Cyborg Essay: a Struggle of Acceptance

Guthrie 1 Link: http://guthriecyborgessayenglish1102.weebly.com/

Marion Zoey Guthrie

Dr. Krafft

English 1102

June 25,2016 Cyborg Essay: A struggle of Acceptance

This website will take a closer look at the underlining meaning in Octavia E. Butler’s novel, Dawn. Each tab will contain important information that emphasizes the theme of acceptance. Viewers will take a step back from the story in order to analyze Butler’s means, finding references to the real world in her novel, helping them understand its connection. The website also offers insight to who Butler was and what she believed in.

Voice Record: “The hybrid, is a combination of two different species. The goal behind creating a hybrid is to take the best traits from both parents creating the best off spring. In the world of science fiction hybrids are a re-occurring tool, used by authors in order to convey the ideas of change, difference and acceptances. These fictional tools are typical used to look at mankind in a critical way. In the science fiction world hybrids, like the future they are typically associated with, represent mankind’s evolution and change as a specie. As we know, evolution is an unavoidable force, that is needed to insure the survival of a specie. In Dawn Butler combines the need for evolution with the creation of a human hybrid. If readers take a step back, analyzing the historic background of Dawn it becomes apparent that Butler believes evolution in locked in acceptance. Dawn indirectly shows that in order to evolve man must improve on the social aspects rather than focusing on technological ones. Man will never truly grow if they themselves are not willing to change. Evolution is one of the key factors in Octavia E. Butler’s Xeogenesis

Book 1: Dawn. In this story, as well as in her interviews, Butler examines humanity’s struggle to Guthrie 2 evolve through they lack of acceptances for difference. Dawn shows mankind as a stunted species because of its inability to accept change and embraces difference, indirectly targets the political, global, and social issues of the real world focusing intolerances.”

Dawn was a science fiction novel born of the eighties. The story targeted the decade's major factors including: global conflict like the Cold War, scientific advances in the understanding of DNA and the social issues like those associated with the LGBT community.

These factors can be found directly and indirectly throughout the novel, playing a key role in the

Dawn’s story line and theme.

Octavia Butler was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California. At a very young age her father died and her mother was left to raise her. Her mother work as a maid and was treated like a second class citizen. Butler grow up in a time a racism and discrimination. A large number of the African Americans during this time experience oppression and subjugation. On many occasions Butler would see her mother enter a back door or abide by the rules of segregation. These issue had a major impact on her writings, and her personal views. Her personal oppression contributed to her strong feelings on acceptance and tolerance of all people.

In this interview Octavia Butler also hinted on characteristics of her writing that could be seen in Dawn. She stated that she "believed [the future would have] surprises" rather than being a world of "more of the same". This comment states that not only does Butler believe the future is unpredictable but that it will not parallel with the present or the past. This types of things suggest that the future will force mankind to accept and embarrass the changes it brings.

The Cold war provided readers with a source behind the destruction of mankind. This element was seen in the earlier part of the story. It was especially apparent when Lilith recalled Guthrie 3 the war thinking, "Could anyone who had lived through the war forget it? A handful of people tried to commit humanicide"(Butler, 3). Octavia Butler used Dawn as a way to deliver the public option's about the cold war, and the negative feelings she had about it herself. By making the

Cold War the destroyer of her fictional world she is suggesting that the war could do the same to the real one.

Advances in DNA technology were also important during the eighties. Their relevance in the scientific community, as new topic, gave Butler an important element for her creatures, the

Oankali. Through her story she gave the Oankali the ability to "perceive DNA and manipulate it precisely" (Butler, 29). By giving these beings the ability to alter DNA Butler was able to show readers that the Oankali were more advances than their human associates. This use of DNA, rather than technology, also showed that Butler believes, mankind's future would have more of a focus on genetic makeup, rather than the mechanical association of her present. Butler believes that in order for mankind to evolve they most work on improving their physical bodies and genes, similarly to the actions performed by the Oankali. Butler believes that improvement starts with man.

The LBGT community and their fight for equality began in the eighties after an outbreak of the AIDS virus. These issues created extreme prejudges against the

LBGT community, turning their fight from a political one into a moral one. People made clams that same sex relationships should be considered wrong in the eyes god and the public. The hatred people had developed for them was similar to those developed for both the Oankali and genetically altered humans that people associated as their "pets". (Butler, 78) The LGBT community shared a connection to the Oankali, because like the alien species, the LGBT were miss understood. The Oankali where hated because their methods were considered inhuman and Guthrie 4 their appearances produced fear and discomfort for their human trade partners. The LGBT community also created tension because they did not fit into the social norms of society. As a result, they were hated for it and often attacked. The LGBT community of Butler's time was displayed through the hybrid people, Lilith and Joseph. The hybrid humans were seen as the outsides of their own species. Their genetic advances made them a target for the other humans, who feared and distrusted them. This fear eventually became so great that one of the non-hybrid- humans murder of Joseph. A hate so strong that it lead to the death of someone different. Butler even used derogatory terms that were typically associated with homosexuals to solidify their connections with the hybrid people with the LGBT. These connections between the LBGT community and the hybrids of Butler's story show how wrong intolerance is and the dangers it leaded too.

