In Octavia Butler’s Dawn there was more than one instance where I was made to be uncomfortable, and with further thought and discussion I was made to be even more uncomfortable. There is a certain recurring theme of lack of consent, which was the most prominent discomfort in my reading experience. There was also the superiority that the Oankali as a species exuded, and the concept of the ship itself that was a discomfort. There was a constant string of thoughts while reading that had me questioning if the humans were truly alone, especially after learning that the ship they reside on may be a living entity itself. Upon learning the setting, there were even more questions and concerns that were set in place.
The biggest concern, to me, was the prominent lack of consent that was practiced by many of the characters in the book. This notion was planted in the beginning of the novel and is revealed to the reader when they discover that the last remaining humans have been rescued and kept under the care of the Oankali. This in itself is not something that the humans have wanted, many of them may have already come to terms with the inevitable downfall of the human race as a whole. A second instance is where Lilith had discovered a scar on her abdomen sometime between her second and third Awakenings. In this instance she had no memory of where it had come from or how she had gotten it, until later on where she was told by Jdahya. Here is where Jdahya explains how her body was genetically modified, against her own will and knowledge, to reabsorb her tendency for cancer. This was one of the first proverbial red flags waving in my headspace. This example of non-consent shook me to my core, as a reader I find myself seeing vivid images of certain events in my head. The thought and visualization of this procedure was enough to make me put the book down for the night and clear my mind.
This was only one of the first examples where lack of consent was practiced by the Oankali. Another example of this is the rescuing of humans as a whole. While this particular example is not quite as disturbing as the previous, I feel that the actions that Oankali had taken to preserve humanity can be seen as disturbing, especially considering the lengths that the extraterrestrial society has taken to preserve the humans. The scene where Lilith is shown the suspended animation pods that the humans are kept in between awakenings and where Kahguyhat briefly explains the gene trades the Oankali participate in. It is in this scene where Lilith says “It’s one thing to do that to a plant. It’s another to do it to intelligent, self-aware beings” (Butler 60). While in this scene, Lilith is told that the Oankali had not done her or the other humans on the ship any harm, there is still some doubt that the Oankali would “…make mules of our children…” (Butler 60). Although the gene trade is essential for the survival of the Oankali, there is the notion that they, as a species, do not participate in a mutual trade when trading with other sentient beings. As Lilith had said, it is one thing to alter and trade genes with the suspended animation pods, as they are plants and are not capable of consent. However there is the implication that the Oankali had been trading genes and modifying the humans, who are capable of consent, without consent. Some of these trades or modifications have even been made without the knowledge of the human, for example Lilith in the beginning of the novel when her tendency for cancer was removed genetically.
The most outright disturbing moment in the novel is at the end. This was the moment that made me inherently disgusted with the Oankali, who I had finally begun to warm up too. This moment in particular is when the other humans that Lilith had awakened were moved down to Earth without her. Lilith had been told she was left behind for her own good and her own safety, but why would she need to be protected as she had been genetically modified (willingly, this time) to be stronger and more resilient as compared to the rest of the humans? The reason for this protection? Nikanj had done something unspeakable and horrifying, It had made Lilith pregnant with her and the recently deceased Joseph’s child all without her knowledge before doing so. Lilith had protested upon finding out, saying that she was not ready to have another child, especially one that was going to be different than that of a normal human. The response that Nikanj had for this had truly rocked my world, it has said “ And you are ready to be her mother. You could never have said so. Just as Joseph could never have invited me into his bed – no matter how much he wanted me there. Nothing about you but your words reject this child.” (Butler 282). This response, especially the last sentence essentially says that Lilith’s body was ready and that she wanted this, even though her mind and consciousness did not know itself. This was something that reminded me of victim blaming in cases of sexual assault in the world today, where a common reasoning for this diabolical action is “Well they were asking for it”. This was the most utterly disgusting action performed by Nikanj in the entire novel, in my opinion.
This leaves the questions of what else will the Oankali do in terms of not respecting the autonomy of the humans on the ship as the trilogy continues. Do they eventually learn and respect this autonomy? Do they become more attuned to human social cues and body language as opposed to reading their ‘internal’ cues, much like Nikanj had done at the end of the novel. That is the thing that I look forward to the most in the rest of the trilogy.