Card explores the nature vs nurture dichotomy. Card turns this debate upside down. Firstly, Jane originates as a being that exists in computers and communication networks but demonstrates a great deal more humanity than her Starways Congress persecutors. Yet she is not entirely human until she manages to achieve a body of her own and her adjustment to being a creature of the flesh provides a great deal of insight into just how much a human body contributes to who we are.