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Crossover

Summary

The short story, "Crossover" is one of the first stories written by Octavia Butler. It is about a woman who is working at a factory in which she is unhappy. With her constant fear of loneliness and death, she suffers from low self esteem issues. During the 3 months that her boyfriend had been in jail she contemplated suicide many times but because of fear never went through with this plan. As the story continues, her actions and behavior become more self destructive, constantly visiting the liquor store and turning to alcohol to solve her life problems. She had been around drunks most of her life that she was very fond of this habit and she began to believe that the more she drank the less things would matter. Octavia Butler relates this story, written when she too was working in a factory, to her real life by stating that it was about her own fears of failing as a writer and not wanting to end up like this character

Quote

• "She had lived around drunks most of her life. She knew that if she could get enough down, nothing would matter".

Book of Martha

Summary

The Book of Martha by Octavia Butler is a short story with the main character being an African American writer who comes across God. In the beginning of the story she comes across God how many may describe him: a tall, long-bearded, white man. God puts power in Martha's hand, leaving her responsible to make a decision that will change all of humanity. This is not an easy decision for Martha. She is very hesitant, thinking of the consequences of every choice she may make. She doesn't welcome this power with open arms. In fact she questions God, believing that she shouldn't be the chosen one. Martha finally comes up with the idea to allow people to dream of their own personal utopia each night. After this point Martha is presented with God as a black man. Lastly she is presented with God as a black woman, resembling herself.

Quotes

• “Was an eternity of absolute ease just another name for hell?” pg.196

• “All in all, the dreams will probably give humanity more time than it would without them.”
• "She looked at her hands, then at him. Something had occurred to her as he spoke"

Amnesty

Summary

The short story Amnesty, focuses on a young girl named Noah. Noah was kidnapped at a young age by an advanced species, considerably aliens. Noah was later on released by these aliens but detained by the United States government. Noah was kept for years with the goal to figure out what had exactly happened to her. In the story, Noah is in the middle of a meeting with possible employees for the alien communities which are alien species that have taken over earth’s desert areas. Noah attempts to convince the group to overcome their fear of the aliens so they can prosper alongside the communities. Noah discusses and compares the experiences she had with both the communities and the humans. Noah admits that she never once faced as much cruelty with the communities as she did with her own government, despite being treated as an experiment and a lab rat by the aliens. Noah’s positive involvement with the alien communities gave her the power to take on the role of translator and collaborator between the two species. Her ability to communicate with both species opens up the possibility of creating a more unified environment between humans and the communities.

Quotes

• “I want to make them think. I want to tell them what human governments won’t tell them. I want to vote for peace between your people and mine by telling the truth. I don’t know whether my efforts will do any good, in the long run, but I have to try"
• "We get to live and so do they. I don't need payback"
• "They knew what they were doing to me, and yet it never occurred to them not to do it."

Butler's Biography

Octavia E. Butler was a writer of the science fiction genre. She was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California and at the age of 58 died on February 24, 2006 in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Butler's father died when she was 7 years old and she raised by her mother and grandmother in a time of segregation and racial integration. She began taking liking into reading with interest in science fiction and began writing at age 10 when her mother bought her a typewriter. Butler's first work was published in 1971, "Crossover" apart of the Clarion Workshop anthology. For 5 years she worked on the Patternist series which included Patternmaster, Mind of My Mind, Survivor, Kindred, and Wild Seed. Her last book was a science-fiction vampire novel titled Fledgling that she wrote in 2005. She intended on writing four more Parable novels but after the death of her mother intense research for these parables she fell into depression and struggled with writers block along side dealing with high blood pressure.Some of Butler's common themes in her include the critique of present day hierarchies, the remaking of the human, the survivor as human, and the creation of alternative communities. Butler's work didn't go unrecognized she started off winning a college-wide short story contest at Pasadena City College, went on to win Hugo Awards for Best short stories and Best Novelettes, and ended off inducted in the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2010. In 1995, she became the first science-fiction writer to be awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation fellowship.

