Analysis Of Octavia Butler 's Dawn

Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is seen as a story about the relationship between alien oppressors and a group oppressed humans. It has also been described as a love story between the human narrator and the chief alien. In her afterword, she describes “Bloodchild” as “a love story between two very different beings,” “a coming of age story” and a “pregnant man story.”(Hardy) However, when one comparing Butler’s “Bloodchild” to Simone De Beauvoir’s essay “The second sex”, similarities surrounding the social issues of gender inequality arise. The circumstances of the narrator mirror social issues affecting modern women. Bloodchild by Octavia Butler examines the dynamics of power between the sexes; by switching the gender roles in the

In the essay Civilized Vampires Versus Savage Werewolves: Race and Ethnicity in Twilight, Natalie Wilson argues for an examination of how werewolves and vampires are depicted in the hit book trilogy Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Wilson has a doctorate in women's studies and literature, and has written a great deal of books and essays upon the Twilight series and many other monster-based book through the lense of a feminist writer. (Wilson). She posted regularly on her blog while all the Twilight movies came out, and she’s recently been writing another book and editing old essays. Her very first published book was called Seduced by Twilight, and she has a blog by the same title (Wilson).

The naturalized ideologies and categorizations of gender, sex, and sexuality are distorted through physical and genetic modifications. Lilith demonstrates that “to refuse to be a woman, does not mean that one has to become a man” (Wittig 12). Lilith, who is physically altered by the oolois, displays physical and behavioral male character traits; she fights in a way “only a man can fight” and is suspected to be a man (Butler 145). Also, Lilith runs away from her “family,” as only human males are expected to behave. Meanwhile, Butler confronts the idea in Rich's statement, that “sexuality and violence are congruent,” by describing Lilith as “biding her time, waiting for more information or a real chance to escape (Rich 209),” while the male character, Peter, “favored action” (Butler 175). Lilith breaks away from the original ideological gender construction and exemplifies the balance between gender and sexual identity outside of social standards. In doing so, Butler illustrates the development process of ideology through biological deformation of human (Lilith and her offspring) and recreates Wittig's idea of “a not-woman, a not-man, a product of society, not a product of nature, for there is no nature in society” (Wittig

Octavia Butler’s Kindred explores the idea of connection through contrasting worlds. As Dana begins to understand her identity through interactions with distant relatives, she forms a bond with the past she was born from. As her journeys into the past reveal more about the past, she finds herself asking questions about the morality of the society. However, as her trips grow longer the questions begin to fade into the background as she accepts the reality of the past and falls into deeper connection with the everyday tribulations of each character. As such, the use of Dana's deeper immersion into the past as the story progresses demonstrates how humans tend to understand and fit into contrasting environments as time

the only intelligent bipeds on the planet. In her novel, the meticulously well thought-out culture

I went Into Elie Wiesel 's Night having read the book in various stages in my life. It seems to follow me through my schooling years. In junior high I read it in standard English class, just like any other book I would have read that year. In high school I read it for a project I was creating on World War II, looking at it from a more historical approach. Being a firsthand account of concentration camps made it a reliable source of historical information. But during previous times when I was reading, I never thought to take a look at it from a theological point of view. Doing so this time really opened my eyes to things and themes I hadn 't noticed during previous readings.

A local in town, Stephanie Wickman (who is currently 15 years old), experienced a daunting situation 6 years ago. While sledding at the end of her street, Wickman noticed a van that repeatedly circled the block then halted in front of her and her two siblings.

What does it mean to be human? Is it having emotions? A beating heart? Instincts that you cannot evade? Dawn by Octavia E. Butler is a science fiction novel that addresses the question of what it means to be human and how humans react in catastrophic situations. The human race has destroyed itself through war, and an extraterrestrial species have stepped in to help keep a handful of humans alive and restore the Earth back to it’s living state. Once humans are sufficiently prepared for the newly modified Earth, they would be sent “home” to reinstate the human population, but at what cost? Humans are born with the natural instinct to fight for survival and to not give up, but the instinct becomes obscured when they are forced to live an unnatural life amongst aliens, instead of having a “dignified” death with the rest of the human race. The interference that the Oankali, the alien race, commits against the humans can be juxtaposed with the invasion of Siberia by the Russian Empire in the 17th century. This is because the humans would have not been able to survive without the Oankali, while the Siberians wouldn’t have been affected without the invasion of the Russian Empire. Though the human race would not have survived without the Oankali’s assistance, they would not have been subjected to a life sentence of no longer being authentically human.

