Recent class discussions about autonomy and selfhood have prompted me to examine my own understandings of the self. Throughout the semester Butler’s work has pushed me to grapple with the concept of self-understanding and left me with many questions — more questions than answers, perhaps. Continue reading “Selfhood and Western Questions”
The Power of Hope in Butler’s Fiction
In my Inspire Paper I wrote about hope and its great power to get us through almost anything. Butler’s fiction demonstrates that hope is the one emotion ingrained into the human brain that moves us forward and continues to unite us. Despite the more negative feelings of fear, loneliness, boredom, frustration, and suffering that oftentimes bring people together, it is the unceasing feeling of hope that we as a society carry in our hearts that allows us to overcome even the hardest of obstacles and creates a common purpose among the human characters in Lilith’s Brood. While in my paper I mainly discussed how the feeling of expectation inspires and keeps humans going, I decided to look at the importance of hope in Oankali society for this blog post.
Aaor is a wonderful example of this, since its lack of hope of finding mates clearly contributes to, if not causes, the self-destruction and dissolution of the lonely ooloi. Like with humans, “its life is terrible if it has nothing better to look forward to” (Imago 684). We witness how Aaor slowly retreats from society and degenerates back to its original state (a tiny sea creature), close to losing itself completely before Jodahs and its mates enable the lonesome ooloi to recover. Because of its sibling’s encouragement and affection, Aaor finds hope again and thereby reclaims its identity, and even more importantly, its will to live. Thus, hope (and a sense of belonging and being loved) is what saved Aaor from committing “suicide.”
Moreover, readers are also confronted with the fact that humans (as well as nonhumans) often are led by false hope. Tomas, for example, informs Jodahs and Jesusa of how much he hates his resister village because it is “full of pain and sickness and duty and false hope” (687). He is aware that human beings will never be able to live on Earth as they have before and rather will remain under the power of the Oankali (be it on Earth, Mars, or elsewhere). In this way, Tomas has given up the hope of the old world; however, he continues to hope for a treatment of his tumors and a more fulfilled life with Jodahs and Jesusa. Had he given up hope completely, he most likely wouldn’t have endured all the trials of the Oankali and the “loss” of humanity.
As Jodahs states toward the end of Imago, Aaor “survived only because of their combined efforts and its new hope of Human mates to bond with” (691). And I believe this could be said for the majority of characters in Butler’s fiction, since hope seems to be the greatest driving force in all of them, whether they are human or not.
The Age of Maturity
While reading Imago in Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler, the concept of emerging into adulthood is portrayed in ways that are different from our world. When Jodahs is asked to explain how old he is, he replies that he is still a child, despite his numerical age:
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.”
“Good god! When will you be considered an adult?”
“After metamorphosis.” I smiled to myself. Soon. “I have a brother who went through it at twenty-one, and a sister who didn’t reach it until she was thirty-three. People change when their bodies are ready, not at some specific age.” (Lilith’s Brood, 528)
This scene in the novel really stuck with me. It made me reconsider our society’s definition of what it truly means to be an adult. For us, certain ages yield increases in responsibility. Typically around 18 is when we are considered to be “adults.” But how can simply surviving 18 years of life be enough to achieve the status of an adult?
I remember when I was a child, I imagined that when I turned 18 that I would be very mature. In my young brain, 18 was the the age where I thought my life would be figured out. Upon actually turning 18, I realized that I was still so young and had so much more life to live. An individual’s perception of their own maturity in the future is often one that includes hope of maturity and clarity. We all hope to be a better, smarter, and wiser version of ourselves one day; but when that day will come varies among people.
Today, I am 20 years old and think about how much I have grown since the age I became an “adult.” If only two years can encompass massive amounts of growth in the areas of emotional intelligence and maturity, then how can we have a specific numerical age that implies this level of maturity? Will I ever actually reach the status of being an “adult?” Or will I continue to grow as a human being, simply becoming less and less similar to the child I once was? It is hard to say when I will become an adult considering the fact that this type of change is gradual. The gradual build of maturity sneaks up on you and this will not happen suddenly to an individual when they turn the arbitrary age of 18.
The manner in which the Oankali approach the concept of maturity is very different from our society. They do not stress about having a set age at which they will reach metamorphosis. They simply live their lives knowing that when they are absolutely ready, they will mature. This made me question why our society does not function in this way. At age 18, no matter what an individual’s mental maturity is, they will be considered an adult. This does not take into account the unique life experiences that people will have leading up to their 18th year. With the Oankali, their age does not indicate levels of maturity. They acknowledge that every individual is different, and they will be able to change when they are ready.
