I’ve really enjoyed Octavia Butler’s Dawn (1987) thus far. While Samuel Delany’s Trouble on Triton (1976) was pretty difficult for me to read, I find myself getting engrossed in Dawn‘s narrative. Part of this, I think, is because Lilith is a far more likable protagonist. In addition, Butler’s narrative style is much more accessible than Delany’s parenthetical, stream-of-consciousness narration.
As I was reading, I was intrigued by the automatic, innate aversion Lilith has to Jdahya, which is apparently universal among humans experiencing the Oankali for the first time.
She could not remember ever having been so continually afraid, so out of control of her emotions. Jdahya had done nothing, yet she cowered.
Dawn by Octavia Butler
I wonder if Butler intends this aversion to be simply based in the uncomfortable, tentacled appearance of the Oankali or to be due to a more universal fear of the “other.” I suspect that it relates to how one of the central facets of the human identity is dominance over other species. When confronted with an unfamiliar, intelligent life form which challenges existing narratives of the humanity’s relationship to the world, perhaps the human body reacts biologically, viscerally. For some people, that might take the form of violence, of trying to dominant the unfamiliar. For Lilith, she is crippled by shock. I’m interested to see how her relationship to the Oankali develops throughout the novel.
Feminist Science Fictions 