Cultural Differences and Raman

“The Nordic language recognizes four orders of foreignness…The third is raman, the stranger that we recognize as human, but of another species. The fourth is the true alien, the varelse, which includes all the animals, for with them no conversation is possible” (34).

The human race has come to a point where it can recognize another species, the piggies, as humans; it designates the piggies as raman. But, what does it mean to recognize another species as human? I believe that Demosthenes uses the word “human” here in order to ascribe that intrinsic worth that human beings ascribe to themselves to other creatures. By using the word “human”, Demosthenes encapsulates all of those qualities that human beings ascribe to themselves, such as the qualities of being sentient and having a sense of ethics. In doing this, she grants the same equal status to raman as to human beings. What does equality mean? Does it mean that all creatures have the same values and therefore must obey the same laws or does it mean that all creatures should be respected regardless of the differences due to race, ethnicity, gender, or status as raman or human? Disregarding the final question of raman or human for the moment, this debate exists in society today: should there be one universal code of conduct or should laws reflect cultural differences? On one hand we have the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, on the other, certain people claim that it is alright that women do not attend school in Muslim countries because their values differ from ours. We had this debate regarding gender earlier in the year. Does gender equality mean that men and women should be treated equally, and more specifically, the same, or does it mean a recognition of inherent differences? In a conversation among Miro, Ouanda, and Ender, Miro tells Ender that the xenologers excused the piggies’ murders of Pipo and Libo because they recognize “cultural differences”. In response, Ender says, “You understand the piggies as animals, and you no more condemn them for murdering Libo and Pipo than you would condemn a cabra for chewing up capim” (227). He tells the xenologers that they will never learn from the piggies because they think of them as animals, not ramen. “You treat them as if they were not responsible for their actions…Ramen are responsible for what they do” (227). Though I support the Universal Declaration believing that there are fundamental rights which every person is entitle to, Card made me rethink my answer. As we learn later on, the piggies were innocent in their actions, killing the two men because of a mistaken assumption that they were helping them. Does this mean that in the case of a different species we should respect cultural differences, or even in the case of humankind it is important to place first and foremost, above a universal code, cultural differences?

Ender tells the xenologers they think of piggies as animals, and I want to continue with the topic of animals. In class Professor Jackson said that during the Middle Ages, people used to place animals on trial for their sins – they believed that animals had souls and therefore could differentiate right from wrong – and could even punish them by putting them to death. Now, we would think that this concept of putting animals on trial is ridiculous. They do not have the intelligence to differentiate between right and wrong, though I do believe that they do have souls. Apply this to the piggies. If Miro and Ouanda conceive of the piggies as animals, then they were indeed blameless for their actions against Libo and Pipo. But, Demostenes says that animals are varelse and we believe the piggies to be raman. Therefore, they are responsible for their actions. This brings us back to the debate of universal laws versus cultural differences. To this debate I do not know the answer, but it is a question we should ask ourselves in making laws in our own human society.