The novel Binti
The novel Bintiis about a girl who gets caught up in a strange diplomatic mission after she leaves home to attend the university. The story is about this girl and the tough decision she made to leave her place at home and join the university. Here she is among strangers who are not familiar with her ways and do not respect her custom. Her journey is not an easy one. Nnedi uses a lot of themes in writing this novel, but change is the major one.
Change is a significant theme in the novel. Binti leaves her home and the normalcy she is used to. She leaves her culture and her people’s ways and goes to university. In the attack on the ship, she is induced with alien DNA in her system. She develops tentacles on her head after ingesting this strange dose. It takes time, but she adapts to the replacement. There is, therefore, a lot of change happening in her life, including the transformation of her hair to tentacles. Apart from this, the normal state of conflict between the people on earth and aliens also changes. Binti is left with the task of reconciling these two worlds, and Okwu is sent as a mediator. The two worlds are on their way to achieving peace among themselves, and this in itself is change.
The theme of culture is present in the book. Binti is a girl from Namib and a Himba. The Himba people have their traditions and beliefs. Staying close to their native land is one of these beliefs, and this explains why Binti had to run away. They also believe that women should cover their hair and bodies in red clay. The Himba people are angry at Binti for running away and abandoning their culture, and it takes a lot of time to accept her back. Their reactions to her decisions only prove how deeply rooted they were to their lifestyle. They view Binti as a girl who abandoned her duties and the place her family had set for her to take over. Culture is, therefore, one of the significant themes in the novel.
There is a theme of misunderstanding in the novel Binti. The people and races in the book do not seem to understand each other. The Meduse brutally invades the ship Binti is traveling in. They do this not because they want to conquer and show their strength, but only because they want to recover one of their elder’s harpoons. These elders are living in a university that has caused Binti to move from her home. The act of attack launched on the spaceship by the Meduse reveals the extent of rivalry between these two different races. The Meduse does not care if their offense is brutal and might cause death; all they are aiming at is recovering a harpoon. The lack of common ground between these two races depicts the theme of misunderstanding.
The theme of personal growth is present in the book. Binti is a girl that has lived her entire life in her home. She is only familiar with her culture and ways of life and not of the other people. When she boards the ship, she encounters people that also think like her. These were the students traveling to Oomza University just like her. When the massacre in the ship happens, Binti is spared together with the pilot. She had never experienced this before, and thus she has emotional aftermath after the attack. She, therefore, experiences rage and has trouble developing relationships with others. His experiences lead to her taking a retreat to the desert, where she searches for understanding and inner peace. Her search for peace is clear from the quote, “It was cool in the terminal, but I felt the heat of social pressure.” In the process, she finds new friendships. Binti’s experiences showcase growth as she gets exposure to the world different from hers.
Survival and death as a theme are also present in the novel. When the Meduse attacks the ship, Binti is in, and everyone is killed. She, however, survives together with the pilot. The Meduse spares the pilot since they need him. Binti survives as her edan protects her. The Meduse attacks the space ship because their main aim was to kill its occupants. They fulfill this by killing everyone on board the vessel and only spares the pilot. The Meduse in the book represents death. It is known to be dangerous and ruthless to its enemies, as depicted in every fiction. Binti survives these attacks; thus, she and the pilot describes the theme of survival. They are the only survivors in the attacked ship.
Apart from survival, the theme of conflict is also present in the book. When Binti leaves school for a while and goes back home to earth, a lot happens. The travels with one of her Meduse friends back home. However, trouble awaits her back home. Her family is not happy with her abandoning the duties they allocated her and going to university. The presence of her friend, Okwu, is also a problem. Her friend’s presence is problematic since the Meduse people and Khouse people have conflicted for a long time. The presence of Okwu, therefore, brings out pent up emotions from the past. The relationship between the Meduse people and the Khouse people clearly shows conflict.
There is a theme of reconciliation in the novel. The Khouse and Meduse people have conflicted for a long time. Their hatred is depicted in the book when the Meduse launches an attack on the space ship and kills all its occupants. The reaction of Binti’s family further confirms this rivalry. They are not comfortable around Okwu since he is from Meduse. All they can see is the damage that the Meduse people have caused on their planet. However, they do not react to these feelings since a peace treaty is underway between the two communities. They, therefore, have decided to put the past behind them and finally make peace with each other. Binti is also ready to reconcile them as she says, “My father didn’t believe in war. He said the war was evil, but if it came, he would revel in it like sand in a storm.” Her words only show that she is ready for peace as her father was. The treaty serves as a symbol for reconciliation in the book.
The theme of technology is also present in the novel. When Binti wants to travel to the university, she travels in a spaceship. The fact that they can move from earth to space at that time shows that they were technologically advanced. Going to space is not easy, and the fact that they can shows that they were technologically advanced. The presence of the university, which is demonstrated by the quote, “We prefer to explore the universe by traveling inward, as opposed to outward,” also indicates that they were advanced in education. Binti traveled to acquire further knowledge; thus, the people on earth and those in space both were literate. Technological advancement is, therefore, present.
After a lot of research and reading the novel, one cannot help but notice the change is indeed the dominant theme. Looking at Binti’s journey in the book, one can see the different levels of change that she went through. She grew from being a girl from the earth with hair to having tentacles in replacement. It took tome for her to adapt to these new aspects of her life. The aliens and people from Namib also experience change when they decide to forge a peace treaty. Their typical conflicted ways are about to be changed to peaceful ones by the agreement. Although the author showcases other different themes in the novel, change is the major as it is present in all the other minor themes.
In conclusion, the book has many themes. There are conflict present, growth, and many others, but that significant theme here is change. In every idea depicted in the novel, there is an aspect of change in it. Binti’s journey in itself is changing as she leaves her home and has new experiences in the university. The fact that the two worlds are ready to be peaceful with each other also depicts change.
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