War

The various wars in the novel show that it is impossible to avoid conflict. However, the comparison between human conflict and the spider’s war against the ants show the difference between destruction and assimilation. The first leaves species and planets desolate, while the second brings peace and posterity those willing to accept it.

The first major human conflict is one that happens right at the beginning of the story that the reader only experiences from 20 light years away. The battle between the Non Ultra Natura (NUNs) and scientists like Kern is based on two selfish desires. The first is to remain the most powerful and intelligent species of life in the universe. Kern describes the NUNS as, “The most extreme of a whole coalition of human political factions... who looked at progress and said that enough was enough. Who fought tooth and nail against further...