Octavia Butler Case Study Mellissa Hagal Christa Hedrick
Octavia Butler Case Study Mellissa Hagal, Christa Hedrick, David Lowe, Abigail Youngless “The Grand Dame of Science Fiction”
Introduction Her many awards include, but are not limited to, two Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards, the Locus Award, the prestigious Mac. Arthur Foundation “Genius” fellowship and induction into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Octavia Estelle Butler (1947 -2006) impacted many people with her imaginative and socially-conscious science fiction stories. Published her first novel Patternmaster in 1976 and her last novel Fledgling in 2005. “[Her] evocative, often troubling, novels explore far-reaching issues of race, sex, power and, ultimately, what it means to be human. ” - The New York Times
Butler writes with a visceral passion. “She is one of those rare authors who pay serious attention to the way human beings actually work together and against each other, and she does so with extraordinary plausibility. ” - Locus
Young Octavia Born June 22, 1947 in racially diverse Pasadena, CA Father, Laurice Butler (shoeshine man), died when she was a baby. Raised by her mother, Octavia M. (Guy) Butler (maid), and her grandmother Observed the way blacks were mistreated when taken to work with her mother
Adolescence Shy and withdrawn, she did not make friends easily, but read often Self-conscious due to her tall height and dyslexia, the latter which affected her ability in school Started writing imaginative stories at 10 years old 8 th grade teacher typed out the first short story she submitted to a science fiction magazine Senior Class Picture, 1965
Education Received her AA degree from Pasadena City College by attending classes at night and working during the day Worked temporary jobs in LA while attending California State College and the University of California Attended Writer’s Guild of America workshops where Harlan Ellison, a popular SF writer and editor, became her mentor Invited to the Clarion Writer’s Workshop in PA in 1970 Published her first short story in an anthology from participants of the Clarion Writer’s Workshop
Maturation Worked a variety of low-level jobs, all the while waking up early each morning to practice writing Published her first novel, Patternmaster, in 1976, which led to a series revolving around mutated humans and a race of telepaths Learned to be more social and “gracious and pleasant” with other people 1975
Jung focused on elements of self-development and strivings, as opposed to being focused on the past the way Freud was. For this reason, it makes sense that Octavia wished to become an author, despite her past. She wished to take her speech problems and heritage, and turn that into an ulterior form of expression. Social Strivings: Butler’s works as in the genre of Afrofuturism. Butler envisioned in her societies multi-ethnic and multi-specie communities. This exemplified her desire for integration of the black community. Jung viewed spirituality as a part of a healthy individual. Octavia took her faith very seriously, filling her books with biblical illusion, as well as attending church regularly.
Jung and Archetpyes Anima/Animus Octavia felt very comfortable embracing more masculine features, such as vocalizing her opinion. For the most part, authors were male at the time, yet that did not stop her from embracing the profession. Great Mother Butler and her mother had a very strong relationship. Butler’s mom at one point paid over a month’s rent to have an agent review Octavia’s work.
Jung, continued The Hero Adler paints herself to be on the hero’s journey, from a young age she places herself in the position of a weak, shy child with a speech impediment. From there, she grows into the disenfranchised woman of color, taking on the establishment with her rhetoric. Later in life, she viewed herself as a champion for women of color everywhere.
Tenets of Adlerian Theory 1. The one dynamic force behind people’s behavior is striving for success or superiority. Butler’s aunt tried to dissuade her by telling her "Honey. . . Negroes can't be writers. “ This did the opposite and spurred Butler to pursue writing as a career. 2. People’s subjective perceptions shape their behavior and personality. Butler grew up in the racially blended city of Pasadena. Living in such a diverse community in the 1950’s helped to shape her view that humanity was inherently flawed with its hierarchical thinking. Butler believed that numerous issues, such as intolerance, racism, and violence, all stemmed from a hierarchical viewpoint could potentially be the total destruction of mankind.
Adler, continued 3. Personality Unified and Consistent The most common themes associated with Butler’s novels consistently was the fact that the death drive is behind hierarchical thinking, yet it can be corrected with an allencompassing love of life, especially very weird and different types of life. 4. The value of all human activity must be seen from a viewpoint of social interest. One of Butler’s primary goals as a writer was to bring joy and understanding to as many people as possible via stories which genuinely challenged the status quo, both intellectually and emotionally, especially in regards to how we view race, culture, and gender.
