Subject: Dawn by Octavia Butler Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

From: dg-rtp!umail.umd.edu!C_Douglas_BAKER (cb52)
Date: 15 May 93 14:17:15 GMT

DAWN by Octavia E. Butler
                 Book Review by C. Douglas Baker

                        [Minor Spoilers]

     _Dawn_ introduces the reader to a fascinating alien race
that intends to save a post-nuclear holocaust earth by re-
populating it with half-human, half-alien beings.  The concept of
cross-breeding through genetic engineering with an alien race to
create a new species is a truly innovative storyline.  The
Oankali intend to take a number of humans they saved from a
nucleated earth, cross-breed with them, and re-introduce them and
their alien offspring to the earth.  The highly negative
reactions of the humans to this idea is very realistic and their
interactions with the aliens are conceivable.  The main
character, Lilith Iyapo, is a strong willed African-American
woman who learns to accept the aliens for what they are but never
fully comes to accept their plans for the human race.  

     The Oankali are an imaginative race with three genders, the
third being a necessary intermediary between the male and female
Oankali during intercourse and for procreation.  Therefore it is
not surprising that the "third" gender (it is not really neuter)
is the dominant gender of the race.  They travel in an
interstellar ship that is entirely made of living tissue and the
Oankali physically interact with the ship to produce food,
dispose of waste, and reproduce other needs.  The Oankali travel
about the universe and cross-breed with other sapient beings out
of necessity.  Humans are just another of their "victims" or
"beneficiaries", depending on one's point of view.  The new
species is ostensibly better than its parent species.

     Despite it's promising premise, __Dawn__ is disappointing. 
First, we never learn why the Oankali must cross-breed with other
races.  The only time the issue is directly addressed the author
suggests it is the Oankali raison d'etre to cross-breed and
create new life forms to "survive as an evolving species instead
of specializing ourselves into extinction or stagnation" (p. 39). 
The Oankali maintain their need to do so is genetic.  To avoid
fully explaining this need, the author has Lilith respond  "I
understand your words.  Your meaning though...it's as alien to me
as you are".  The Oankali also claim that human beings are
genetically inclined toward hierarchy and that this is an
inherently negative and self-destructive trait.  Butler does not,
however, demonstrate why hierarchial arrangement of human affairs
is intrinsically negative.  The Oankali (Butler) make the
statement without support or introducing alternatives.  These are
unacceptable circumventions to the discerning reader.  

     The character building in the book is also poor.  We never
learn what the Oankali really think of humans and how their world
is organized or functions.  The reader gets only snippets 
and implications, not direct explanations.  This device works
here though because the humans themselves never really understand
the alien creatures.  Too bad the human characters, other than
Lilith, are equally undeveloped.  The human characters are almost
caricatures or stereotypes.  The relationship between Lilith and
her human lover, indeed all the relationships between human
characters, seem stilted.  Especially their sexual relationships. 
While graphic depiction of sex is unneeded the relationships seem
wooden and sanitized.

     Another small quibble is the use of a cliche--that of a
nuclear disaster destroying the earth--to introduce a new alien
race.  While it is certainly possible for a nuclear disaster to
occur, it seems the novel would have been more interesting if the
human race could have interacted with the Oankali from a position
of strength.  There is nothing to suggest that the Oankali only
cross-bred with aliens near extinction.

     __Dawn__ is a frustrating novel.  While the unique plot and
interesting aliens are fascinating, the story itself is awkward
and unfulfilling.  The reader never gets a chance to fully
understand the aliens or the humans.  

%T Dawn
%A Octavia E. Butler
%C New York
%D 1987
%I Popular Library
%G ISBN 0-445-20779-5 (paperback)
%P 248

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