Change

One cannot truly understand another until one walks a mile in another's shoes. As much as writing that cliche makes me want to vomit - and I apologize for using it - the idea was so clearly present in Dawn that I felt obliged to do so. In the world of Dawn, one (human) cannot understand or feel a part of the Oankali until she is part Oankali - meaning that she carries genetic traits that are distinctly Oankali. Lilith cannot avoid feeling as though she is an experiment, a pet, and the Oankali's intent to "trade" with humans furthers this dynamic. One cannot feel as though he is being treated fairly, humanely, as long as such a dynamic exists. Spillers comments in her analysis of the slave trade in America:

This profitable "atomizing" of the captive body provides another angle on the divided flesh: we lose any hint or suggestion of a dimension of ethics, of relatedness between human personality and its anatomical features, between one human personality and another, between human personality and cultural institutions. To that extent, the procedures adopted for the captive flesh demarcate a total objectification, as the entire captive community becomes a living laboratory.

The tension between humans and Oankali creates an interesting perspective for the reader. It is apparent that at the beginning of the novel, we readers are human, as we are encouraged to follow Lilith's more selfish, humanistic inclinations:

"She shifted suddenly from the subject of his sleeping to her own" (16).

"Lilith followed that thought to its obvious conclusion. 'I'm twenty-six'" (23).

Lilith's trail of thought continually, and perhaps naturally, leads her back to herself, relating every idea to her own existence. Such is the life of a human.

As Lilith grows closer to the Oankali, eventually to the point of engaging in sexual acts and sharing offspring, our perspective as readers seems to become less and less human. We are, however, reminded that our perspective cannot complete the transformation to Oankali. Just as Kahguyaht says, "Your children will know us, Lilith. You never will." We will be human. That much will remain constant.

On the film Alien:

Aliens are survivors. That seemed significant to me. Anyone have thoughts?