Adler, continued 5. The self-consistent personality develops into a person’s lifestyle. Butler has always believed that differences of race and culture needed to be transcended before they destroyed humanity. This is why she primarily wrote about disenfranchised individuals who needed to endure, understand, and grow as individules. 6. Style of life is modeled by people's creative power. Butler’s view was rather honest and forthright. Butler was deeply concerned with the current state of the world, and to an even greater extent, that of humanity as a whole. Thus her philosophy centered around expressions of universal love toward all. Butler believed that the better we become at sublimating hierarchical thinking, the happier society would become.
Tenets of Maslow’s Theory Abraham H. Maslow believed that lower level needs must be satisfied or close to satisfied before higher level needs become motivators. Beginning with physiological needs, then safety, love and belongingness, esteem, the highest level is selfactualization, which Octavia Butler achieved. The food, water, rest, etc. fueled her body. The security and safety she felt pushed her to work harder. The support and warmth of her family and friends helped her reach her goals (even if they thought it was crazy). She accomplished this, day by day, scheduling her writing and persevering, and reached her full potential, as she finished her first novel.
Maslow, continued “You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking its good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence…” – Octavia Butler The quote above shows how this integrates with Maslow’s theory. Simply, it can be said you do not reach your goals without the proper steps and the right attitude. Without this, goals are harder to achieve. “I wasn't trying to work out my own ancestry. I was trying to get people to feel slavery. I was trying to get across the kind of emotional and psychological stones that slavery threw at people. ” – Octavia Butler Her books focused on much more than just science fiction ideas. They involved many aspects particular to African-American history. Slavery was a time in which people did not get enough food or sleep, did not feel secure, did not feel safe, and so could not see goals as clearly as Octavia did.
Maslow, continued Octavia’s work involved more than just writing. She had to work through all of the steps to reach what she achieved. As a poor child without a father, being raised by a single mother and her grandmother, working menial jobs just to get by, she focused her free time on reading and writing. She started writing by trial and error at the age of ten. “I just knew there were stories I wanted to tell. ” – Octavia Butler Octavia worked through the first stages pf physiological, safety, and love and belonging from her childhood through young adolescence. At that point, she felt her own level of self-esteem. She knew her worth and was confident in herself. She believed that her work would be loved, and that she was reaching others through each part of her work. It might have been science fiction, but it had parts of history in it.
Maslow – Self-Actualization She reached the last stage of self-actualization when she finished her first book. She had realized her full worth. She was never in it for the money, but to know that she accomplished, something most African-Americans never do – an occupation in which usually only “white men” were involved. Octavia had goals that at one time seemed so far from her grasp, but she showed readers parts of the past which is something she strived for. She fulfilled the need of selfactualization and strived for more in her short life. She became a role model to many because of the work she created and became an influential author of science fiction. “I think the future of humanity will be like the past. We'll do what we've always done and there will still be human beings. Granted, there will always be people doing something different, and there a lot of possibilities. ”– Octavia Butler
Octavia’s Own Conclusion ime t g n i ur d n e y s r ’ o r t e s l t Bu ery v a l s / travel s out as a come novel in ic h p a r 7! g 1 0 2 y r Janua “I’m a 48 -year-old writer who can remember being a 10 -yearold writer and who expects someday to be an 80 -year old writer. I’m also comfortably asocial – a hermit in the middle of Los Angeles – a pessimist if I’m not careful, a feminist, a Black, a former Baptist, and an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive. ” – Octavia E. Butler
References Butler, O. (2001, September 1). NPR ESSAY - UN RACISM CONFERENCE. Retrieved October 25, 2016, from http: //www. npr. org/programs/specials/racism/010830. octaviabutleressay. h tml Butler, O. E. , & Cayea, J. (1980). Wild seed. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. Hine, D. C. (Ed. ). (2006, February 27). Octavia Butler | OUPblog. Retrieved October 30, 2016, from http: //blog. oup. com/2006/02/octavia_butler/ Imarisha, W. , Brown, A. M. , & Thomas, S. R. (2015). Octavia's brood: Science fiction stories from social justice movements. Oakland, CA: AK Press. Smith, V. (Ed. ). (2001). African American Writers (2 nd ed. , Vol. 1). New York, NY: Charles Scribner's Sons. Johns, J. A. (2010, November). Becoming Medusa: Octavia Butler’s “Lilith’s Brood” and Sociobiology. Science Fiction studies, 37(3), 382 -400
- Slides: 19