Butler, Octavia E. - Adulthood Rites

[oyceter]

I read Dawn about five years ago, so I didn't remember it very much. Thankfully, that didn't seem to matter for this book.

Akin is the Human construct son of Lilith, but though he looks Human, he's half-Human, half-Oankali. He's stolen by resister Humans who want their own children, but cannot have them.

My plot summary sucks more than usual. The book is a continuation of themes that I remember from the first book: what it means to be Human, if Humans can keep from destroying themselves, what it means to be different. I read this very slowly because it was extremely painful at times, particularly Akin's childhood in the resister city. Just... the way people treated him and constantly focused their rage at the Oankali on him. And their blind insistence on making him just like them, or attempting to ignore the differences or try to eradicate them violently.

He does meet a few good people, and his relationship with Tate is one of the most interesting in the book, as they disagree about some very major things, but still try to understand each other.

Butler's exceptionally good at portraying Akin's partially alien POV and making it feel normal to the reader; she's equally good at rendering recognizable human behavior as foreign and frightening. I, of course, keep bringing this back in my head to race and racism, though clearly the two aren't analogues. On the other hand, if this was what Butler was doing and not me reading too much into things, it works better than other SFnal attempts to comment on race, as her humans are multi-racial and not just, so pushing race commentary onto a separate species doesn't read as a cheat.

Excellent book, though definitely not light reading.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I am still trying to figure out whether or not we are supposed to believe that the Oankali are correct that unaltered humanity is inherently doomed.

I see the commentary as partly but not only on racism. (I recall Dawn having more on racism and sexism specifically.) The Oankali think humanity's fatal flaw is hierarchism, right? A tendency so strong that hierarchies will pop up and begin discriminating on some basis even in a monoracial society.

Have you read Butler's novella "Bloodchild?" I read it as a parable of slavery, but Butler said it was inspired by her readings on parasites and thoughts on MPREG!

[oyceter]

I am still trying to figure out whether or not we are supposed to believe that the Oankali are correct that unaltered humanity is inherently doomed.

I cannot quite figure that out either, partly because of my disbelief that you can tell wired hierarchical behavior from genes. Then again, they are vastly superior in terms of that, so who knows?

Yeah, I suspect the racism struck me most because of the late internet explosions, though I do also get that she's commenting on exclusion and fear of difference in general, particularly since the Oankali are so drawn toward differences.

I haven't read "Bloodchild," though I suspect I will go on a spree as soon as I finish Imago.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I read it as a parable of slavery, but Butler said it was inspired by her readings on parasites and thoughts on MPREG!

This is why trying to determine author intent is a fun intellectual game, but not always much help in your reading. Hee!

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

The Oankali think humanity's fatal flaw is hierarchism plus something else, possibly intelligence. I am embarrassed that I do not remember.

I think my favorite Butler short story is "The Morning and the Evening and the Night" (or something like that; somehow, that title always trips me up).

I bought the short story collection and then Butler went and wrote another one. Luckily, it was legally available for free at some website, so I printed it out and stuck it in my copy of the book.