Diseases, though scary and deadly, are part of the everyday existence of man. Many diseases occur naturally, some treatable, some not, and has become something we have learned to accept as humans. Diseases become the fate of many humans, even the human character Lilith in the story Dawn. But after she wakes up in the alien world of the Oankali, Lilith’s life was no only changed, but extended, as she was rid of the factor that determined her fate.
I find this to be the most alien aspect about Lilith’s new life with the Oankali. Compared to me, Lilith is superhuman because she was rid of a disease that has plagued her family for generations. Though humans do not necessarily want diseases, they become a part of our lives, internally and externally (through someone else); becoming something we learn to accept over time. I believe it takes a lot of strength in a person to learn and accept that he or she has a disease. Though Lilith says her inherited disease is a curse, even she has learned to accept it overtime. When she is rid of the disease by the Oankali, she learns to accept this too, but realizes that what the Oankali did to her was more than just a nice gesture, but for a bigger aim.
This becomes something Lilith does not understand: if the Oankali want to bring humans back to Earth, why change the things that are part of the human existence? Diseases are a part of human life, and in a way, teach us to become better humans as we learn to accept diseases and find ways to help others who have them. So in that sense, eradicating all diseases will take away the things that make humans who we are.
In the long run, eradicating all of our threatening disease may make humans healthier, but in the end, it will teach the new humans on the new Earth how to not accept these sudden changes in life or care for others who have changes. Changing one of our human fates, which has probably been with us since the beginning of time, will create different people with no knowledge of diseases, thus create different consequences for the future.