The Relationship between Humanity and Nature

This is the book's primary thematic consideration, much of its action defined, either directly or indirectly, by tensions between humanity and the natural world or, rather, between MANIFESTATIONS of humanity and the natural world. Negative manifestations of humanity include insensitive and/or destructive curiosity, callousness, selfishness, exploitative-ness, and short sightedness, all of which come into conflict with the drive of nature (as defined by Grog in Part 2, Section 5) simply to survive.

The most dynamic, driving manifestation of this central theme is the central narrative line, chronicling the struggle of Eva (a human) to find a balance, in fact to simply survive, a union with nature as represented by Kelly, the chimp into which Eva's human identity is transplanted. In fact, this theme is explored in the book's central situation. The eventually successful grafting of Eva's identity into the body and being of an...