What are the Novums in this novel (technologies, abilities, or phenomenon our world doesn’t share)?
1. Re-animation (Awakening)
2. Lilith’s Food, her edible bowl (4)
3. Lilith’s jaket and pants (4)
4. Humanicide (6)
Ch 1 – Captivity
CHARACTERS
Lilith Iyapo – She remembers being 26, but she doesn’t know how long she’s been captive or how long she’s been dead prior to “Awakening” (5). Her immediate family died before the nuclear war on earth.
Sharad – A boy placed in the cell with Lilith (8). Lilith enjoys his company. Sharad learns her songs, but Lilith is slower to catch on.
Captors – “only to captured by heaven knew who and imprisoned” (6). They give her Sharad and then take him away
Plot Summary:
Lilith Iyapo finds herself in captivity. She struggles to recount her past, and she fights to get out of her cell in vain. Lilith's family members have died and Earth has been rendered volitile to humans because of nuclear war. By the end of the chapter, Lilith Awakens with a boy in her cell who is very reluctant to interact with her. The boy, Sharad, eventually warms up to her. Her captors take her away.
Journal Prompt:
- (P 3-5) Lilith finds herself in a state of powerlessness and her “only currency is cooperation” (6). Write about a time when you felt powerless and cooperation was your only currency.
- (P 7) Being in captivity has given Lilith a renewed sense of gratitude for simple pleasures (songs, books, etc.) Write about a traumatic moment or epiphany that made you re-think your gratitude for simple pleasures such as songs, books, being with loved ones, etc. OR Write about a time you were alone for a while and it led to a re-evaluation of something or a new sense of gratitude.
Ch 2 – A Close Encounter
CHARACTERS
Oankali - “I’m not a man,” he said. “I’m not a human being.” (10).
Jdahya – explains to Lilith they are on a “ship” orbiting Earth outside of the moon’s orbit. Also tells her the destiny of Earth and the Oankali attempt to reclaim the living humans.
Lilith – She has many questions, especially “what do you want of us?” which do not get answered by Jdahya (14).
Plot Summary:
Lilith encounters an Oankali male named Jdahya whose purpose it is to acquaint her to interacting with Oankali. Jdahya tells Lilith what has happened to Earth: how they are orbiting it, how the Oankali have been reclaiming humans, and how Lilith has been asleep for 250 years (16). Jdahya tells Lilith about the Oankali’s failed attempts at Awakening humans, especially when they Awoke humans together at the same time who turned violent. Furthermore, we find out that someone is listening in from above on their conversation (17). Jdahya tells Lilith that once she is comfortable with him, he will take her outside.
Journal Question:
- This chapter describes the Oankali, Jdahya, in detail. What does he look like? What can Jdahya do that is different from humans? Either draw or describe Jdahya with your own words in your journal. Refer to pages 11, 12, and 23 (Jdahya morphs from his normal state on 23, it looks human-like to Lilith).
Ch 3 – Jdahya Catches Lilith up on the Past 250 Years
Novums
- Ooloi, who are neither male, nor female and referred to as “its” (20).
- Oankali are intergalactic “traders” of genetic material
Plot Summary:
Jdahya continues to stay in Lilith’s cell with her and persists in forcing her to stay close to him and get used to looking at him. She learns from him that she had a cancer and it was removed by their doctors, Ooloi, who are neither male, nor female and referred to as “its” (20). Jdahya tells Lilith that they have worked with many humans before her and about a doctor who lived with them and cooperated with them until she died at the age of 113. Finally, Lilith finds out that she is 28 years old now because she had been Awake for two of those last 250 years; Jdahya reveals that “this room will be nothing more than a memory for you soon” (25).
Journal Prompt:
- (P 3-5) Lilith finds herself in a state of powerlessness and her “only currency is cooperation” (6). Write about a time when you felt powerless and cooperation was your only currency.
- In discussing the nature of the Oankali as genetic traders with Jdahya, Lilith notes that "we used to do that to animals" (21). Lilith is anything but comfortable with being tinkered with by the Oankali, but they do remove her cancer for her. Does anything disagree with you in this situation? How do we have to trust others in this way in our own lives? Are the Oankali out of line in any way? Why or why not?
I disagree with the actions of the Oankali. Lilith did not ask them to save her. She did not call up to any unearthly being(s) and ask to be rescued. I think it is very out of line for the Oankali to assume that they know what Lilith would want; they can't read human minds. If the Oankali had come to Earth and asked Lilith if she wanted their help before being taken onto the ship, then it would have been acceptable. One person’s rights end where another person’s rights begin. The right of the Oankali to help others only extends as far as Lilith's right to make decisions for herself. The Oankali did cure Lilith of her cancer, but they had no guarantees. Doctors offer different medications or risky surgeries on cancer patients and they have the right to decline. In the same way, Lilith should have been offered a choice.
ReplyDeleteHumans should not put their trust in the Oankali. The Oankali cannot relate to the humans and the humans cannot relate to the Oankali. With no knowledge or connection to the beings that have taken her captive, and no way to gauge reality, Lilith should not trust them. In the Holocaust many Europeans were told to trust the Nazis that they were going to a camp and that they were just going to take a shower; but in reality these people were tortured and senselessly killed. It is very possible that these beings are lying to Lilith or using her.
