The novel “Dawn” by Octavia Butler was published for the first time in 1987. It’s the first book in the Xenogenesis trilogy, also known as Lilith’s Brood.
When Lilith awakens in what appears to be a prison cell, she thinks that little time has passed since the atomic war that devastated the Earth. A voice asks her questions that sometimes seem meaningless to her and that goes on for a time she can’t evaluate. Her confusion turns into panic when she’s visited in person by a clearly non-human being.
Lilith is explained that the atomic war brought humanity to the brink of extinction but the Oankali, as the aliens call themselves, managed to save a small amount of humans by taking them to the large alien spaceship, where Lilith remained for 250 years in suspended animation. The humans deemed suitable will be trained and returned to Earth to revive it but their children will be partly aliens.
Between the 1970s and 1980s Octavia Butler had written the novels of the Patternists series in which she developed a number of themes ranging from social issues related to sex and race to others related to changes in human beings through biotechnologies to explore human nature with a series of ethical and moral problems. The author took up several of those themes developing them from very different premises in what became the Xenogenesis trilogy, in which humanity almost destroyed itself in an atomic war and the few survivors are at the mercy of the aliens who saved them.
The Oankali are really aliens not only because of the differences in their appearance but also because they have three sexes – male, female and ooloi – and a psychology different from the human one. This is one of the problems that human characters face in their dealings with these aliens. They’re masters in biotechnology and when they encounter primitive species they absorb some of their genetic characteristics. In their intervention on Earth they save the human species from extinction but intend to modify humans before allowing them to return to Earth.
The Oankali project doesn’t take into account the wishes of the surviving humans and the problem of communication between the two species is present throughout the whole novel. Lilith’s initial isolation is seen as an imprisonment and the aliens are seen more as captors than saviors by humans, who are forced to adapt if they want to return to Earth.
Change is a key element of “Dawn”. The Oankali constantly change themselves by absorbing certain characteristics of other species they encounter. Human beings, even after reaching the brink of extinction, seem to want to continue on the same path that brought them into that situation.
“Dawn” is a very introspective novel in which, especially through Lilith’s story, human emotions and their reactions in the relationships between human beings and with the Oankali are examined. For this reason the pace is generally slow but can reach remarkable peaks of emotional intensity. The portrait of the human species that emerges isn’t very positive, also for the external point of view expressed by the Oankali. Octavia Butler sharply emphasizes certain human flaws that lead to the risk of self-destruction.
“Dawn” has an open ending because Octavia Butler continued the story in its sequels, in which she further develops the various themes. It’s a relatively short novel but the pages are really full of substance. It’s not an easy read because it’s complex and certain descriptions of the relationships between human beings and between humans and Oankali can be disturbing. If the prospect of having to read its sequels to complete the story isn’t a problem and you’re not afraid to face humanity’s dark sides I recommend reading it.
