Like many of Butler's works, "Survivor" also contains a strong theme of assimilation. At the beginning of the novel, Alanna has joined the Missionary community and learned to live as a member of that community without losing the skills and traits that she learned from her parents or from her feral youth. Later, this same ability to assimilate while maintaining her own identity allows Alanna to become a full member of the Tehkohn, and to use this membership to assist the Missionaries in evading their own (forced) assimilation into Garkohn society.