In the short story “First Contact”, Leinster approaches the notion of ‘othering’ through the element, vision, and its related elements, light and darkness. According to Dr. Stephen E. Palmer’s textbook Vision Science: Photons to Phenomenology, “vision relies on three basic elements, adaptation, sensitivity, and perception”(5). Eyes adapt to various levels of light in order to sense and perceive any figures within the environment. As light decreases, the eyes adapt up to a point until the range of sensitivity drops to a level that eyes can no longer perceive the surrounding environment. In Leinster’s short story, the variation and intensity of the several light sources continue to be mentioned, and reacted to by the characters.…