Of all the works we have read so far, the series Lilith’s Brood reminds me most of other science fiction books I’ve read. It has several things I feel to be typical staples of the SciFi genre, parts that are most often shared with other novels in the category. These include the presence of an intrusive alien species, some great war that leaves our current perception of Earth in ruin, and advancement of human life and health through some means. The most noticeable and most pertinent theme, though, is that of Xenophobia, one I feel plays out most often in science fiction books.

Butler makes no attempts to hide the xenophobic tendencies of humankind in Lilith’s Brood. As we see with Lilith, the protagonist of the first book DAWN, after centuries of suspended animation interspersed with brief periods of isolated wakefulness is very quick to welcome the presence of a human being into her chamber. She soon discovers that her companion is not, in fact human, and recoils away from him, noting that “she did not want to be any closer to him. She had not known what held her back before. Now she was certain it was his alienness, his difference, his literal unearthliness,” (13). Lilith is African, a race most typically victim of xenophobic tendencies. Yet even she finds the though of an alien being with humanoid but not completely human features to be utterly repulsive.

The conflict is partly a superficial one, based upon the appearances of the Oankali. They have humanoid, bipedal forms, but instead of eyes, ears, or noses, they have sensory tentacles covering much of their body, giving them the appearance of medusae. Lilith even comments to Tate, the first person she awakens, that “Oankali are ugly. Grotesque. But we can get used to them, and they won’t hurt us. Remember that,” (131). In other words, the Oankali’s appearance is definitely a startling and scary point that drives humans away from them, but this is not all that is wrong, as it is possible for humans to adapt to their looks.

Another human, Gilbert Roybal, reveals the true sentiment concerning the humans distaste for the looks of the Oankali Constructs and their sensory tentacles: “It’s not just the way the tentacles look…. Yes, they are ugly, but it’s what they represent that’s important. They’re alien. Un-Human. How can little girls grow up to be Human women when their own sense organs betray them?” (391). The whole conflict is really about the fact that the constructs and Oankali are a whole different species apart from Homo sapiens, xenophobia on an intergalactic scale. After all, there are tentacled beings on earth, but these are not as capable of intelligent thought as we are. Yet the Oankali defy this norm, and other customs and mannerisms they have incorporate into one giant amalgam of foreignness that defies human categorization, making them something truly different and therefore frightening to us.

Xenophobia is a major theme in Lilith’s Brood and other great works of science fiction like Ender’s Game and later novels in the Foundation series. This idea of being confronted by something so drastically different in appearance, behavior, and biology, yet with mental faculties and ideas similar to our own truly frightens us and necessitates exploration, and Butler does this well in Lilith’s Brood.