Dawn

“Your Earth is still your Earth, but between the efforts of your people to destroy it and ours to restore it, it has changed.” 

Lilith learns from Jdahya that the Earth has changed over the 250 years she has been in suspended animation. The damage done by the nuclear war and the Oankali efforts to make it habitable again have rendered it a place that she will find unrecognizable.

“You are potentially one of the most intelligent species we’ve found [...] You are hierarchical. [...] It’s a terrestrial characteristic. When human intelligence served it instead of guiding it, when human intelligence did not even acknowledge it as a problem [...] That was like ignoring cancer.”

Jdahya explains to Lilith that the two dominant human characteristics of intelligence and hierarchy were a lethal combination that led to the destruction of the species. This quote shows that the human genetic propensity toward hierarchical thinking and action, aided by the power of human intelligence, destroyed human society from the inside. The simile comparing these tendencies to cancer figuratively links Jdahya’s words to Lilith, who has a hereditary predisposition to the disease. However, much as that predisposition proves advantageous in this new setting, so too does Lilith help humanity chart a new course.

“There was no life at all on your Earth when our ancestors left our original homeward, and in all that time we’ve never done such a thing.”

Lilith distrusts the Oankali’s motives for repopulating the Earth and is horrified that the Oankali plan to alter humans genetically, as she sees this as a gross violation of The Human Desire for Freedom. She accuses Kahguyaht of nefarious plans, such as killing humans or making “monsters” of their children by rendering them sterile. Kahguyaht replies that its people have been around for many millennia, have encountered countless species, and have never engaged in that kind of behavior.

“You’re so complex. […] You’re filled with so much life and death and potential for change.”

When Nikanj alters Lilith so that she can remember things perfectly, it is astounded by its firsthand look into her mind and genetic patterns. Humans are so profoundly different that it’s overwhelming to the Oankali, which is both extremely appealing and terrifying to them. This develops the idea of Otherness as a Social Construct, as the Oankali find humans as strange as the humans find them.

“How much of Titus was still fourteen, still the boy the Oankali had awakened and impressed and enticed and inducted into their own ranks?”

When Paul Titus tries to sexually assault Lilith and ends up beating her, Nikanj and the other Oankali are surprised. Lilith thinks that it should have been obvious to them that Paul’s development has been delayed; he has aged but not matured into an adult human. Lilith thinks the Oankali should have predicted that he would behave in this way upon meeting a human woman. This is an example of how the Oankali do not truly understand humans as well as they think they do.

“She was still angry—angry, bitter, frightened...And yet she had come back. She had not been able to leave Nikanj trembling on its bed while she enjoyed her greater freedom.”

Lilith resents feeling manipulated and forced into the Oankali plan for genetic transfer, but she still feels a connection to Nikanj and cannot abandon it while it is physically vulnerable during its metamorphosis. Despite herself, Lilith feels a bond with Nikanj, an affection and an appreciation for how it cared for her when she was vulnerable herself.

“To teach, to give comfort, to feed and clothe, to guide them through and interpret what will be, for them, a new and frightening world. To parent.”

Lilith is shocked when Kahguyaht tells her that she will be the “parent” of the Awakened human group. Kahguyaht tells her that she can think of it in any terms she likes, but in reality, she will be fulfilling the duties of a parent.

“How could she Awaken people and tell them they were to be part of the genetic engineering scheme of a species so alien that the humans would be able to look at it comfortably for a while? How could she Awaken these people, these survivors of war, and tell them that unless they could escape the Oankali, their children would not be human?”

Lilith is overwhelmed by the task the Oankali have given her and all the responsibilities that she will have upon Awakening the group of humans. She does not believe that she is emotionally and physically equipped to succeed, hinting that she has internalized some of the racist and sexist ideas of her society.

“Lilith’s first impulse was to Awaken Joseph Shing—Awaken him at once and end her solitude. The impulse was so strong that she sat still for several moments, hugging herself, holding herself rigid against it.”

As Lilith reads the humans’ dossiers, she is instinctively attracted to the description of Joseph. He appears to be intelligent and rational, yet he is defiant toward the Oankali voices in his isolation room. He is also a man, and Lilith longs for a companion. She forces herself to wait, to read through the other dossiers first, to determine which person would be the best to Awaken first not for her own benefit but for the good of the group. This begins to hint at the power of placing Women of Color in Leadership Roles, as they may bring a more communal mindset to the position than a white man who has been acculturated to prioritize his own interests.

“She had learned to keep her sanity by accepting things as she found them, adapting herself to new circumstances by putting aside the old ones whose memories might overwhelm her.”

Tate remarks that Lilith does not like to talk about her former life on Earth. Lilith has had to adapt and put her past out of her mind, in order to deal with the extraordinary and difficult demands of her new life. Tate has not had these experiences, so she does not understand Lilith’s acceptance of things as they currently are.

“Tate and Leah laughed at her, refused absolutely to believe that any manipulation of DNA could mix Humans with extraterrestrial aliens.”

This is one of Lilith’s greatest challenges: to convince people that the Oankali intend to combine their genetic materials with that of humans, that any species could do that at all. Lilith tells them before they have any reason to believe her since she fears that if she waits too long, she will be accused of betraying them with her silence.

“Do you understand why they chose you—someone who desperately doesn’t want the responsibility, who doesn’t want to lead, who is a woman?”

