Diverse Writer Project Part 2

Brandon Castaneda
Diversity in American Literature

I have read a few short stories by the science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler. The first

story that I read was her most famous short story, Blood Child. The second was a popular one,

but not her most popular, The Evening and the Morning and the Night. I will give a summary

of the stories. After the summary, Ill give my criticism of the story as well as how the Critical

Race Theory applies to each story.

Bloodchild, starts off with explanations from the narrator, a boy named Gan, to eggs that

an alien species gives to a group of humans. These eggs prolong life, as well as fills you with

contentment as you drink. The narrator then goes on to explain how his parents feel about the

alien species, called Tlics, that are hosting this major group of humans. The Tlic that

accompanies Gans family is called TGatoi. TGatoi used to be a childhood friend of Gans

mother, Lien, but that relationship has turned sour. Gans family, including TGatoi, live on a

Preserve. Eventually, a man named Bram Lomas appears out of nowhere. This man is in pain

and needs help. TGatoi immediately puts this man into a sort of surgery. Gan tries to help with

the surgery. The surgery is necessary because the man is impregnated by his familys Tlic. The

Tlic lay eggs into a man in their family, this is how their species reproduces. Gan gets quickly

kicked out of the surgery in order to head out and kill an animal nearby. Gan hasnt had any

experience with killing animals, so he grabs the illegal family gun in order to kill the animal.

After killing the animal, he brings it back to TGatoi. TGatoi takes out the baby Tlics from

Lomas and puts them into the dead animal in order for the Tlics to eat that instead of Lomas.

This process causes a lot of pain for Lomas, this surgery scars Gan. Gan is the man that TGatoi
is going to plant eggs into. This surgery makes Gan question his love and trust in TGatoi. He

threatens to kill himself in order to not be impregnated, but TGatoi makes the point that she

would just use his sister. In the end, Gan gets impregnated and TGatoi makes a promise that he

would be better taken care of than Lomas.

Overall, this story was very interesting. I felt that Butler did a very good job in

developing her characters in this short story. The author goes on to speak about how people see

this story as a story of slavery. But makes a case for that not being the case. She talks about how

it is a love story between different beings. As well as a coming of age tale. And also, a unique

pregnant man story. She made this story to help make it easier to deal with Bot Flies. She was

about to travel into an area that has Bot Flies.

Through the eyes of the Critical Race Theory, there are many ways that you can see that

race is ingrained into the story. Even with the author saying that it wasnt made to be a metaphor

for slavery, there is still a case in favor of it. With the Author being African-American, you can

definitely see some areas of the novel that represent real life racism. The Tlics, being the

dominant race, have taken the humans and given them places in society in a similar way to real

life slavery. There isnt the same overt racism in the story as there was in real life. But you can

definitely see times when the Tlics acted like the humans didnt know any better. The metaphor

for rape and reproductive exploitation is very similar to what happened during the times of

slavery. The humans in this story are basically treated like property. The Tlics dont allow the

humans to be free thinking people. In basic terms, the humans dont have civil rights. Same as

the Blacks during times of slavery.

The second story was The Evening and the Morning and the Night. This story starts

with the main character of the story, Lynn, talking about her parents taking her to a Duryea-Gode
Disease, DGD for short, ward. She was taken there to drive home the point that the ward is a

place that is in her future. Lynn didnt like the clinic so much that she tries to commit suicide.

Both Lynn and her parents suffer from DGD, which is quite rare due to DGDs not wanting to

get together. This is a disease that eventually makes someone tremendously violent. These

people who DGD takes control of try to kill others and their selves. People with DGD are looked

down on in society. Lynns Father killed her mother while Lynn was at school. After killing the

mother, he killed himself. Lynn goes off to college after this. She doesnt go for anything other

than filling her time. She studies Biology at college, and makes her DGD roommates follow the

rules of their house. Lynn eventually meets a DGD boy named Alan. Alans Mother is in a DGD

retreat called Dilg. Dilg is unique because instead of locking out of control DGDs up, they allow

them to focus themselves into activities. These Controlled DGDs use their energies into

creating useful things. The experience that Lynn and Alan have while visiting Alans mother at

Dilg makes them question their lives and how the Disease will affect them. It turns out that Lynn

has the ability to help control the out of control DGDs. Lynn gains a new outlook on her

future, a more optimistic outlook.

I admit that I liked this story more than Bloodchild. This story, like the first, does a

great job in the overall characterization. You feel sympathy for the characters that have a hard

time in life. Butler found herself becoming increasingly interested in Biology and Medicine. She

questioned if we are who we are due to our genetics. Disease is one of the ways that she used to

try and answer this question.

From the Critical Race Theory, this story is much harder than the last to study. The story

doesnt show discrimination from race. There is discrimination, but this comes from the disease

that these people have. The part of Critical Race Theory that does go along with this story is how
these people are treated. They are treated as social outcasts. When people see those who have

DGD, they are treated very similar to how people treat those of other races in real life. If a racist

person sees someone of the African-American descent they avoid them. Just like what happens

to Lynn in the story. There is also the point that people treat DGDs as if they have done

something wrong in life. They didnt choose to have the disease, much like African-Americans

didnt choose to be black. The author might not have intentionally made it seem like they were

being treated like a race, but you can definitely see some of the characteristics that point to that

conclusion.

In the end, I very much enjoyed the stories that I read from Octavia E. Butler. She has a

very refreshing take on Science Fiction. In saying that, I mean that people arent just shooting

laser guns at nameless aliens. She does a great job in focusing on how the characters interact

with each other, as well as their thoughts. I feel like you could use the Critical Race Theory on

almost all of her stories, this is kind of avoidable due to the life experiences that she likely has.

Work Cited

Primary Sources: I used this primary source for both stories, due to it being a book made up

of many short stories.

Butler, Octavia E. . Bloodchild And Other Stories. Paw Prints, 2008.

Secondary Sources:

Barlow, Bill. Racism, Justified: A Critical Look at Critical Race Theory. The Harvard Law

Record, 29 Feb. 2016, hlrecord.org/2016/02/racism-justified-a-critical-look-at-critical-

race-theory/.
Bloodchild: Summary, Themes & Analysis. Study.com, Study.com,

study.com/academy/lesson/bloodchild-summary-themes-analysis.html.

La Bar, Joshua. The Evening the Morning and the Night. Prezi.com, 10 Dec. 2013,

prezi.com/wagzld0-1geu/the-evening-the-morning-and-the-night/.