Zi Wang

Wang 2

ZiWang

LongEssay Topic and Bibliography

Topic:My essay will examine the benefits and dangers of Oankali tohumankind.

Afterthe war, every survivor intends to have a normal life again. Everyonewants to find a place that is safe and free from diversions. Besides,everyone finds the reason to live and smile again. Most wish to finda place in a utopian society where everyone has equal opportunitieswhile a few prefers a dystopian society where they can freely livetheir lives without minding others. After the war on earth inLilith`s novel, the survivors needed to forget everything that hadhappened and focus on the future. They needed to find a utopiansociety where people are equal in terms of governance andopportunities (Yoran&amp Hanan, 46).As observed in Lilith’s Brood, the earth was destroyed by war andLilith was mourning the death of his family in the Andes. Centurieslater, she was miraculously resurrected by the powerful unearthly andugly looking beings, the Oankali. The Oankali seek to rescue earth byinterbreeding with humans to create a more superior and stronggeneration.

However,it is scary and unimaginable for Lilith and other human beings toshare the world with these creatures. The war survivors are rescuedbut captured by the Oankali, nomadic alien species seeking a partnerto trade their genes with. In this book, Lilith is torn betweenaccepting the medical enhancements and the sexual advances of hercaptors and trying to save other humans. Oankali are both beneficialand dangerous to humanity. Although they seek to create a utopiasociety by improving the human gene, they do so forcefully, causingmore division.

TheOankali make a few examinations about the qualities and activities ofhumankind. A standout amongst them is the human disagreement naturethat causes defeat amongst them. This human inconsistency ischaracterized by the way people are both wise and hierarchical. Theyare right in their evaluation of the human inconsistency, and thathumankind ought to try to advance in a way that draws them nearer toturning into non-various leveled animal groups. The only solution forthis is by breeding with them. Intelligence and hierarchical instinctmust be removed through genetic manipulation of the next generation.It is the belief of the Oankali because they are living organisms’grown for the goal (Octavia&amp Xenogenesis, 102)

Dawnexplores and complicates the master-slave relationship through thehuman`s interactions with the Oankali. However, Oankali relationshipsinclude a human male and female, an Oankali male and female, and anooloi, Oankali’s third gender. Ooloi has sensory arms which areused during sex. The arms are also used for taking DNA samples,healing, and microsurgery. The Oankali want to interbreed withhumans, referring to this as genetic engineering. However, the humansurvivors do not want to be part of this, and they eventuallyperceive Lilith as a traitor for helping save the life of the Oankalishe had been mated with. Moreover, she was kept behind in an Oankaliship for her safety when other humans were sent back to earth. Thisis not utopia, but rather a dystopian society. Lilith gave birth to achild, Akin, with both Oankali and human characteristics and later toanother, Jonah, the first ooloi human and Oankali breed. The breedingcould therefore not produce uniform and equal beings. The ooloi humanand Oankali mix had more superior genes than the Akin.

Autopian society focuses on creating a perfect world without social,legal, political, and economic problems such as crime, terrorism, andracism. It is a peaceful and laid back community, based on the ideaof collective ownership of property where all people, women and men,rich and poor have equal opportunities and universal good. Unlikedystopian society where people work to benefit themselves, a utopiansociety works for the community and goodness of everyone in it. Thevulnerable and the weak should be protected and taken care ofregardless of their status in the society (Octavia&amp Xenogenesis, 102).The environment created by the Oankali is, however, not utopian.Utopia was an imagined place in the past, present or future, wherehumans exist in a state of relative happiness and fulfillment. Itdoes not exist in reality. Dystopia has often been called utopia`sdoppelgänger (a double or look-alike), implying that there is aresemblance. Dystopia is a utopia gone wrong, often one that favorsonly a small segment of society while it oppresses the majority. Thealiens oppressed the humans and forced them to interbreed with them.In this society, the Oankali were the favored group who used strengthto get what they wanted.

InLilith`s Brood, the society created by the Oankali can be describedas dystopian. According to Sir Thomas More, a dystopia is anundesirable and frightening community, as observed in this film. Acommunity where the vulnerable are victimized and the poor exploited.This is exactly the society the war survivors found themselves in thealien’s ship. They were captured and forced to breed with aliens.The classification of the hybrid human-alien world they plotted tocreate on Earth is a dystopian one. The human-alien hybrid does notassure that human will be fulfilled with their looks and capabilityto live. Also, the Oankali are exceptionally sure of themselves andamazingly disappointing to contend with, which makes it something ofan alleviation when they are demonstrated wrong, regardless of thepossibility that being off-base has repulsive outcomes, and even morea help when they finally consent to give a little measure of mankinda chance to survive untouched to locate their destinies. Also, thehumans develop resistance and demand for their freedom to be returnedregardless of the price making it difficult for the Oankali.

Conclusion

Everyspecies has its strengths and weaknesses. This is true even withaliens, and it was well illustrated in this book. The Oankali meanwell and they see themselves making humanity better. They seek tocreate a new and unflawed race. However, this is not possible as wasdemonstrated in Lilith’s novel, the Lilith Brood. In the end, threedifferent species, human, Oankali, and the ooloi resulted causingmore conflicts and dissatisfaction. It is, therefore, important torespect and accept every being regardless of the weaknesses andflaws. Many of the humans did not want to interbreed with aliens.Even the ones that are explicitly human like, many of the humans havea hard time to accept them and most never want to (Gordinet al., 94).Moreover, the Oankali are of two species, the normal ones and theooloi meaning that the interbreeding cannot produce a common being.

Bibliography:Primary Sources

Gordin,Michael D, Helen Tilley, and Gyan Prakash.&nbspUtopia/dystopia:Conditions of Historical Possibility.Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 2010. Print.

Howto Create a Meaningful Life After the Military. Life After War, 2016,lifeafterwar.org/.

OctaviaButler’s Xenogenesis Trilogy: A Biologist’s Response. &quotOctaviaButler�sXenogenesis

Trilogy:An Introduction.&quot Biology · Kenyon College, 30 June 2000,biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/books/butler1.html.

Yoran,Hanan.&nbspBetweenUtopia and Dystopia: Erasmus, Thomas More, and the Humanist Republicof Letters.Lanham, Md: Lexington Books, 2010. Print.Topof Form

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