Octavia Butler’s Dawn: A Review

For our first biopunk book club, ChiTownBiologists read the multi-faceted, thought-provoking book Dawn by Octavia Butler. In Dawn, humans have been decimated by global war and are “rescued” by a tentacle-y alien species called the Oankali–with a catch. The Oankali will help rehabilitate and rebuild humanity if they interbreed with them in a complex form of genetic engineering.

Our discussion went in a number of directions. Some of the discussion participants wished they could have the gene editing power of the Oankali, and others were more wary of them. On the one hand, the Oankali bring the humans back from the brink of extinction and give them cool powers like the ability to heal quickly and create openings in organic, living walls. However, Butler also explored themes of colonialism, power structures, and consent and sexual coercion through the Oankali. Most of the humans are disgusted by the idea of having to merge with the Oankali largely because that would mean becoming less human. This could work as a straightforward statement about human racism and xenophobia; but the Oankali’s simultaneous role as powerful colonizer, against whom the humans cannot meaningfully resist, complicates this picture. Given a choice between humanity and human culture dying out, or fundamentally changing into something possibly not quite human any more, the discussion group was divided.

Although the gene-mixing experience is pleasurable for the humans, it’s not exactly consensual the first few times. The Oankali never physically coerce ‘sex’ from the humans, but they exude pheromones that make humans attracted to them, and refuse to leave rooms while waiting for the pheromones to take effect. Moreover, they claim to read the minds/body cues of their humans and know deep down that they really want it, in an uncomfortable parallel to accusations that women are “asking for it” in sexual assault cases.

Dawn explores and questions assumptions about gender and reproduction in a fascinating way. The Oankali have three genders–male, female, and a third gender called the ooloi that mediates and guides the process of reproduction, engineering and modifying the offspring of each new generation along the way. We talked extensively about how in reality, we could think of the ooloi as a metaphor for CRISPR, pre-implantation genetic diagnosis, or other gene editing techniques. Dawn shows how sci-fi can help us imagine gender in a more nuanced way. With the invention of new reproductive technologies in science fiction and the subsequent de-emphasis of biological sex on reproduction, might gender become more expansive, or on the other hand disappear as a concept altogether?

We’re biologists, so what can we say of the science in the book? The Oankali claim they are interested in breeding with humans because the human ‘talent’ for cancers (with their limitless growth and variable mutations) makes them beautiful, and might aid the Oankali in developing better regenerative capacities. It’s important to note, however, that cancer is uncontrolled, unregulated cell proliferation, and probably wouldn’t actually be helpful for growing a new arm (or tentacle). One of our members pointed out that if the Oankali wanted to learn the secret to regeneration, they’d be better off studying (or interbreeding with?) salamanders and starfish, which can regrow entire limbs or body halves.

Overall, Dawn was a stimulating and critical read. Plus, some Googling told me that, as of 2017, Ava DuVernay might be adapting Dawn for T.V., so watch that space!