Speech Sounds by Octavia Butler free essay sample

Science fiction is a genre of literature that utilizes fiction to engage the political realities of its time and as stated its visions where usually about war and conquest. However, science fiction started to change in the 1950s and 1960s with the rise of identity politics and feminism. Non-white female authors, like Butler, came into this genre and brought with them new topics and concerns with which to write about. The feminist lens would recognize these concerns having more to do with experiments in social justice than with planetary conquest directly. As more and more females started writing science fiction, a new subgenre of feminist science fiction emerged that dealt with issues that were of particular concern to equality. Feminist science fiction entails engaging questions about gender, family and the social structures, individual autonomy, and the individual’s ability to control her body and sexuality. Octavia Butler expertly encompasses each of these points in â€Å"Speech Sounds. † The loss of communication and human speech is the catalyst for the breakdown of the social structure and the resultant chaos in the world that Rye lives in. The illness was stroke swift in the way it cut people down and stroke-like in some of its effectslanguage was always lost or severely impaired† (Butler,96) In order to understand how the loss of speech could ravage a society to such an extent, it is necessary to know the importance of language to a culture. At the most basic of levels it could be argued language allows culture to exist. Human speech has become so ingrained in our world and this story questions how humans would cope without it, particularly how a woman would cope . Communication gives us a sense of camaraderie, and simultaneously develops the systems and illusion of individualism that separates us. Language has some unique effects like providing a shared past, a shared future, allowing a shared perspective, and allowing shared, goal-directed behavior or establishment of gender roles. Destruction of language in the story shifts humans from logical speech based interaction to animalistic and instinctually guided. These atavistic laws of nature are what cause the complete and utter breakdown of her culture. Rye herself despises the state of her world. She does not want to bring a child into it and believes that the children that were growing up now should be pitied, saying â€Å"they [the children] ran through the streets . . . like chimpanzees. They had no future. They were now all they would ever be† (Butler 101), the people of this ravaged society have no past or future, there is only an eternal, visceral present. Giving Rye the ability to speak is another way that Butler inserts feminism into â€Å"Speech Sounds. † As seen in most societies, language holds power. Those who are heard most often traditionally have the power. The ruling class is the group of people with the loudest voice, usually men. This can be seen all throughout history, especially in the United States. The people with the ability to vote, and to have their voice heard, were the upper class white men. African Americans and women were not given this option, this power. Rye also embodies this in the story. When she comes across the two abandoned children that have the ability to speak, she, as one of the few who can also use language, finds herself with more power than she ever thought she would have again. Rye must now become a teacher and a protector (Butler 380). Because she can speak, Rye has a responsibility to these children to teach them how to also use this skill. They now look to her as an authoritative figure. Had she been more impaired and mute, these children would have never viewed her as someone to listen to, to follow. Rye has become powerful in their eyes. Rye is aware of this power she now has when she declares that â⠂¬Å"if the illness let these children alone, she could keep them alive† (Butler 107). Rye is, in a sense, the pioneer of the coming world. She is teaching the uture leaders the language, how to speak, and the power that comes with it- and a new world can be constructed depending on the perspectives that our chosen on how language should be used, she comforts them â€Å"Rye leamed against the window, looking at them, seeing that they were less afraid nowâ€Å"I’m Valerie Rye,it’s all right for you to talk to me. †Ã¢â‚¬  (108) The speechless world she is now a part of forces Rye to become weary of her neighbors, especially the violent and brutish men who have been most impaired, and develop an assertive attitude toward her own protection. Being one of the more intelligent survivors and retaining the ability to speak, Rye must take care to not draw the contempt and jealousy of the more severely infected onto her. As a result, Rye never went anywhere unarmed, because â€Å"in a world where the only likely common language was body language, being armed was often enough† (Butler 94). protected and not in need of a savior, male or otherwise. Even with her fear, Rye refuses to take on a submissive role regarding her own life. This brings up an interesting point about how Butler uses fear in her writings as both a fact of human life and a motivation for human action† . Rye’s fear of the more disabled and what they would do to her if they found out she was different prompts her to always carry a weapon. Butler’s work recognizes that humans are primarily concerned with personal security. Rye’s personality is what motivates her into taking a proactive stance on her own protection, instead of leaving her protection in the hands of others. By always having a weapon on her, Rye can be assured that she is in charge of her own well being and does not need a savior, male or otherwise. This is the ultimate example the female dominance that Butler places in her stories. Butler’s feminism can be clearly seen in Rye’s reluctance to depend on other people for help or protection. When the illness struck there was a man with the habit â€Å"of urinating wherever he happened to be that wanted Rye to become his third woman; he already had two other women that put up with him just for the sake of his protection† (Butler, 96). Rye wanted nothing to do with this man and was disgusted by him. She uses him as an affirmation that she was making the right decision by leaving the bus behind. She was more concerned with staying independent, than relying on another, even when he could have given her a semblance of safety. Even when the bearded man beckoned her to join him Rye â€Å"Shook her head in a universally understood negative. † (94) Versus jumping at the opportunity to be â€Å"saved†. She has come to rely only on herself since the illness struck that trusting an unknown, albeit handsome man is difficult for her. A key theme in Octavia Butler’s writing is the ability to adapt to change while simultaneously living to avoid such change. This thought can be seen in Rye’s uncertainty about whether to accept Obsidian’s offer of a ride or continue on her independent way. Many believe that feminism can be equated to self reliance. Feminism is the view that biology is not destiny and that men and women should be politically, economically, and socially equal . Rye has effectively embodied feminism through her acts of independence. She sees herself as being equal in all aspects of the men in her society. Rye does not give her more dominant actions a second thought. Butler also uses a female protagonist to fight against gender stratification in the story. Gender stratification is where humans assign males and females to separate groups where they learn what is expected of them and are â€Å"given different access to property, power, prestige, and other privileges available in their society† (Woolf 232). By having a female that is self reliant, assertive, and empowered, Butler combats this notion. The stratification of gender can be seen when the male passenger on the bus believes that Rye is having sex with Obsidian in exchange for the ride and that she should also accommodate him and the rest of the males on the bus (Butler 374). This type of attitude is often seen when men think that they have a right over women. Women are commonly seen as objects or perhaps of less importance. However, this concept is undone by Rye throughout the story. There are many instances in the story where Rye completely disregards this stratification. She was willing to shoot the man on the bus if he came any closer â€Å"They would also stand and watch her shoot him, would he push things that far? † (95), she is the one that instigates sex between her and Obsidian â€Å" She turned suddenly, fumbling for his small box, then urging him to make love to her again. (101), and she point blank shoots the man that murdered Obsidian â€Å" Rye shot the wounded man as he was turning the gun on her† (104). The expected passiveness of women in this society is obviously lost on Rye. She does not care about what is expected of her, or the limited amount of power and prestige that she supposedly holds. Rye effectively destroys all conservative thoughts on what it is to be a female protagonist. The situations that Rye face and her choices that result from them exemplify her as a dominant female. Rye’s dominance shows that she is not concerned with the norms that are expected with the stratification of gender. Instead, she does what it is that needs to be done. â€Å"Speech Sounds† is a prime example of how Octavia Butler is taking the genre of science fiction and turning it on its’ head. Not only is she a non white female author, she manages to integrate feminist views into a previously male dominated domain. Rye becomes a dominate force in a society that has been ravaged by the loss of speech and the subsequent breakdown of social order, and sheds light on new pathways towards the ability of language to construct any world it wants to .