Binti Themes

Racial Bias and Intolerance

Author Nnedi Okorafor uses Binti’s futuristic setting to examine issues relevant to the contemporary world. Although Binti lives on Earth in a distant future, tendencies of racism, bias and intolerance are still present. When Binti boards the shuttle at the outset of her story, other passengers immediately treat her with disdain. The light-skinned passengers lean away and act as though she smells bad, though Binti knows she only smells of flowers. Okorafor uses scenes like this to illustrate how ignorance can lead to intolerance, which can intensify into hatred and violence.

While the Meduse ultimately accept and value Binti, they, too, display ignorance and intolerance in their hatred for humans. Critic Vajra Chandrasekera has pointed out the similarities between the fictional treatment of Binti by the Meduse and the imperialist war of extermination fought by Germany in Namibia. When the former colony rose up in protest against their colonizers between 1904 and 1907, the Germans murdered tens of thousands of Namibians. Chandrasekera describes the transformation of Binti’s hair into okuoko as “a metaphor for acculturation into empire,” in which the alien aspects of the dominant culture become a part of oneself.

The people of Oomza Uni share some aspects of the colonizers with the Meduse and have a similar effect on Binti. During the genocide in colonial Namibia, the Germans sent hundreds of skulls of victims to Berlin for study, similar to the taking of the Meduse chief’s stinger. Some of the skulls were returned to the Namibian government in a ceremonial service held in 2018, paralleling the return of the stinger by the university. As critic Chandrasekera points out, “the galaxy’s premier multispecies… center of learning” is just as willing to perpetuate cultural appropriation as any other imperialists. And indeed, Binti must yield a part of her culture—her original source of otjize, the Namibian earth—and find a replacement for it in order to stay at Oomza Uni.

Empathy Requires Sacrifice

Binti’s journey with the Meduse represents the sacrifice and work required to truly understand the “other.” Binti’s survival depends on her ability to communicate with the Meduse. Because they killed everyone around her, she assumes they are cruel and without morals. But as she talks with Okwu, Binti comes to understand that the Meduse perceive humans as inherently violent and dangerous, and humans make the same assumption about the Meduse; each perception is as skewed as the other.

As she gets to know Okwu, Binti begins to notice the places where she and the alien overlap. Okwu’s hatred reminds her of her brother’s hatred of the Khoush. Making this personal connection helps Binti see how misunderstandings perpetuate. As someone constantly encountering intolerance, Binti must apply her own experience to understand why the Meduse hate humans and assume the actions of a few represent the whole. Ultimately, she sacrifices her bias, fear and anger and a part of her human nature as she literally becomes a blend of Himba and Meduse. Binti’s emotional and physical transformation illustrates the enormous importance of empathy.

Insularity and the Outsider

In Binti, Okorafor examines the concept of the “outsider” versus the “insider.” Binti’s journey illustrates the necessity of blurring the concepts of “outside” and “inside” to create understanding between individuals and communities. Binti bounces back and forth in these roles. She is an outsider in her insular Himba community, made up of people who rarely leave the desert and have never left Earth. She initially experiencing racism in the spaceship, then finds acceptance, and then again becomes an outsider who must prove her value after the Meduse invade.

It is her very “otherness,” however, that contributes to Binti’s survival and ultimately her success. Through her edan and then her “okuoko” hair, she can communicate with the Meduse, while her otjize helps to heal them. After winning their trust, she is able to communicate with the leaders of Oomza Uni and prevent a war. By the story’s end, she has changed so much that she will never belong completely to her Himba people again. The bittersweet ending is typical for any fantasy hero—like Frodo from The Lord of the Rings—whose journey has been so transformative that they “can’t go home again.” Binti has transcended her status as an insider or outsider to become something entirely new and something that is desperately needed in a divisive universe.