In other words, they paint many humans as simply disagreeable and dangerous, which would hopefully make them realize that we probably are not a species they want to try to enslave.

However, if the intelligent alien life was not dangerous and did not have evil intentions towards human beings, then the books would also explain some of the wonderful parts of human existence. In this series of books, one encounters parents willing to do anything to protect their children, friends who risk their lives for one another and people who do stupid but wonderful things for love. They portray a human race that, despite all of its terrible faults and downfalls, is, ultimately, redeemable. I would want aliens to understand this because I would assume that they already had the ability to access human communications channels. Watching television news, they would have to assume that human beings were essentially self-centered...
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