This is an important idea to keep in mind when considering how we treat young adults in our society. Often times immense responsibility is placed on individuals who are not ready for it. Not every 18 year old has the ability to achieve what other 18 year olds can, yet both individuals are considered to be adults. These assumptions that link age to one’s capabilities can result in individuals feeling overwhelmed by the expectations placed on them by others. To avoid these unnecessary stresses, as a society we should take some advice from the Oankali and let people change when they are ready.
Empathy: Oankali Do More Than Walk in Your Shoes
This past Thursday I attended a discussion on empathy and literature, led by Dr. Ken Asher. The discussion was terribly interesting, and I could not help but draw some mental connections between the discussion and the content of our course. Cassie happens to discuss empathy in her last post (with a nod to Sami), which makes me feel more confident about the relevance of this post.
Continue reading “Empathy: Oankali Do More Than Walk in Your Shoes”
The Importance of Perspective Taking in Literature
In our smaller group discussions last class, Sami brought up this really interesting phenomenon where individuals are more likely to be empathetic and sympathetic in their everyday life if they are avid readers. According to Sami, because most readers are putting themselves into the mindsets of the characters in novel, they are better skilled at that in real interactions. Reading novels allows a person to walk in anther’s shoes, understand events from another’s perspective, and empathize with characters. This really got me thinking about the regime of the visual. I question whether a reader is more likely to empathize with characters because it is their own visualization of said characters. For example, has anyone ever been frustrated with a film adaptation of a book because its not how YOU imagined how the character would look and act like. I think Octavia Butler tricks us with this very human tendency. Many other classmates Continue reading “The Importance of Perspective Taking in Literature”
“MUTATO NOMINE DE TE FABULA NARRATUR”
As the semester boils down and our class tries to organize the multiple confused, frustrated, complexities hidden beneath the myriad of emotions that Butler’s work allows us to experience, I feel almost obligated to enter a state of deep reflection. The constant questions that I have for Butler- “Was Blake just as bad as Eli or worse? Does It matter?” “What do you think about autonomy?” “WHERE IS AKIN?!” – seem to dissipate and for all that is left with is the story of Octavia Butler—her texts, her stories yet deeply interwoven in each word is a truth she wishes to reveal about our humanity. There are hundreds of revelations that a reader can encounter through Butler’s fiction, or there could be one. I’d like to share my mine.
Going Back to the Beginning: Stigmergy in Bloodchild
To steer stigmergy away from Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood trilogy, I attempted to find a connection to stigmergy through Butler’s Bloodchild. As I was hunting for possible connections, I found a helpful hint in Heather Marsh’s article, “Governance by User Groups”. Marsh states: “In environmentally sensitive areas such as the Arctic, the few who live in the area must have their rights considered along with the rights of the planet.” What stands out to me here is the term “environmentally sensitive.” From my understanding of Bloodchild, this “extrasolar world” (31) that the Terran and Tlic inhabit are faced with an environmentally sensitive issue. Meaning, for the Preserve to survive with both the Tlic and the Terran at Continue reading “Going Back to the Beginning: Stigmergy in Bloodchild”
Adulthood Rites and Female Genital Mutilation
Out of the three books that complete Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood trilogy, her second installment Adulthood Rites was my favorite for more reasons that I can count on my hands. But the main reason why I loved Adulthood Rites was because of Akin’s character. He was intelligent, brave, and loyal – all very admirable traits I wish more people I knew had.
Continue reading “Adulthood Rites and Female Genital Mutilation”
The consequence of misgendering
I have long found an interest in gender, and the recent conversations in class regarding gender in Butler’s fiction has made me consider the subject even further. For me, and what seems like much of the class, I have struggled in gendering characters that don’t actually possess a gender.
The Non-Consent in Gender
At class on Monday, we got started on our class-wide project, a difficult task to organize with close to 30 participants. One of the most helpful parts of the endeavor came when Sean volunteered to stand at the white board and write down topics that students would like to write about in our project. Sean did a good job hearing students out, teasing out the specifics of what we meant when we would offer broad categories, not least of all – me. Throughout the Lilith’s Brood Trilogy, the inspire paper, and my previous blog post, I had been thinking a lot about gender, so I offered the wide-ranging category of gender as something I’d like to write about, though I wasn’t initially prepared to unpack what exactly about it I’d like to write about. Continue reading “The Non-Consent in Gender”