Source

"Octavia E. Butler." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octavia_E._Butler#Writing_career>.

Speech Sounds

Summary

In Speech Sounds by Octavia Butler we come across Rye who unlike majority of this society, has the ability to speak. In the beginning Rye is on a bus to Pasadena on the search to find the last of her family, her brother and his two kids. While on this bus she witnesses an altercation between two who both do not have the ability to speak, left to grunting and gesturing. This altercation later causes a big brawl where Rye decides to exit the bus, this is where she meets Obsidian. Weirdly enough not knowing Obsidian that well, she still finds herself having sex with him in his car. Rye convinces Obsidian to join her on her trip home and on the way the come across a woman being chased by a man and try to help. The man ends up stabbing the women, Obsidian retaliates, thinking the man is dead he walk up to him, only wounded the man gets a hold of Obsidians gun and kills him by shooting him in the head, leaving Rye to kill the man. Two children, most likely of the woman, approach them and on a second thought, realizing that they too can speak, Rye decides to take them with her.

Quotes

• "Both children had spoken and Rye had understood."
• "She had been a protector, too, though only of herself. She had kept herself alive when she had no reason to live."
• "She watched the two carefully, knowing the fight would begin when someone’s nerve broke or someone’s hand slipped or someone came to the end of his limited ability to communicate"

The Evening and the Morning and the Night

Summary

The short story The Evening and the Morning and the Night by Octavia Butler focuses on the life of Lynn. Lynn, alongside her parents, suffer from a disease called Duryea-Gode Disease. This disease was originally caused by a drug that was used in order to cure cancer. With this disease, DNA was permanently altered and eventually caused mutilation in the body, insanity, and self harm. Lynn's father was a victim of the disease and this lead to him killing her mother (his wife) and his self. Lynn was trying to stabilize and control her condition, normalizing her self for society by enrolling in the University of Southern California with the help of a Dilg scholarship, for DGD victims. This aspect of the story relates back to the real world and people who deal with diseases on a everyday basis. Butler used the elements of Huntington disease, phenylketonuria, and Lesch-Nyhan disease to build the Duryea-Gode Disease.

Quotes

• "The Duryea-Gode Disease Foundation has spent millions telling the world that people like my father don’t exist."
• "The weird part was, I worked hard, got top grades. If you work hard enough at something that doesn’t matter, you can forget for a while about the things that do."
• "Healthy people say no one can concentrate like a DGD. Healthy people have all the time in the world for stupid generalizations and short attention spans."

Bloodchild

Summary

Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is a short story about humans referred to as Terrans in the homeland of Tlics. Tlics are unable to conceive their own children therefore it becomes the responsibility of the Terran to do so. Out of the ordinary it is the male Terran that is given this responsibility. The Tlics, since they are unable to conceive, are dependent on the Terrans who make as host in order to reproduce. The main character Gan is who will be bearing the chilrdren of T'Gatoi. T'Gatoi and Gan's family have formed a close bond overtime and have come to the agreement that Gan will bear her children. However after aiding and witnessing a birth Gan has second thoughts on giving birth and even contemplates suicide. Eventually he decides he will go along with the birth, saving his other siblings the trouble of doing so. Originally it was him who his mother decided she would sacrifice for T'Gatoi. Some of the themes of Bloodchild include coming of age and a switch on gender roles.

Quotes

• "My last night of childhood began with a visit home"
• "I had been told all my life that this was a good and necessary thing The and Terran did together—a kind of birth. I had believed it until now. I knew birth was painful and bloody, no matter what. But this was something else, something worse. And I wasn’t ready to see it. Maybe I never would be. Yet I couldn’t not see it. Closing my eyes didn’t help."
• "I walked away, hating him. In his way, he was gloating. He was safe and I wasn’t."

Citation Practice

Octavia Butler was shy as a child.