What acts and thoughts in day-to-day life separate a member of the Family from the Sygn? To begin with, one must make an attempt at determining the particular values of each faction. Keeping in mind the potential bias of the Sygn-affiliated narrator, the Family centers around the “father-mother-son…basic family unit” (119). At the same time, the narrator emphasizes that the particular family structure itself matters less than the accompanying power structure. For an example, she suggests, “in the Family structure, the parents are seen to protect and enclose the children, to protect them from society” (120). The Sygn paradigm contains a multitude of alternatives, including the Dyeth’s stream structure, in which “the children are the connection between the parents and society” (120). Sygn culture is about diversity of belief and liberal acceptance of differences – even the Sygn itself has no set symbol, spelling, or pronunciation (97). In contrast, the Family can be characterized by a lack of flexibility. Their children are a representation of their entire way of life – both need protecting from the countless alien alternatives existing in this vast universe.

I think Chris West offers really interesting insight into these issues in his article, “Perverting Science Fiction: Thinking the Alien Within the Genre.” He suggests that a key differnence between the Sygn and Family can be found in that “the dominant culture on [the Sygn] section of their world does not subscribe to compulsory monogamy, nor to compulsoty heterosexuality, nor does it turn its face from interspecies liaison” (West 108). Why does the sexual take on such an important role? To Family members, Sygn sexual behavior fails to protect their family’s identity. It would already appear easy enough to lose one’s identity and history in this universe of seemingly limitless people and information; promiscuous sex (and the associated risk of children outside of the protective Oedipal family structure embrace), homosexual/interspecies sex (and the abandonment of persuing children) further the threat to the fundamental unit of the Family worldview.

At the same time, how does the issue of identity function within Sygn culture? Clearly this issue is the primary driving force of all Family interactions, as the control of information and contempt for the above-mentioned sexual behavior both derive from the same culture-propagation instinct. But does this exist within the Sygn? The narrator often discusses her ancestors and the Dyeth history. Historical cultural knowledge seems to be prized and is made readily available through the Web. Historical figures, Vondramach in particular, create context in which the characters interact and provide insight into the issues faced (so that history won’t repeat itself? E.g. Availability of the rings for Rat Korga…). A Sygn point of view, while inclusionary and adaptive, does seem to preserve some sense of appreciation of the past. The difference remains centered around how the two worldviews imagine going forward.

With the possibility of a mixed-race president and multiracial people as the fastest growing race in the country, I think the implications for contemporary American politics are huge. Instead of obsessively persuing a return to life ‘the way it was,’ the Sygn encourage moving forward toward cross-racial and cross-cultural interaction while remaining grounded in an understanding of the past.