Ch 1: Lilith is introduced to Jdahya’s family. His wife Tediin is the largest in the family and their ooloi child is named Nikanj. She takes a disliking to the ooloi, Kahguyaht, since he was “smug and tended to treat her condescendingly” (Butler 46). Lilith finds that although Jdahya tells her “the Oankali were not hierarchical, the ooloi seemed to be the head of the house” (Butler 46).
Response: Jdahya says the Oankali are not hierarchical yet Lilith observes Kahguyaht to be the leader. Do you think any society can exist without leadership?
Lilith is finally given human food to eat again, and finds out that although some Oankali foods will poison her, the Oankali can learn to eat any human food that could potentially be harmful to them. Although Lilith is intrigued by the Oankali’s powers to neutralize foods, as humans today we also take precautions to make our foods so that they are not harmful to eat. The difference is that we cook them with tools or cut out toxic parts.
Thus far in the novel it seems that many of the Oankali's powers humans also have. Humans can surgically or chemically treat cancer, and humans cook and pasteurize food. However, the striking difference between our methods and the Oankali's methods is that we accomplish them with tools rather than our mind and being. Our use of tools separates us from most all animals, including the Oankali.
Response: The Oankali are able to adapt and evolve much quicker than humans. Do you think that human evolution is being halted by the use of tools?
Ch 2: Kahguyaht takes Lilith to see Sharad, who is being kept alive in a plant. Kahguyaht explains that the plant used to carnivorously eat people until they changed the plant’s genetics to keep the human alive but not kill it.
The Oankali have put humans into a deep sleep, to heal some and wait for the right time. Which is similar to when doctors place patients into a medically induced coma until their body is healed enough to be awakened.
This reminds me of the Matrix, where humanity was kept in pods to keep them alive but dormant. Kauguyhat says that on the ship, they “float in a bath of nutrients and water” (Butler 52), which is much like the contents of a Matrix pod.
Kahguyaht then brings Lilith back to Jdahya's house to start her lessons with Nikanj. Why would the Oankali leave Lilith to be taught by a child?
Kids are a basic reflection of a society’s culture and values. In America we value fame and fortune, drama, technology, and family among others.
Ch 3: Nikanj shows off Lilith to his other Oankali friends. She is compared to a pet for Nikanj and wonders "How is a pet supposed to feel? How do zoo animals feel?" (Butler 56).
Response: Describe a time in which you were being shown off for some reason good or bad and how you felt afterward.
Ch 4: Lilith sets two goals for herself. 1. Speak with another human. 2. Catch an Oankali in a lie. She has little luck accomplishing either task. As her and Nikanj exchange knowledge, Nikanj
appears more and more like Sharad, however, Nikanj has a shorter temperament. When Lilith herself becomes frustrated at her slow learning capabilities she asks Nikanj for paper and a pen, however, he declines and insists that she is not allowed.
Response: Why do you think Lilith is denied any means for recording information? What implications do records and history have on how we live our lives?
Lilith begins to wander about the ship, which gives her a sense of freedom. She overhears some Oankali talking about her, and another human Fukumoto. However, she is caught eavesdropping and can only hear that Fukumoto is from Tiej, so she sets off to go find him. It is a long journey and upon arrival she searches for him to no avail. As instructed by Nikanj, she buries her leftover orange
peelings in the ground which essentially poisons the ship. Kahguyaht comes to her rescue and informs her that Fukumoto was a human being who died the previous day after living 60 years with the Oankali people. Lilith imagines it must have been torturous for Fukumoto to be held with those people for that long, however, Kahguyaht claims that "Fukumoto has chosen to live and die among us instead of returning to Earth" (Butler 68).
Response: Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological disorder in which hostages show signs of loyalty and sympathy to their abductors. Do you think Fukumoto developed Stolkholm Syndrome or did he have a sincere desire to live with the intriguing Oankali people? Why?
Ch 5: Kahguyaht takes Lilith back to Kaal and she speaks with Jdahya. Jdahya tells her that she is
not in trouble, they are just upset with Nikanj. Jdahya and Nikanj appear to have an argument which flows too fast for Lilith to understand. Nikanj then explains to Lilith that he is not allowed to mate until she has completed her lessons. She maintains that she could learn faster if only she could write. But Nikanj informs her that he must change her brain chemistry so that she can remember things better. She protests and hides in the bathroom in fear of what's to come.
Throughout Section II, Lilith often asks questions only to be met with half-truths or silence. She is often equated to a child in that she is not told the full story and must be led around by others. Although the Oankali are always honest with Lilith, they are sometimes witholding. Lilith believes that "catching them in lies would make them vulnerable. As though it would make the thing they intended to do less real, easier to deny" (Butler 58).
Response: Some say that "honesty is the best policy", yet others claim that "ignorance is bliss". Would it be harder for you to know someone is honest and accept all that they tell you, or to question everything they say and let your imagination wander?
I definitely agree that human evolution is being hampered by the use of modern technology. Maybe not necessarily halted, but certainly affects how we interact with our environments. If you think about it, without tools or technology and the like, we would all be outside naked and starving in the rain right now. Jamee, you'll have to back me up on this, but I'm pretty sure natural selection would get the best of most of us. In a way, I suppose, we are adapting only to the environments we create for ourselves. If we feel we can't survive, or even if we are not comfortable in a situation, we either change the environment to suit our needs, or we create something to allow us to deal with the situation.
ReplyDeleteIt would be harder for me to question everything the Oankali say and let my imagination wander. My mind would automatically start making negative assumptions about what the Oankali want from me. If I was not sure about what they wanted, I would have a harder time trusting and being around them. If they told me what their agenda was, I would accept it, even if I was scared or disagreed at first. I think when humans imagine we go so far beyond what might be the truth and we might start to develop or conspiracy theories about things. Honesty is the best policy.
ReplyDeleteI really sense Lilith's frustration and uneasiness in these chapters. But it is probably safe to say that she may need to do things and know things that make her uncomfortable, after all this is the survival of the human race we're talking about. To know is better than to be ignorant, ignorance is blind to the problems until they emerge and cause damage. I think Lilith should get over herself and start focusing on humanity, even if it will evolve into a different humanity that she use to know.
ReplyDeleteI think that recording information have been very valuable to our history. If we did not write everything down many events and information would be lost and it would only live on through communicating with others. If we would only rely on the history spreading through conversation there could be many important facts and information that could be altered to the point we wouldn’t know what really happened. I think that recording information is valuable to history because it allows people to write down facts that you know are true and not altered by conversation.
ReplyDeleteI think that Fukumoto stayed with the Ounkali because he no longer had anything tying him to his old world or to the human race in general. It's probably less the idea of Stockholm Syndrome than him being resigned to his position, and possibly like Lilith, he too knew that his descendants would be these Ounkali freak babies. There is sort of this fear of the unknown and the desire to stay with what is familiar that probably drove him to stay with the Ounkali rather than take his chances on Earth.
ReplyDeleteI think that one of the reasons that Lilith is denied paper and a pen is because the Oankali don't really use it themselves. They have such good memory that they don't have any need for it. However, I think the primary reason they refuse to allow Lilith to write is because they don't want her to keep records of her stay. The generations that follow Lilith would know that she didn't agree with the genetic trading, and what they have evolved from.
ReplyDeletePeople always say history tells us what mistakes not to make. I think the new world will be missing out that history. I think if they knew the mistakes that the previous humans made they would be less inclined to repeat them.