Enthralling, dawning horror. That’s probably the best way to describe my evolving response while reading Octavia Butler’s Dawn—an emotional journey that shares much in common with the experience of Lilith, the book’s protagonist.
The story begins when she’s awakened from stasis by Oankali, aliens who rescued her and a handful of other survivors after a nuclear holocaust ravaged the Earth. While these “lucky” few slept, the Oankali spent the intervening centuries restoring the planet and readying it for humanity’s return. Lilith is tapped to lead the first wave.
But the Oankali aren’t acting solely out of the goodness of their hearts (or whatever organs function as the metaphorical equivalent in their bizarre, many-tentacled bodies). Salvation comes at a price. And the cost is genetic.
Much of this is fascinating. For one thing, the worldbuilding is particularly well done. We only get the broad strokes of the conflict between the United States and Russia that precipitated intergalactic intervention. But that’s all we need—Butler devotes most of her exposition to slowly revealing the Oankali’s biology and culture. We learn about their lifecycle, from puberty to adulthood. We see how they form triads rather than couples, with gender-neutral ooloi forming the link between male and female. And we glimpse the differences between their broad peoples—Dinso, Toaht, and Akjai—in a way that hints at even greater distinctions.
The Oankali are also technologically advanced but in organic fashion. They grew their ship. They replicate organisms and objects from “prints” of each entity’s molecular makeup. They store their subjects in Venus flytrap-like plants that sustain them in hibernation. And, as Lilith explains to some of the humans she’s charged with leading, the Oankali “manipulate DNA as naturally as we manipulate pencils and paintbrushes.”
This is the entry point for one of Dawn’s many unsettling aspects. Lilith notes more than once that she feels like a lab rat caught up in a captive breeding program. “We used to treat animals that way,” she tells one of her Oankali handlers. “We did things to them—inoculations, surgery, isolation—all for their own good. We wanted them healthy and protected—sometimes so we could eat them later.” But the Oankali (the ooloi especially) aren’t interested in that form of consumption. They see “great potential” in humanity’s various mutations. It’s an uncomfortable turning of the tables. And while Butler never really gets into intra-species racial dynamics, it’s hard not to think about historical parallels like the abominable Tuskegee Study.
This theme of coercive experimentation carries over to sex. The rapes attempted by other humans in the book are the familiar sort of terrible. (In Dawn, terrestrial tensions and barbarity don’t improve when the constraints of civilization are stripped away.) But the chemical and neurological manipulation the ooloi use to tempt and control their patients corrodes consent in a different, more insidious way.
Ultimately, though, Dawn comes down to a classic sci-fi quandary: What does it mean to be human? It can’t simply be a question of genetics—fluidity has always been baked into our DNA, an evolutionary malleability Butler hints at when an ooloi reverts Lilith’s physical strength back to the level of our primate forebears’. The Oankali suggest that what truly defines us is our tendency to be both intelligent and hierarchical. Yet for all their strangeness, the aliens have these traits in common. (Paternalism might be too gendered a term for the form of “we know what’s best for you” condescension they levy at Lilith and her cohort, but the attitude is uncomfortably familiar.) Some of the Oankali are even likable. And while they display feelings like love and grief differently, there’s enough overlap with the human varieties of these emotions to make you wonder where the lines of delineation are—or if they even exist.
So did I enjoy reading Dawn? Not entirely. I found it more thought-provoking than thrilling, partly because Lilith doesn’t have much agency. Her rebellious impulses never really mature into a plan; mostly, she fulfills the role the Oankali set for her, resigned to playing a “Judas goat” the majority of her fellow humans will always see as an agent of the enemy. But I won’t soon forget this book. And I intend to continue on in the series.
I just might read some lighter fare first.
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I have never read any Science Fiction books. Believe it or not, I have never watched Star Trek. I owe Octavia Butler a thank you. Because of Dawn I now have an interest in Fantasy and Science Fiction. From the very first sentences, Dawn by Octavia Butler is impossible to stop reading. As I read her novel, many themes entered my mind. The main character is Lilith. Lilith's life made me think of change and readjustment to new ideas, places and people, in this case th aliens known as Olinka. Lilith quickly becomes a portrayal of a strong woman.She is definitely a survivor.Lilith never slides into self pity. Due to war, her husband and son are dead. She finds herself under the control of strange slimy creatures likened to slugs. After a deep sleep, she wakes up. She acquiesces to their learning process. Her old way of life must be forgotten. If Lilith is obedient to the wishes of the aliens, she will become the first leader on the new earth. Leadership on this future earth will give Lilith the ability to teach and train other captured earthlings.However, change is never easy. Lilith will become the enemy of her own kind. Every day a choice must be made. Should she succumb to the thoughts of the rebellious earthlings or remain on course believing there is a chance to make something close to the planet where she once lived with family. If she kowtows to the rebellious earthlings, she will never see a revitalized Planet earth. Her decisions are difficult. I really felt sorry for Lilith when she had to fight off an overly sexed earthling. Starved for sexual intimacy, He falls upon Lilith like a giant rig out of control. He injures her body and mind. Still, Lilith does not give up.Lilith is a Hebrew name. In Jewish Folklore, Lilith is thought of as the first wife of Adam. Octavia Butler's Lilith is a symbol of the Jewish Lilith. Butler's Lilith is the first human to experience the new order on earth. Like Adam/Eve, she is the first to experience a type of the Garden of Eden. This new earth, like the Garden of Eden, is a forest. A forest that needs to be tamed for the growth of food and also, for the growth of future families.Science Fiction is entertaining and also meaningful literature. Science Fiction gives the reader the chance to think outside of the box about a new normal. Like Poetry, it jerks the mind. I am looking forward to traveling into another Science Fiction novel.
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