Fledgling by Octavia E. Butler

Fledgling

Pronunciation: \ˈflej-liŋ\

Function: noun

Usage: often attributive

Date: 1830

1 : a young bird just fledged 2 : an immature or inexperienced person 3 : one that is new

A couple of weeks before starting Fledgling by Octavia Butler (June 22, 1947 - February 24, 2006), I called the Petit Branch of the Onondago County Public Library to reserve a copy. The librarian informed me that all seven copies in the various Syracuse libraries had been borrowed, and there was a waiting list comprised of fifteen people. Needless to say, I now own a copy of Fledgling (thanks, Amazon!). But from this experience, it was clear--before I even broke the binding--that this novel resonated with young readers in the area.

Octavia Butler was born and raised in Pasadena, CA. Her father was a shoeshiner and died when Butler was a baby; her mother worked as a maid to support the family. Butler was diagnosed with dyslexia, but found solace from loneliness and boredom in books--particularly science fiction. She went on to write twelve novels. In 1995, she became the first science fiction writer EVER to win a MacArthur Foundation "Genius" Grant. She has described herself as "comfortably asocial--a hermit in the middle of Seattle--a pessimist if I'm not careful, a feminist, a black, a former Baptist, an oil-and-water combination of ambition, laziness, insecurity, certainty, and drive." She explains why she became interested in science fiction to Charlie Rose:

In the first few chapters of Fledgling, the lurid details of Shori's injuries and the sexually explicit descriptions of the encounters--between Shori and Wright, Shori and Theodora, Shori and...almost everyone she encounters to one degree or another--almost shocked me. I attribute my reaction to the fact that I was reading the novel from the lens of an Adolescent Fiction class. (I also think that the fact that Shori is 53 years old, but looks like a 10-year-old makes her sexuality all the more provocative.) Even, after completing the novel, I am not quite sure how I would approach the question of sexuality in a high school class. Shori's relationships with her symbionts are each sexual to some degree--and although I would certainly be comfortable exploring the nature of same sex relationships, I'm not totally convinced that the high school classroom is the right place to host an in-depth exploration of the nature and value of polygamous (albeit committed) relationships. Although the community is fictional, the questions of sexuality are easily transferable to the real world that adolescents live in. I would be happy to have large-group discussion of this element of the novel, but I wouldn't necessarily create a lesson plan around it.

However, I think the classroom is a GREAT place to explore the various hierarchies that populate the novel. Octavia Butler addresses her interest in race and other human hierarchies and the value of infusing science fiction with familiar elements of society. Each individual has mutiple relationships that determine their place and power in their personal and global communities. Brook and Wright are "firsts"--until Brook loses her Ina and is completely dependent on Shori for her survival. Shori is dependent on her symbionts, but also has the power to discard and replace them. The Council of Judgement is able to discern--with a certain level of infallibility--the veracity of any Ina's claim and determines appropriate punishment for lawbreakers. And very human concerns pollute the purity of the supposedly infallible Council--ultimately, the historical ties between the Silks and the other Ina families on the Coucil trump the knowledge that the Silks are lying and determine several members' votes against Shori.

Another important aspect of the novel focuses on disability: Shori's amnesia, but also her youth (relative to the rest of the Ina). Adolescents would certainly relate to the notion of being viewed as disadvantaged because of a lack of knowledge--in Shori's case, due to amnesia, but for many adolescents, due to a dearth of experience. Several Council members repeatedly refer to the fact that "Shori is much too impaired to be permitted to speak against other Ina" (295). Yet, another Council member reminds those that deny Shori's ability, "She is impaired...but her ability to reason wasn't stolen...Shori should be rewarded for using her intellect to protect herself and to find the murderers" (297). Her status as a "fledgling" makes her simultaneously dangerous and weak, to the minds of her critics. On the other hand, many of her supporters think that her experience makes her more innocent and honest in her approach to dealing with difficult issues.

Finally, the elements of genetic modification and racism in the novel are compelling. Shori's genetic blend of Ina and human DNA offends many Ina--both because of the genetic modification and because she is black. Some Ina make mention of the fact that even humans might view Shori as a lower breed. Here, we see the fear or perhaps jealousy of the unknown--a genetic modification that makes Shori stronger than most Ina--blended with racism, in traditional terms.

If teaching Fledgling, one instructional practice I would rely on would be a jigsaw activity. I would divide the class into small groups and offer each group a critical lens through which to view the novel: hierarchy, disability, and racial prejudice. For the hierarchy group, I would encourage them to consider hierarchies in their owns lives (family, school, politics, etc.) and determine whether they could remember an experience when the particular person in power had to make a tough decision--was the person influenced by relationships or could s/he remain unbiased? For the disability group, I would ask them to consider how disability impacts whether people are viewed as reliable sources of information. Is it possible that lack of education/ experience can be viewed as a disability and, if so, have they ever been viewed as unreliable? Who has the authority to determine who is "able" and "disabled" or "impaired"? Finally, for the racial prejudice group, I would ask them to share an experience of judgement based on race. I would also ask them to consider whether the Ina genuinely felt that Shori was inferior or feared her genetic make-up? Are most prejudices driven by fear? Once each group had a chance to discuss the novel through their critical lenses, we would join in a large-group discussion about the three elements of the novel. Here is a link on the history and purpose of jigsaw grouping.

As for my essential questions for class, they will sound like a reiteration of my jigsaw group questions--but I think that the issues that are valuable for adolescents are just as useful for our purposes.

1.) Was the overall power of the Council of Judgement decimated when several members chose historical allegiance with the Silks and/or prejudice against Shori's status--both as an amnesiac youth and vampire with black DNA--over Shori's truth-telling (which they can all presumably sense)? Why do you think Butler chose to make the Council fallible? Can you relate this to personal experience of a power struggle?

2.) What was the symbolic purpose of Shori's amnesia? Would it have made a difference if Shori was simply a young girl rather than a 53-year-old amnesiac? What did the loss of her memory signify and why was it viewed as an impairment if her logic and emotional intellect was intact? Can you think of parallel misinterpretation of disability or "impairment" from your own experience in which someone has been marginalized?

3.) Why do you think Butler made Shori an amalgamation of a vampire and a black human? Why do you think the Ina slipped into such human prejudices in considering Shori's race? Would you think that, after thousands of years, the Ina would be more conscientious? By what emotions are their prejudices driven? Looking at contemporary US society, can you identify indicators of progress with regards to racial prejudice? Do you think that racism continually finds new ways of manifesting itself?