Below is a video that will provided viewers with a better understanding of the elements surrounding the 80s.

There are three different types of hybrids presented in Dawn: the Oankali, and alien groups, the hybrid-humans, genetically perfected humans changed by the Oankali, and the

Oankali-hybrid-human children. Although each one is different they both experience negative reactions when they come in contact with the non-hybrid-humans of the old Earth.

The main character Lilith was a human hybrid. She had been genetically altered by the

Oankali in order to improve her physical abilities and increase her overall health. This alteration made her stronger, and faster that her human associates make her more "capable" to help other humans in there awakening period (Butler, 110). This enhancement help her protect herself and help the group but they also made her a target. The fact that she was a woman a possessed great strong an agility made others see her as different. Because she was a strong powerful woman she Guthrie 5 no longer fit the mode society placed on her. As a result, the other members of her group did not trust her. This type of small minded thinking shows how primitive the resisting humans were. I also show that gender norms were also an issue that needed to be resolved through acceptance.

The image to the right of this page shows the reactions different species had the "others”, or the hybrid beings of Dawn. These beings are referred to as the Others because they experience the most discrimination and judgement due to their differences. The Oankali, the alien species in

Dawn, have experienced the most scrutiny, primarily because of their appearance. Humans who have seen them typically describe Oankali as" ugly, grotesque," beings (Butler 92). The human judges the Oankali based of off what it considers normal and correct. Humans also judge the

Oankali because they have different customs which they consider, like their appearance to be odd or wrong. They struggle to accept the Oankali developing a hatred for them. Butler uses the group of humans that cannot accept the Oankali to represent those that are resistant to change.

Their intolerance is presented as "hierarchical" ignorance readers associate with primates.

(Butler,178) Butler uses this group as an example of how the real world’s, narrow-minded individuals, who can only see as far as the status quo allows, react when presented with something different. By referring to these individuals as primitive it strengthens the argument that acceptances is the key to evolutionary growth.

Now some readers may suggest that the individuals referred to as primitive are simply skeptical of the Oankali, believing the aliens look down on humans, but this not the case. The Oankali find humans "fascinating". (Butler, 109) If the Oankali looked down on humans they would not be will to perform the gene "trade" with them, they would have just allowed humans to destroy themselves. (Butler,28) This idea also shows that Butler believes in mankind and thinks that one day they will be able to accept all differences and reach a new level Guthrie 6 of evolution. Eventually there will be no others, only unity and universal tolerances.

A hybrid that was not seen in the story, but played a key role in it, was the Oankali- human- hybrid child. The Oankali-human- child represents the future of humanity, although it is not completely human. This child will be the next stage of humanity, but instead of embracing the idea humans saw this as a problem. The child was seen as the extinction of the human race, but in reality the child will result in the extinction intolerance. Dawn’s portrayal of the human race and its inability to accept change can be seen in Lilith’s reaction to the Oankali when she says, “they won’t be human”, “that’s what matters”, after she was told that the future offspring of the human race will be mixed with DNA from the Oankali. (Butler,178) Butler, through Lilith’s statement, shows the resisting nature of mankind. Even when the Oolio tell her that the “children will be better, than” they were, Lilith is still resistant. Her main concern is associated with the unknown appearance the child will take, and what it will act like. Fear of the unknown and the inability to understand something that is different from the norm, is a common human trait that can lead to hatred of differences. The child and her generation would remove the idea that difference is wrong. This idea put into place by Butler shows that as people evolve, growing and accepting one another the world will be a better and more advanced place.

Octavia E. Butler's science fiction novel, Dawn was indirectly targeted the issues and elements of the 80s display mankind's struggle to accept change.

Closing Video:

Dawn- a mixture of social factors and science fiction that focused on the idea of

Acceptance

Dawn displays major elements from the period is was created in including: Social

Prejustus against the LBGT community, use of DNA to solve problems, global issues and the Guthrie 7

Cold war.

This story was also influenced by Octavia Butler's Ideas on evolution:

-Butler also believed that as man accepted differences he would grow

-She believed that evolution dealt with the genetic improvement of man

Butler's use of the Hybrid body was also an important factor

-The hybrids seen Dawn included the Oankali and ...

the hybrid humans were being that were scrutinizes for their differences

Central Theme of Dawn: Acceptance

-The ablitiy of an individual or group of people to all something different to occur without conflict or resistances; allowances

IT IS THE FUTURE

-the need for change

-the need for acceptance

. Guthrie 8

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Butler, Octavia E., and Enric Torres-Prat. Dawn: Xenogenesis. New York, NY: Warner

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June 25, 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgeyVE3NHJM. Guthrie 9

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