Octavia Butler wrote of an advanced alien race far superior than the primitive human. The Oankali had the ability to communicate through a linked neural network of all living things on their ship and share information in a “collective consciousness”. I will show that Butler’s Dawn, described a narrative where a more evolved consciousness like the Oankali’s, is the key to saving the human race from destroying ourselves and our planet in the nuclear age. We will see how this idea of a higher or combined consciousness has played a role in other literature, like the cyber network in Neuromancer, and the controlled consciousness of The Matrix 1999 movie.

Lauren Wolk centers Wolf Hollow around Annabelle a twelve-year-old girl, who is challenged by the bullying from one of her new classmates: Betty Glengarry. Furthermore, she lives on a ginormous farm with her parents, grandparents, Aunt Lily, and two younger brothers, Henry and James in a tiny town just outside of Wolf Hollow, Pennsylvania. Annabelle first encounters Betty on her walk home from the school house. Betty wants her to bring her something valuable, consequently, Annabelle fails to please her, so she whacks her with a stick and threatens her to hurt her younger brother. Additionally, Annabelle also has to fight to bring Toby, a World War I veteran who became a vagabond, to justice, due to Betty’s numerous claims against him. Betty,

In the article “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler, the protagonist named Gan and other human beings have to accustom themselves on a new profound planet after leaving planet Earth. On the new planet, they encounter a species already living it called “Tlic”, an unknown alien species. In order for Gan and the other humans to live on the planet, they have to follow the way the Tlic live and listen to what they say. The Tlic have an unusual way of living that Gan and the humans aren’t used to, but have to follow it no matter what. I think what the author is pointing out with this article is that accommodating and accepting one’s way of life are some of the few key elements of living. We must change ourselves to accept cultural values in order to be able to live with others.

Substance use disorders (SUD) are related to alcohol, hallucinogens, inhalants, opioids, sedative/hypnotics, stimulants, and tobacco. It is defined as a complex disease of the brain in which there is repetitive drug use, craving, and seeking in spite of the consequences (Halter, 2014, p.681). The film, Requiem For a Dream, follows four individual’s struggle of substance use and addiction. The characters in the film include Sara; Sara’s son, Harry; Harry’s friend, Tyrone; and Harry’s girlfriend, Marion. Sara, who watches TV obsessively and desperately wants to lose weight, becomes addicted to prescription pills that contains amphetamines. Harry and Tyrone are recreational drug users who attempt to work in a drug trade and Marion is an aspiring fashion designer. Unlike Sara, Harry, Tyrone, and Marion are addicted to heroin.Throughout the film, we navigate through the consequences of their addiction.

“I have selected one of my best male officers here in Sac PD. His name is Dominic Cavil. He is a SWAT officer who’s normally deployed to regular duties, but is still available for SWAT calls. He will participate on this investigation providing you protection from any harm against you and watch over you, guard you, and protect you.”

One way in which this is shown to be evident is Butler’s insistence on situating Lilith alongside and in opposition with other humans who distrust and are even violent towards her; thus she aligns her protagonist, notably of African descent, with the Other-centered positioned aliens. As Sheryl Vint relates, “the first human that Lilith encounters following her isolation among the Oankali tries to rape her” (2007: 66). Despite her dismissal of his seemingly uninformative name – Paul Titus – “biblical associations of Paul (often thought misogynist) and Shakespearean associations with rape (through Titus Andronicus) are ominous” (Lennard 2007: 38), and in fact, the etymology of names and places is significant to our overall understanding of the text as allegorical. Butler’s physical description of Paul is contrasted with Lilith’s own appearance – “A human being – tall, stocky, as dark as she was, clean shaved” – and therefore skin colour is counterbalanced and treated as an issue in this instance (Butler 1987: 84). Furthering this, Lilith labels him “alien and strange, yet familiar” shifting the reader’s perspective and

This Earth of Mankind has been a cruel yet memorable story by Pramoedya Ananta Toer. This Earth of Mankind, the first in a collection of four novels, gives the readers a glimpse into the colonial period of the Dutch Indies. Minke, a young Native man, narrates the story and shares his thoughts throughout the novel. The basic premise of the story revolves around Minke experiencing many social injustices, meeting remarkable characters, and developing his own opinion on the world around him. Tragedy strikes Minke when his wife, Annelies, is forcibly taken away shortly after their marriage. The plot, however, is not the highlight of the novel. The star of the story is the underlying message. From the very front cover of the novel is a clue into what it is about. Pramoedya littered the story with themes and ideas that tackle the issue of social discrimination and injustice.