Subject: __Adulthood Rites__ by Octavia E. Bulter Book Review

From: [email-masked] (cb52)
Date: 15 May 93 17:02:02 GMT

ADULTHOOD RITES by Octavia E. Butler
                 Book Review by C. Douglas Baker
                       [Minor Spoilers]

     Part two of Octavia E. Bulter's Xenogenesis Trilogy,
_Adulthood Rites_ is much more engaging and well thought out than
its precursor, _Dawn_.  The first half-human, half-Oankali male
becomes the focal point for the Oankali attempt to cross-breed
with humans.  According to the Oankali, the human male is very
dangerous and prone to violence.  Indeed, the human male is the
embodiment of the so called human contradiction that leads to
self destruction.  If this human/Oankali "construct" is flawed
and prone to destructive tendencies, the whole genetic "trade" or
cross-breeding would be jeopardized.  Indeed, the Oankali
themselves would be jeopardized.

     Akin, the half-human, half-Oankali male child is kidnapped
by human "resisters" who have refused to mate with the aliens at
the price of their own fertility.  The Oankali, while lengthening
the life and health of these human survivors of nuclear
holocaust, plan to allow them eventually to become extinct.  The
best human genetic traits would then be carried by the new
species of Oankali whose genes were mixed.  The aliens decide to
allow the kidnapped child to remain with the resisters for some
time so he can learn about his human side.  The novel centers
around Akin's rectifying his conflicting loyalties to his human
and alien selves.

     _Adulthood Rites_ expands on the alien Oankali and leads the
reader to an understanding of why they must cross-breed with
other races.  Their raison d'etre is to collect and expand upon
all life forms and become a better race through adapting the
better traits of races they come into contact with.  They view
life in a more holistic fashion, as consisting of the cells and
even sub-atomic particles of living matter.  Every being is
genetically engineered to function for a purpose.  The purpose of
the Oankali is to collect and expand upon life forms, including
their own.  We can surmise that at their origin, the Oankali
looked nothing like they are currently described as they have
continued to metamorphosis genetically over the ages.

     Bulter does an excellent job of portraying human reaction to
the aliens who want to cross-breed with them but allow the human
race as they know it to become extinct.  We can both empathize
with Lilith who has, more or less, accepted the fate of the human
race and has born human/Oankali children and become a member of
an alien community.  While she does not fully accept the fate of
her species she is resigned to it and does what she thinks best
to preserve what is left of humanity.  Conversely, we also
empathize with Tate, who would rather die than be disloyal to the
human race by giving in to the alien predators.  The Oankali are
a truly fascinating and ingenious creation.

     The most dismaying aspect of the book is the big
"contradiction" in human genes the Oankali keep proclaiming is
the reason humans should be allowed to become extinct.  This
contradiction is "intelligence and hierarchial" behavior.  It
seems that males are particularly prone to this trait (p. 198-
200).  There is no explication as to why this is such a
contradiction or why hierarchial behavior necessarily leads to
self-destruction in the human race.  This was a very
unsophisticated attempt to explain human tendency toward violence
and destruction.  It greatly detracted from an otherwise
excellent novel.

%T Adulthood Rites
%A Octavia E. Butler
%C New York
%D 1988
%I Popular Library
%G ISBN 0-445-20903-8 (paperback)
%P 277

C. DOUGLAS BAKER
Email: [email-masked] (Doug Baker)