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.

Ender

In Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead, I can’t help but admiring Ender throughout the book. Card really brings out the qualities of Ender that make him such an exceptional commander in Ender’s Game: his charisma, compassion, his ruthlessness, and his amazing perception of the human spirit.

It is impossible to not be swayed by Ender’s charisma. One can easily understand the devotion his soldiers showed Ender in his Battle School days. Everyone seems to be taken with his winning personality, including Novinha. The first time she meets him she thinks, “I could be seduced by that voice” (127) and “his eyes were seductive with understanding…I could drown in his understanding” (129). She senses his uncanny perceptive ability, the ability that has already won over her family members. Even I could not help but be taken by him and admire his ability. His charisma comes not just from his perceptive ability, but the earnestness of his character. Ender is incredibly genuine, especially in his desire to uncover the truth; and the simple way in which he speaks the truth, with no pretensions, is captivating. He does indeed have a manipulative side to his character, but I think beneath that there remains a bit of his childhood innocence. He still has that boy in him who just wanted his brother, and everyone else for that matter, to love him. In class, we spoke about Ender as a mix of Valentine and Peter, the compassionate and the ruthless. But, out of anyone in his family I believe that he has the most compassion, proved by his assumption of the role of Speaker of the Dead.

Ender made an amazing sacrifice in choosing to write The Hive Queen and the Hegemon, sacrificing his good name for the sake of the “truth”. He speaks the truth to set the friends and relatives of the dead free, but ironically, it sets everyone free other than himself. He continues to live with the guilt of his childhood actions for years to come, and even more, he experiences the pain of each of the dead he speaks for. In his role as Speaker for the Dead he makes use of his compassion, empathizing with the dead by loving them. At the same time, he is incredibly ruthless, sparing nothing in his effort to uncover the truth. That same ruthlessness that allowed him to defeat the Buggers allows him to bare the truth. Why is that ruthlessness that sets everyone else free constantly turned towards himself? I pity Ender for his inability to forgive himself for his childhood mistakes.