Joseph understands, as he speaks to Nikanj, why Lilith was chosen by the Oankali to be the first “parent” of the human group. It was important not to have a leader who would try to dominate the group and who was eager to lead. Lilith tries to lead through consensus, welcomes the help of others in reaching decisions, and does not try to impose her will on others.

“Now their delight in one another ignited and burned. They moved together, sustaining an impossible intensity, both of them tireless, perfectly matched, ablaze in sensation, lost in one another.”

Nikanj, through neural coupling, bonds Lilith and Joseph together in the Oankali sexual connection, giving them a sense of linkage that is far beyond anything that humans have ever experienced sexually. The sensations they feel transcend time and space, with Nikanj taking their mutual attraction and merging their consciousnesses together into some indescribable union. Lilith is deeply affected by the experience, but there is a lack of consent on Joseph’s part.

“I’ve seen and felt enough—including weightlessness—to be convinced this is a ship. We’re in space. And we’re in the hands of people who manipulate DNA as naturally as we manipulate pencils and paintbrushes. That’s what I know. That’s what I’ve told you all. And if any of you decide to behave as though it isn’t true, we’ll all be lucky if we’re just put to sleep and split up.”

Lilith continues to be frustrated that the human group will not believe her when she claims that they are on a ship and their captors are extraterrestrials. She is seen as duped, lying, or experiencing a mental illness. Lilith feels that it is vital for everyone to accept these facts, to ensure the survival of them all so it is frustrating that no one will take her at her word.

“If a thing like that could be bottled, it would have outsold any illegal drug on the market.”

Joseph is appalled by the sexual union he experienced with Nikanj and Lilith. Despite his pleasure during the experience, he rejects his own feelings and thinks of them in negative terms. Rather than responding to Lilith’s query about whether he liked the experience, he compares it to an illegal drug—something that Lilith may have an addiction to. His reaction points to the complex questions the novel raises about consent and sexual assault.

“She would organize the humans into a coherent unit or she would serve as a scapegoat for whoever else organized them.”

Lilith feels immense pressure to succeed in bringing the human group together and making them capable of surviving. She has no help from the Oankali in accomplishing this. Lilith is afraid that someone else will take over control of the group, using her as a scapegoat for all the problems with their situation, and the whole plan will fail, resulting in them all being returned to suspended animation or perishing once on Earth.

“Strangers of a different species had been accepted as family. A human friend and ally had been rejected.”

Jean’s bond to her Oankali ooloi is so complete that when she feels lonely and afraid after Peter’s death, she rejects Curt’s offer of help and instead instantly accepts Tehjaht’s mates as family. This shows the profound change that has come over the humans after their introduction to the Oankali. 

“Yet it talked about mixed settlements, human and Oankali—trade-partner settlements within which ooloi would control the fertility and mix the children of both groups.”

Lilith thinks that Nikanj must realize that the humans plan to “learn and run” when they return to Earth. Therefore she is puzzled at how Nikanj continually talks about how humans and Oankali will live together on Earth and the ways in which they will integrate their genetic material together to produce hybrid children. It is a constant struggle for Lilith, wondering how much the Oankali know about the humans’ intentions.

“Now it was time for them to begin planting their own crops. And, perhaps, now it was time for the Oankali to begin to see what they would harvest in their human crop.”

The forest training room is the last phase of this great Oankali experiment in preparing humans for their return to Earth. Lilith likens the humans planting crops so that they can feed themselves, to the Oankali seeing the harvest, the end result, of their long process.

“Something occurred to her suddenly—a memory of tribal people sending their sons out to live for a while alone in the forest or desert or whatever as a test of manhood.”

Nikanj keeps assuring Lilith that the humans who leave the settlement are not escaping and that they have been allowed to leave. Lilith realizes that this could be the final test for the humans, that the Oankali wish to see if they can truly survive in the wild under the conditions they will experience on Earth. The only way to do that is to let the humans think that they are running away, escaping from their captors, and making their own survival choices.

“It gave her…a new color. A totally alien, unique, nameless thing, half seen, half felt or…tasted. A blaze of something frightening, yet overwhelming, compelling. Extinguished. A half known mystery beautiful and complex. A deep, impossibly sensuous promise. Broken. Gone. Dead.”

When Joseph is killed, Lilith wants to know that Nikanj fully shares her grief. She wants it to share what it feels, though it thinks that its feelings are too complex for her to comprehend. Yet through the neural stimulation Nikanj gives her, Lilith can experience what it is feeling, and she knows that Nikanj is suffering in a manner similar to how she is.

“They would be certain now that she was a traitor. Stripping naked on the battlefield to lie down with the enemy. Even the few who accepted her might turn on her now. But she had just lost Joseph. She could not lose Nikanj too.”

Lilith had struggled to assure the human group that she was one of them, that she was not a traitor to the human race. Here she abandons all appearances, no longer cares what anyone thinks, and does not care that what she is doing will look like the strongest possible evidence that she is more connected to the aliens than to her own people. At this point, nothing matters to Lilith other than saving Nikanj’s life.

“Your body knows how to cause some of its cells to revert to an embryonic stage. It can awaken genes that most humans never use after birth. […] It’s a gift. It has given me my life back.”

Lilith had always thought of her family genetic predisposition toward developing cancer to be a curse, but she learns that this is what saves Nikanj’s sensory arm and thus its role in its family. This is a unique and immeasurably valuable “trade” between Lilith and Nikanj, and cements their bond, as far as Nikanj is concerned.