However, we trust people everyday without knowing a thing about them. We trust the bus driver not to crash on the way to OU. We trust the Starbucks girl not to poison our lattes. We trust the other students not to go psycho and bring a gun to class. We just push aside those worries and focus on something else- we are an ignorant population.
When I was in New York City this past weekend, I encountered a situation where I felt powerless and “cooperation was my only currency.” My roommate and I had just left time the restaurant where our business group was having dinner. We decided to try to navigate the NYC Metro by ourselves. We swiped our cards and hopped on the subway. We were sitting down having a conversation when a Jamaican man started talking to us. He was asking us where we were from and where we were trying to go. We told him that we were trying to get to the World Trade Center. He told us we were on the wrong train and that the train we were on was heading to different island, Queens. We were shocked and confused because we thought we were going the right way. The man pointed us to a subway map and showed us were we needed to be. At the next stop he got off the train with us and waited until the right train came and sent us on our way.
ReplyDeleteMy roommate and I felt powerless because we were lost in a big city going to a place we had heard bad things. The fact that it was getting dark didn’t help much either. We had to trust a stranger that we met on the subway to help us get back to our hotel. We had asked people for directions earlier in the day and some of them were hesitant to give us directions because they were unsure. We had to cooperate with this stranger in order to get back safely.
There are a few things that I disagree with that Jdahya and the Oankali's are doing. The first thing that I disagree with is that the Oankali people preformed a surgery operation without Lilith’s consent or without her even being aware she even had cancer. The right thing to do would have been to make sure Lilith was aware of the situation she was in. The second thing I disagree with is the fact that the Oankali people kept her in captivity for hundreds of years and never gave her any clue or explanation on why she was being held there and who she was being held captive by. I think it would be hard to trust someone who has held you captive for hundreds of years with no explanation. The third things that I’m a little unsure about is Jdahya really telling the truth about other human people living amongst the Oankali people and interacting with them on a daily basis. Jdahya could be lying to Lilith to just try and earn her trust hoping she would cooperate easily and not try and kill him or harm herself. If I were In Lilith shoes I would find it hard to trust anything that Jdahya was telling me.
ReplyDeleteEvery day we put our trust is many different people, we have to trust our friends, doctors, teachers, and even that stranger you meet on the street. We have to trust that they are looking out for your best interest and they have to trust that you are looking out for their best interest. Every day you hope that they will lead you in the right direction and never do anything to cause you harm. One and all constantly do what they can to make sure people can keep their trust in them because once someone looses trust it is a hard thing to regain. That’s why I believe that Lilith should not put all of her trust into in to the things Jdahya is telling her.
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ReplyDeleteI think Lilith is right in her questioning of the Oankali. She doesn’t know who they are, where they’re from, and what their motives are. For all she knows everything Jdahya has told her could be a lie. Although Jdahya seems to be a truthful person so far Lilith should remain cautious. The mere fact that they cured her cancer is an indicator. The Oankali cured her because they could benefit from it, not because it was the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteIn the same vain we trust our physicians and scientist with our own lives. If someone is ill or needs some kind of surgery they turn to a doctor to figure out what’s wrong and fix it. Our lives are in their hands and we have to trust that they’ll act in good faith. In a way we also put scientists in charge with our lives. Scientists are in charge of creating and regulating the food we eat and the drugs we take. We trust that they won’t tamper with them in a way that will hurt us.
I think the Oankali were out of line when they removed Lilith’s cancer, they should have asked for her permission first. The chances are more likely than not that Lilith would have let them remove her cancer but having her permission would have been nice. I think her permission was a necessity in this situation because they used her cancer.
The Oankali are not much different than the humans.
ReplyDeleteThey feel as though they have the power to tamper in the affairs of other species without their consent. Their motives seems to be beneficial to humanity but we have not been told that the human party agreed to the "trade". It would almost seem as though the Oankali's motives are liken to a common human flaw; selfishness. They get what they want without asking and the deal just so happens to benefit mankind, or so it seems.
something smells fishy...
I can think of a time when I was powerless and all I could do was cooperate. I was driving back from Cincinnati after I had picked up my transcripts. I had gotten lost on the way back to Athens and came up to a three way intersection. Panicking, I hit the brakes, but I was too slow and my car fell in a ditch just outside of a small town called Sabine, Ohio. Still don't really know where that is. All I could do was sit there and wait for someone to pull up. Luckily, man pulled up and called his son to tow me out. As he pulled my damaged car out of the ditch, I pulled out my wallet and asked him if he needed my billing address. Luckily, he pulled me out for free.
ReplyDeleteAlot of what the Ounkali are doing is not right. This genetic trade seems unfair to Lilith and just putting captives in and taking them out of the room while telling Lilith nothing seems unjust. Consent or no consent, what they're doing is ultimately beneficial to humanity, and they had saved Lilith's life in the process. Whether you agree to what they're doing, if you owe them your life and are in that much debt to them, ultimately you have to pull out your wallet and ask how much.