Human was the first science fiction book written about humanitarian aid, which put an interesting twist on the typical books we have read in class about aid workers real life experiences. From the knowledge I have gained on the aid sector I was able to understand the underlying story behind the futuristic terminology. The twist was that the humanitarian response was called for on planet Earth, a planet exploding in chaos after a detonation ten years earlier, experiencing violence from a group trying to come to power, called the Rtulan.
The Rtulan are a “large reptilian, vaguely hominoid species… impervious to the conventional weapons available to the Native Earth Humans…continued to steadily deplete earth of its basic substance and no one appeared to stop them” (J, pg 27). In this scenario the Rtulan are similar to an extremist group which we have learned of rising to power while the state is in terror, and end up taking advantage of the inhabitants and resources given by aid organizations.
The Native Human Earth, Caine and Connor, have been trying to fight the Rtulan off, however with no success the System human’s from plant Xaxoni are introduced to provide aid to Native Earth Human. By giving aid to those who are living in the midst of extreme situations, almost mirroring the distraught crises that we have discussed occurring in the global south, they are also breaking their neutrality since this builds up the army that Caine has been trying to grow. This causes more of an eruption of violence from the Rtulan, as they now want to show their power to the System Humans as well as the Earth Humans.
From the beginning there is a sense of ethnocentrism coming from the System Humans, portraying Earth as a “desolate, dying, planet inhabited by uncivilized, warlike peoples…who were suspicious of anything or anyone that threatened to move them out of the previous millennium” (J, pg 24). Generally we have seen this ethnocentric view coming from the group with the upper hand, who is doing the delivery of aid. Additionally, the white savior complex has a large presence in the book, displayed from the System Humans. Some of Earth Humans have made remarks toward the aid workers saying; “Your ways are not always ours..” Bo (J. pg 59), or “You’re not from here. How can you possibly know what we want?!” (J, Pg 34). Clearly, the earth humans are in need of help, and so are people in countries of crisis today, however it is important that groups going into assist have adequate knowledge on the culture of the country and background of the crisis, or inhabitants will be upset with the “invasion” of their land.
Nassandra the protagonist, a system human, experiences Earth differently than her co workers. She begins to see that the line between System Human and and Native Earth Human is much thinner, that they are more alike than different. Nassandra connects with the Native Earth Humans, which makes them feel more comfortable with her presence, by drawing attention to the number of fingers they both have, “five fingers”.
In this book I also am able to see the harsh realities that do occur in times of crisis in which we have learned about. For example, Caine’s last resort at fighting the Rtulan is by employing children to train them to be soldiers, which we would view as unethical. The imagery of Connors son, Zeke, struggling to fire an M-94, and then being held at gunpoint by the Rtulan, and minute later finding his grandfather wounded, reinstates the fact that children are not equipped for a job involving such physical and emotional toll.
We later learn that the System Human’s have an alternative motive in providing aid to the Earth Humans, to keep them alive, so they can find what gene they missed in the production of System Humans. System Humans are soon to be extinct as they are missing a crucial component in their makeup, so they are trying to keep Earth Humans alive to find this. Nassandra’s journey on earth has allowed her to realize that she is so similar to the Native Earth Humans, and enjoy being there despite the terror. She finally realized that System Human’s have an interdependent relationship with Earth Human, and they are all crucial for their existence.
SOC 376: “Being/Becoming a Global Citizen”
J. Human. 2016
