Octavia Butler

(1947-2006)

Biography from Goodreads

Interview with Charlie Rose

Other African American SF writers

• Walter Mosley
• Tananrive Due
• Jewelle Gomez
• Samuel R. Delany
• Steven Barnes

1. Close Reading: Closely read the following quotes, analyzing the significance of figures of speech, word choice, rhyme, and repetition:

    a. "A victim of God may,
    Through learning adaption,
    Become a partner of God,
    A victim of God may,
    Through forethought and planning,
    Become a shaper of God.
    Or a victim of God may,
    Through shortsightedness and fear,
    Remain God's victim,
    God's plaything.
    God's prey" (Butler 31).

    b. "I replayed the words in my mind as we went up the switchbacks. No doubt Dad wanted us to replay them. I could see that Aura was still leaking tears and smearing and streaking her face with dirt like a little kid. She was too wrapped up in her own misery and fear to be of much use" (Butler 44).

    c. "I looked up at him, and he looked more like a wall than ever, standing and waiting" (Butler 67).

Day 2 -- Disc. Questions

1. In what ways does Butler use the term slavery? (37, 82, 88, 121)

2. What does Earthseed: the Books of the Living teach?

3. How does the parable of the sower in the Bible relate to Butler's novel? (cf. 343)

See p. 176, 197/ch. 17, 203, 214, 223, 239, 247, 254/ch. 20, 257, 264

Day 3 -- Discussion Questions

1. In what ways does Parable of the Sower constitute a Marxist critique of contemporary capitalism? In what ways is Earthseed Socialist?

2. What morals is Butler trying to teach her readers? What kind of ethics of violence, in particular, might she be teaching (188)? Do you agree or disagree with these?

3. Do you notice any difference in Butler’s style to the other authors we’ve read (women’s writing)?

Day 4: Student Questions

Last Day-- Discussion Questions

1. Utopia (free write): Which plan for a utopia—the One State, World State, or Earthseed’s Destiny—seems more likely to solve climate change, violence, over-consumption, and poverty? Why or why not? Which utopian society would you rather live in?

2. Prejudices: Butler's depiction of a near-total collapse of society and rampant violence and theft is painful to read at times, but does it serve any positive ends? Does it, for instance, result in desegregation, or de-gendering authority, or does it simply create a new structure of power based on some of the same prejudices that have always existed in society?

3. Gender: What seems to be Butler’s theory of gender? How does she define what it means to be a man, woman, and what role does mothering/parenting play in the novel?

4. Slavery: How is debt slavery like the slavery that existed in America?

5. Trust: "How do you learn to trust? HOw much do you have to know about a person in order to trust that person? What sort of lessons about trust do you think this novel holds for us? Do you think that it is easier or harder to trust people in our current social situation?" (Butler 345).

6. Lessons: "What lessons do you feel you took away from this novel?" (Butler 345).