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Pages:
4 pages/≈1100 words
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1 Source
Style:
MLA
Subject:
Literature & Language
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Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
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Topic:

The Monstrous Mother in Butler's Dawn

Essay Instructions:

Read the assigned book (Octavia Butler, Dawn, Andy Weir, The Martian)and write a research paper based on the books. You can choose any topics mentioned in the syllabus.

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Question One: The Monstrous Mother in Butler's Dawn
The first book in Lilith's trilogy is Octavia Butler's 1987 science fiction book, Dawn. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic and near-future world. After a nuclear war, Lilith Iyapo is one of the few remaining humans. Lilith, an African American woman who serves as the protagonist of Octavia Butler's Dawn, the first book in the Xenogenesis trilogy, starts a transformation process that will significantly change her body. The Oankali, a race of gene-trading aliens whose existence depends on mating with other species, hire Lilith to educate people about them and their need for reproduction. Lilith is an Oankali-human hybrid capable of both the defense and destruction of her fellow humans due to the Oankali alteration of her DNA, which gives her incredible strength and the ability to heal from injuries quicker than is typically feasible for humans. This essay will discuss how the trope of the monstrous mother works in Butler's book, Dawn.
Lilith meets Jdahya's partners, Tediin (female) and Kahguyaht (ooloi). Additionally, she meets Nikanj, their almost-adult ooloi kid. Nikanj will accompany Lilith, and the two will instruct one another in the dialect and traditions of their species. Nikanj changes Lilith's genetic composition to help her recall things more readily because she has problems studying Oankali. Lilith is shown by Nikanj how the Oankali mate by neurological connection as it goes through its maturation transformation. To safeguard Lilith as she works with the other humans who will be Awakened, Nikanj also increases her strength and capacity for healing.
The human race despises Lilith because of her abilities. Other people in the novel are roused from suspended animation in Part III, named "Nursery." They begin to view Lilith as an extraterrestrial, a creature with abilities far beyond their own when they realize she has been given the ability to control the walls surrounding them. Like many superheroes in American literature, Lilith is despised by her classmates and destined to be the object of their dread and contempt.
The discovery of her unusual strength makes her deformity even more horrifying. Lilith intervenes and skillfully subdues the gang of male attackers during the attempted rape of Allison, a human woman who refused to pair off despite numerous women before her having done so. She strikes one man in the stomach, "doubling him, toppling him," and knocks another unconscious before twisting another man's arm, breaking it, and throwing him away "without caring that he smacked a neighboring wall" (Butler 178).
Lilith saves Allison by using her power, but this presentation of strength only serves to further distance her from others who do not recognize her skills. Even Allison, who acknowledges Lilith's assistance, pauses to ponder whether she is human (Butler 180). In response, Lilith contrasts the apparent monster of herself with the genuine horror of the would-be rapists, saying that her humanity motivates her to defend Allison from being raped. Lilith, however, does not act in ways typical of mother figures; instead, we witness a powerful and ...
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