Octavia Butler seems to write about science fition situations that are not completly impossible. The Evening, th Morning, and the Night and Speech Sounds are both stories in which daily life is changed due to illnesses and diseases that people have been exposed to. In The Evening, the morning, and the Night a cure for cancer had been developed, but this cure also came with some side effects. Those who got this cure would produce children that had Duryea Gode or "DGD". DGD is a disease which in time causes a person to "drift" and in an attempt to get out of their own body they try and mutilate themselves. Those who have DGD stick to a special diet that helps prolong their lifespan. Although they have not found a cure for DGD, they discovered that females born of two DGD infected people produce a pheromone that allows them to make other DGD's listen. This helps to calm them and if used properly, it allows DGD patients to focus on art or research instead of trying to bring harm to themselves.
In Speech Sounds, due to radiation poisoning, people are not able to communicate as well. The illness targeted things such as speech, the ability to read or write, and the ability to comprehend other's speech. This reduced people to a more primitive level, communicating through gestures and incomprehensible sounds. Due to this lack of communication, people became less trusting of others, and often people would be harmed due to jealousy of the abilities they might still have possessed. The main character, Rye, is doubtful of people's ability to move past this lack of understanding and she considers killing herself, but after she meets two children who can speak and understand, she is given a purpose to live for.
Chelsa Wlodarczyk Post #8
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