Ambivalent Ambiguity Dawn by science-fiction novelist Octavia Butler defies the constraints of Earth, moving human issues of identity and individuality into the unknown frontier of outer space. Butler begins the novel in the aftermath of the desolation of the human species, presenting the reader with the few people saved—maybe imprisoned—by the Oankali, an extraterrestrial race. The human based necessity to retain individualism and the rejection of the new liberal mechanics of the foreign race reveals a human inclination to fear the unknown. Holding onto conservative ideals, even in a drastically different context, leads to the need to destroy all that resembles an intermediate “other”. Injecting a foreign intermediary into humanity causes
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Adam refuses to recognize Lilith’s autonomy, immediately assuming the dominant role. When he places Lilith in a place of submission, she protests. Recounting the conflict between Adam and Lilith, Osherow writes, “She said: ‘I will not lie below you.’ He said, ‘I will not lie below you, but above you. For you are fit to be below me.’” (Osherow 70). When Adam rejects Lilith’s right to social and sexual equality, she leaves the garden of Eden to mate with the devil. The Bible negatively portrays Lilith’s individuality and autonomy, equating her to the devil’s bride, a “screech owl”, “night monster”, and “night hag” (Osherow 70). The sinister diction used to describe Lilith stems from a patriarchal society where Lilith’s authority and dominance are unacceptable. Similarly, the humans see Lilith as a traitor, because she both engages in sexual relations with the Oankali and accepts the role of leader given to her by the Oankali. Butler describes sexual intercourse between Lilith, her human mate, and her oolio (a genderless Oankali) named Nikanj, writing, “She sandwiched Nikanj’s body between her own and Joseph’s, placing it for the first time in the ooloi position between two humans…Once it plugged into her central nervous system it could control her and do whatever it wanted. She felt it tremble against her, and knew it was in” (161-2). The oolio has two sensory arms that plug into the nervous system sharing intense feelings between the three participants. Lilith’s acceptance of an intermediate party in sex only serves to further her from what the humans deem acceptable as they attempt to cling to their identity as a
Adam refuses to recognize Lilith’s autonomy, immediately assuming the dominant role. When he places Lilith in a place of submission, she protests. Recounting the conflict between Adam and Lilith, Osherow writes, “She said: ‘I will not lie below you.’ He said, ‘I will not lie below you, but above you. For you are fit to be below me.’” (Osherow 70). When Adam rejects Lilith’s right to social and sexual equality, she leaves the garden of Eden to mate with the devil. The Bible negatively portrays Lilith’s individuality and autonomy, equating her to the devil’s bride, a “screech owl”, “night monster”, and “night hag” (Osherow 70). The sinister diction used to describe Lilith stems from a patriarchal society where Lilith’s authority and dominance are unacceptable. Similarly, the humans see Lilith as a traitor, because she both engages in sexual relations with the Oankali and accepts the role of leader given to her by the Oankali. Butler describes sexual intercourse between Lilith, her human mate, and her oolio (a genderless Oankali) named Nikanj, writing, “She sandwiched Nikanj’s body between her own and Joseph’s, placing it for the first time in the ooloi position between two humans…Once it plugged into her central nervous system it could control her and do whatever it wanted. She felt it tremble against her, and knew it was in” (161-2). The oolio has two sensory arms that plug into the nervous system sharing intense feelings between the three participants. Lilith’s acceptance of an intermediate party in sex only serves to further her from what the humans deem acceptable as they attempt to cling to their identity as a