In Diverse Position Science Fiction the characters are pushed to the limit in a world that is either no longer hospitable or unwelcoming to them. Octavia E. Butler has done a marvelous job of creating a world in which humans will have to struggle to survive as well as keep their humanity.
The main character, Lilith Iyapo, wakes up in a cell where she is taken care of but contained with no outside contact except for an inanimate voice that attempts to ask her questions. It is discovered that the Earth has been made unlivable through human warfare and that extraterrestrials have intervened to trade. This trade is not of goods, but of genetic makeup. The alien race, Onkali, survives by taking what they see to be superior genes from other species. However, they do not just take they also force their trading partners to receive some of their alien genes in return, thereby changing both species completely. This becomes the main conflict of the book, the struggle to keep human beings human.
Butler's Dawn is not typical of science fiction in that it does not center around a mechanically advanced society, galactic war, or human greatness. On the contrary the Onkali are essentially biological, even their space ship is "alive" and they do not use mechanics of any sort unless they absolutely have to. There is no mention of huge galactic empires fighting each other across galaxies, in fact the Onkali talk about their "trading" process as if it is accepted and met with little conflict elsewhere in the universe. Human folly and weakness is emphasized more than human greatness ever is. This has to do with the fact that a small group of powerful humans were inconsiderate and callous enough to destroy the world. The Onkali actually thought that the humans must have discussed and decided to perform mass suicide of their species together, because any other reason for a species self inflicted destruction did not make sense to them.The humans in Dawn are constantly portrayed as powerless against the Onkali and their "seduction". The only strength a human obtains is through Onkali genetic engineering and the creation of primitive weapons.
The book is very much an exploration of a world very separate from our own. It relies on social interaction between the Onkali and humans through much of the book in order to describe just how different their alien world is. For example the Onkali believe cancer has medicinal or curative properties and see it as a gift. Also, the Onkali have a third gender or kind separate from female and male called Ooloi. The Ooloi mate with a male and female Onkali and are instrumental to reproduction. This third distinction is extremely important to Onkali existence, but is so foreign from human understanding that the connection to it, once experienced, can be dangerously strong. They can provide a mental connection that simulates or is better than sex. Interestingly, in a species that trades genetic codes for survival they do not see differences as negative, even the fact that humans are so equally full of life and death on a genetic level intrigues them and is seen as "beautiful possibility". This erases racial tension where they are concerned.
It would be right to say this is a niche book. It doesn't follow the majority vote for what science fiction tropes are expected to be, but it does a good job creating its own momentum. Science fiction has become increasingly more diverse. There is a rise of authors similar to Octavia Butler, interested in world building, testing way-of-life ideas alternative to any we have today. Dawn is part of the Xenogenesis series. The first book certainly leads the reader to wonder what the outcome will be from the Onkali, human "trade".
Required Movie:
Monsters (2010) director: Gareth Edwards
This movie shows several interesting aspects of human nature.
When our position on the food chain is threatened we get aggressive. The aliens in the movie are shown to be aggressive when they feel threatened, but seem otherwise not to care about humans.
When humans are scared they have a hard time thinking rationally. Taking a deep breath and observing your surroundings can be a life saver.
During crisis the gap between differing social classes becomes larger. Those with means are "protected" while those without have to make do.
Desperate people do desperate things.
When Humans are dependant on each other for survival compassion grows.
Impossible circumstances can push very unlikely people together.
When people are afraid they like to pretend they are invincible.
Catastrophe morbidly draws people like flies and sells papers.
Being heartless is much harder to do when actually faced with a grotesque situation or moral compromise.
When constantly faced with impending death sense of self can become clearer.
and
No matter how hard you try to push away your past it stays with you.
Temporary pleasure is just that, temporary.
I really enjoyed this novel. However, the only thing that I found incredibly odd was the gender stereotyping found in the writing. After what we've been through on earth and finding extraterrestrial life, or it finding us I might say, the fact that everything is so set into male and female, even the aliens is a little disappointing. In fact, the fact that the aliens are so humanoid at all is really sad. I think this is best shown when Lilith begins to open up the suspended animation pods to begin to build up the community again. As more and more people emerge, they begin to pair off. At one point a couple of men grab a newly Awakened women and try to force her into an nonconsensual sexual encounter. They call it her "duty" to pair off. It kind of plays off sexuality in this way too. I would hope after war and two hundred and fifty years we might have evolved past gender roles. But, I am probably thinking too much into this. This literature is probably a product of the time it was written (1987 I believe?). The writer might not have been confronted with the issues that we are facing today, and thus never thought about those specific possibilities for the future. And therefore, regurgitated the same trite that has been in our culture for centuries. But, overall it was an enjoyable read and I thought it was pretty compelling.
