultimately destroyed itself and it was unlivable.
In my opinion, it is human nature to be moral. Everyone learns the difference between right and wrong, its common sense. Even though Lilith and Akin’s world is not entirely composed of humans, they are not beyond morality. For example, when Akin was only a few months old he “learned an important lesson: He would share any pain he caused” (257). This example of moral that exists in Lilith and Akin’s world is similar to our own. Even though we may not physically share in pain that we cause, we still face the consequences. It is made apparent to us that causing pain is immoral and wrong and the majority of people know not to do it.
To humans, it may seem like the Oankalis have created an immoral world. They have taken away many of the rights and freedoms that humans are used to having. The Oankali have even practically put an end to the human race by sterilizing those that refuse to cooperate and by creating a new Oankali-Human hybrid race. However, the Oankali are not exactly immoral. They are nonviolent, peaceful, and they are only inclined to fight if their lives are in danger (260). However, to some humans it may appear as if the Oankali are immoral because of the way they are altering humans.
When Lilith introduces Tino to the village, Wray Ordway makes their morals known. Wray tells Tino, ““You can do as you please here. As long as you don’t hurt anyone, you can stay or go as you like; you can choose your own friends, your own lovers. No one has the right to demand anything from you that you don’t want to give”” (287). The morals of the village are simple, however, they do prevent any conflict and violence from occurring. The Oankali sustain from violence unless it is absolutely necessary. They believe that the main reason the humans destroyed earth is because of their hierarchical tendencies. They see this as a major flaw in human DNA and they have done everything they could to prevent the same situation from happening again.
Morality is culture specific; however, every culture has a standard set of morals. An immoral world would fail; this was proven by the humans when they made the earth unlivable and almost completely ended their race. The Oankali and the humans both view each other as immoral because they are from two different cultures. The humans believe the Oankali are immoral because they are altering human DNA. However, the Oankali saved the human race and the earth. The Oankali believe the humans are immoral because they destroyed the earth due to their hierarchical tendencies which they see as a major flaw. The Oankali want to work together with the humans but it is difficult when they both have very different morals.
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Morality is, and will always be, a necessary part of any civilization. Even the most unfamiliar and foreign cultures believe in some form of morality, whether or not it is apparent to an outsider. In order for a society to function there has to be a set of ethical principles that everyone is expected to follow. If someone acts in an immoral way, there are often consequences. Moral enforces order and harmony within a society. Without morality, there would be chaos, and a society would be unable to flourish. Lilith’s past world is an example of a society that lost all
morality. Her immoral world ultimately destroyed itself and it was unlivable.
In my opinion, it is human nature to be moral, but the culture you grow up in shapes your morals. Everyone learns the difference between right and wrong. Even though Lilith and Akin’s world is not entirely composed of humans, they are not beyond morality. For example, when Akin was only a few months old he “learned an important lesson: He would share any pain he caused” (257). This example of morality that exists in Lilith and Akin’s world is similar to our own. Even though we may not physically share in pain that we cause, we still face the consequences. It is made apparent to us that causing pain is immoral and wrong and the majority of people know not to do it.
Another example is when Lilith introduces Tino to the village, Wray Ordway explains the village’s rules to him. Wray tells Tino, “You can do as you please here. As long as you don’t hurt anyone, you can stay or go as you like; you can choose your own friends, your own lovers. No one has the right to demand anything from you that you don’t want to give” (287). The morals of the village are simple, however, they do prevent any conflict and violence from occurring. The Oankali sustain from violence unless it is absolutely necessary. They believe that the main reason the humans destroyed Earth is because of their hierarchical tendencies. They see this as a major flaw in human DNA and they have done everything they could to prevent the same situation from happening again.
To humans, it may seem like the Oankali have created an immoral world. They have taken away many of the rights and freedoms that humans are used to having. The Oankali have even practically put an end to the human race by sterilizing those that refuse to cooperate and by creating a new Oankali-Human hybrid race. However, the Oankali are not exactly immoral. They are nonviolent, peaceful, and they are only inclined to fight if their lives are in danger (260). However, to some humans it may appear as if the Oankali are immoral because of the way they are altering humans.
Morality is culture specific; however, every culture has a standard set of morals. An immoral world would fail; this was proven by the humans when they made the Earth unlivable and nearly ended their race. The Oankali and the humans both view each other as immoral because they are from two different cultures. The humans believe the Oankali are immoral because they are altering human DNA. However, the Oankali saved the human race as well as the Earth in which they reside. The Oankali believe the humans are immoral because they destroyed the Earth due to their hierarchical tendencies which they see as a major flaw. The Oankali want to work together with the humans but it is difficult when they both have very different morals. If the two cultures could set their moral differences aside and come to a compromise, they could all live peacefully amongst each other.
Your introduction is highly opinionated and interesting. Beyond that, I only have one comment: do you, then, think that our world is, in some sense, a world without morality? After all, Lilith begins in our world (or close to it - the U.S. of the 1980s).
I like the continuity between moral systems which you discuss in the second paragraph.
In the succeeding paragraphs you do quite a nice job of elaborating on the ocntinuity you see even between human and Oankali culture - morality, while varying, is constantly present. It's not a shocking or particularly difficult idea, *but* you do explore it well, using good examples.
Your last paragraph, though, is a bit of a cop-out. You wish that the two cultures (presumably, like many human cultures) could come to a compromise - but you don't bother to imagine what it would look like. In compromises, the devil is always in the details - what would this compromise look like?
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