A Harsh Critique on Hierarchy and Difference Essay

A Harsh Critique on Hierarchy and Difference Octavia Butler’s trilogy Lilith’s Brood contains a myriad of characters who would be marked as â€Å"different† in contemporary American society, whether it is because of their race, gender, sex, or species. Their differences are often the catalyst for conflict between others who see themselves as more normal and, therefore, better and higher ranked in the human hierarchy. Butler’s disdain for human hierarchical tendencies is clear in Lilith’s Brood as she often calls human intelligence and hierarchy â€Å"the human contradiction†. Using the protagonists Lilith, Akin, and Jodahs, Butler criticizes the misconceptions formulated about race, sex, and gender and, through their interactions with others,†¦show more content†¦The humans understand that their only hope for survival is to learn from Lilith and â€Å"that they are helpless without her† but the Human Contradiction drives them to see her as a traitor to the human species (152). The Contradiction trumps their survival instinct as they would rather try to fend for themselves than to learn from Lilith. Some resistors die or nearly die because of the Contradiction. Lilith also has enhanced strength, which perturbs other humans. After getting hit by Lilith, the resentment of having to rely on Lilith flares up and causes victims to accuse Lilith of not being a woman because â€Å"only a man can fight that way† (147). Losing in a fight to Lilith essentially has others place the loser on a lower rank than the betrayer Lilith on the hierarchy. This embarrassment causes humans to be irrational and claim outlandish statements. This statement also examines the preconceptions of the abilities of males and females. Men are thought to be strong because it is a masculine feature. A woman who possesses masculine traits, like strength, must not be a woman at all. The reader clearly sees how ludicrous it is to only a ssociate masculine with men and feminine with women. Most people are a mixture of both and yet society teaches us someone who is normal is either one or the other. These teachings result in humans marking other as different, which turns into xenophobia and ethnocentrism. Lilith demonstrates aShow MoreRelatedMaslow s Theories Of The Hierarchy Of Basic Human Needs And Self Actualization Essay1072 Words   |  5 Pages2005 to 2010, on 60 865 participants of 123 countries, this investigation is making its mark as the first survey to be considered as globally representative. This survey had the objective of confirming or dismissing Maslow’s famous theories of the hierarchy of basic human needs and self-actualization. Maslow’s theory, whether one believes it or not, is still a theory that is debated by psychologists. This article argues that Maslow’s theory features many flaws, such as its fuzziness when it came theRead MoreA Critical Analysis Of Citizen Life In Plat os The Republic1552 Words   |  7 Pagesgovernance. 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