ReplyDeleteMorgan:
DeleteI agree about the strange gender stereotyping. I wish we had a chance to talk more about it in class. The almost rape scene after the pods are opened and the almost rape scene before that when Lilith gets beaten by Paul Titus for refusing to have sex with him are pretty telling. I suppose when I read these scenes I thought Octavia Butler was using it to point out how wrong or rather how “uncivilized” that kind of behavior was. I had this feeling especially when Lilith began to think that the awoken humans were acting like “cavemen” and that they had not learned anything from the destruction of the earth or their own helplessness. We, as readers, agree with her on that. That being said I thought it made sense that Lilith was afraid to allow men out of their pods until she had a few women backing her up when she had just recently gone through the trauma of almost being raped, however it definitely seemed to push gender roles, women can be just as sexually aggressive as men. This gender stereotyping can also be seen when the Onkali want Lilith to be the awoken human’s “mother”. Then again Lilith’s character is designed to counteract these things to some degree by her own personal thoughts, a sign that Octavia Butler is aware to some extent and speaking out against the folly of such primitive behavior as assuming anyone has a “duty” to be sexually active in any situation, ever.
The aliens are a whole other story. In my head I imagined them as very un-human, but over time I began to picture them like humans because they really sounded like dogmatic human psychiatrists more than they sounded like an alien species. They were extremely rational to a fault. I think the most human they ever were was when Nickanj wanted to show off his new human “family member” to other Onkali children. That whole scene screamed “human” to me. They really could have been more foreign, however the third gender Ooloi are pretty set apart. They seem to understand and communicate through sexual neurological stimulation whenever they get the chance in such a powerful way that it really isn’t humanly understandable. In fact it becomes the addicting desired feeling to the humans to the point that human touch becomes undesirable or even unwanted.
You always have such a great hold on the material you've read which is what I've always liked most about your posts. Not only do you have great awareness of the material you've read but a great analysis skills of what you've read. Uhhhh... I don't know what else to address. Hmmm... Ah yes! I was skeptical to read this short story but to find out that it is not the typical sci-fi story in the sense that it's not another Star Wars or I, Robot---the galactic government and its lack of presence in the grand scheme of things like war or the fear of automotons that once helped the human race are now feared for they may finally obtain "emotions" and realize they're being mistreated and rebel or something in that ballpark. You also watch the movies which is surprising because I never have the time to do so D:
ReplyDelete
DeleteJulian:
Your complement to me is much appreciated!
I love stories and storytelling, so I can’t help but analyze and attempt to understand. This blog has been a nice way for me to remember my initial thoughts and feelings after reading or watching media. It is great fun to be exposed to new and exciting niche genre.
So far, I too am impressed with Octavia Butler’s “organic” storytelling. Her stories, devoid of technology as we understand it and other typical Sci-Fi tropes, could stand up with or without extraterrestrials. They could be set on earth between differing cultures. However, the fact that the events happen between different species gives them a greater importance due to the fact that it demands humans to address the fear of not being on the top of the food chain, so to speak. It wouldn’t be the same issue between two groups of the same species. It is only through the entrance of a new, dominate or otherwise intelligent, species that Butler can ask some of her tough questions. Like whether or not humans deserved to be saved. This is what is so compelling about her book, she had to imagine a situation that no human dares imagine. This is probably why it was unavoidably that the aliens still have some human-like qualities, although it could be argued that because they are intelligent beings there is no way for them not to have similarities.
I watched most of the movies very early on in the semester. I felt like I had to see them before talking or writing about genre in class, because I tend to have different reactions to things I see visually verses things I see through my imagination. Sometimes I can feel completely different about the same story depending on how it is presented to me.
Great post Lauren. In the first part where you talk about Dawn, the part about how the Onkali view difference really struck me, I think this gets to the heart of what Butler was trying to do with this series; give a new perspective on diversity, a perspective that has up until recently has been largely overlooked by mainstream sci-fi. My larger takeaway from the story was that by looking at things from a different, perhaps larger than human, or trans-human perspective there may be room for "beautiful possibilities" even in the ugliest aspects of humankind.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
DeleteI agree that the Onkali viewpoint on difference is very striking. They live for the trade not just for survival, but also for constant growth and betterment of their kind. They are not afraid to take and learn from other species or cultures. Everything holds possibility to them, even the main character’s cancer, which they call “beautiful talent”. Their ability to think this way allows them to take even one of the most reviled human sicknesses and turn it to their advantage.
Octavia Butler’s book talks plenty about the human struggle to remain human and not “trade” with the Onkali. The humans in the book often refuse to see “others” as potentially stronger or better in any way even if it is an undeniable fact. The human main character is able to survive by observing the alien culture and trying to make the best of her situation, but by the end of the first book, she still can not accept bringing Human, Onkali children into the world. Likewise, the weakest human characters are those that revert back to primal human instincts instead of being open-minded. The suggestion is that maybe the trade is not something to be fought. Maybe there are possibilities for a brighter future if the mind is allowed to go in that direction. Like you said, “Even the ugliest aspects of humankind” can be “beautiful possibilities” if a “larger than human” viewpoint is adopted.