Imago

The novel begins in medias res, as Jodahs is introduced in the middle of a formative transition. No longer a child but not yet an adult, Jodahs’s in-between state is symbolic of its hybrid identity as an Oankali-human construct. Jodahs describes its family in a matter-of-fact tone, casually referring to “my five parents” (17), indicating a world where some humans have adapted after a century of Oankali occupation.

Appropriately, Part 1 is titled “Metamorphosis,” a reference to both the physical changes of Jodahs’s body and the societal changes required to respond to new life forms. When Jodahs discovers that it is becoming an ooloi, Nikanj assures its child, “What we do about it is our decision, our responsibility. Not yours” (27), shifting the responsibility to the Oankali. The scene emphasizes a world where difference is accepted and not “othered,” illustrating a contrast between the Oankali and humans. Jodahs thinks, “We, Oankali and construct, were space-going people, as curious about other life and as acquisitive of it as Humans were hierarchical” (11). To the Oankali, humanity’s hierarchical thinking, when combined with intelligence, is the root of humanity’s flaws. Hierarchy is contradictory to the Oankali’s desire for diversity.

The Oankali themselves are a species defined not only as amenable but compelled to change, highlighting The Ethics of Genetic Engineering and Posthumanism. Transformations are part of the life cycle of the individual and the species, especially for the ooloi. The word “ooloi” translates to “[t]reasured stranger.” “Bridge.” “Life trader.” “Weaver.” “Magnet” (6). The Oankali value difference and welcome the foreign. The term “treasured stranger” serves in stark contrast to the humans’ xenophobic rejection of the alien species.

The Oankali’s acceptance of change is also a critique of binary oppositions. Sex and gender identity are fluid and affirming for the Oankali, paving the way for the novel to address Reproductive and Sexual Freedom as Forms of Female Agency. Jodahs contends, “There were still some Humans who insisted on seeing the ooloi as some kind of male-female combination, but the ooloi were no such thing. They were themselves—a different sex altogether” (4). The Oankali’s way of life challenges heteronormative views that insist on restrictive definitions of sex, gender, and sexuality. Nikanj assures Jodahs and declares, “You want to be what you are. That’s healthy and right for you” (27). Nikanj’s support foreshadows Jodahs’s role as a successful mediator between the two species. Although Jodahs initially sees its existence as an accident or problem, its hybridity and fluid identity become assets for empathizing with and bridging the two species.

The title “Metamorphosis” also suggests the hope that humans will change on Mars, highlighting the moral ambiguity of the Oankali’s occupation and The Nature of Autonomy and Consent in Alien/Human Relationships. In their new environment, humans may undergo a dramatic transformation that erases their fatal flaws, teaching them to be non-hierarchical and non-destructive. The Mars project represents a challenge to the Oankali’s biological determinism and problematizes their seemingly benevolent rationale for controlling and altering the human species. Jodahs describes the Oankali’s intervention as a moral obligation to save humanity from extinction, but ponders the morality of the Mars project: “[W]hat were we doing, we who knew the truth? Helping [humans] reach the cliff. Ferrying [them] to it” (11). In contrast, the male human in the couple asserts, “Your people might be dead wrong about us” (10). As an alien capable of decoding genetics, Jodahs is confident that humans will indeed fail, yet it nevertheless agrees to support the Mars colony. Jodahs’s support demonstrates a willingness to acknowledge humanity’s customs and need for freedom even if these principles fundamentally oppose the Oankali way of life. Although the Mars colony is pragmatically contradictory to an Oankali, Jodahs acknowledges the importance of respect and compassion in cross-cultural and inter-species interactions.

The Mars colony represents two different assessments of the human condition. To the Oankali, humans are violent and destructive. Their desire for an all-human home caters to a notion of the purity of the species and is a xenophobic reaction that rejects hybridity. This hostility is evident in Jodahs’s interaction with the human couple, where the male asserts that on Mars, “We’ll be fully Human and free. That’s enough” (10). The male is also disparaging of the gene trade and distrustful of the Oankali. He contends to his human partner, “They could be lying for their own reasons” (10). At the same time, the humans are not altogether wrong in their longing for autonomy and their assessment of the Oankali’s treatment as repressive. The human male mutters, “So goddamn patronizing” (11). The Oankali believe they are doing what is best for humans without their consent, evoking the colonial “civilizing mission” that portrays the Oankali as superior to humans and justified in controlling them.

The Oankali’s occupation of Earth is presented as both utopian and dystopian. Likewise, the humans’ desire for the Mars colony represents a perpetuation of their xenophobia but also a drive for independence. Both humans and Oankali are right and wrong, and the ethical ambiguity of their positions offers a dynamic tension between the concept of universal ethics and the emphasis on cultural differences and the need for empathy.