Pages 86 to 125 of Butler’s tale only have me more
enthralled in the story she is weaving. After reading this section, the glimpse
into the indiscriminate brutality of this reality has only become greater.
Lauren says that life in the neighborhood is “disintegrating” around her.
Thieves continue to bypass their walls and make off with vital supplies. Her brother,
Keith, as well as another member of the neighborhood has been brutally
murdered. Keith’s murder was especially disturbing to me. His skin was burned
off. Burned off! His eyes had also
been burned out of his face as well. The only recognizable part of his was his
untouched face besides the eyes. He had been living outside of the wall for
only a few months before his life was taken by some lunatic. Lauren’s family is
becoming torn in all kinds of directions. Cory wants to leave and live in one
of the KSF towns (privatized and corporate owned towns that exchange work for
small wages, a place to lay your head and durable security) but her father sees
it as new-age slavery. Could this be Butler’s way of conveying messages of
slavery through her writing?
As
Lauren steps into the world of adulthood and considers leaving the safety (or
lack thereof?) of her childhood home to find a life for herself in the outside
world and spread the word of her Earthseed doctrine, I cannot help but relate
it to my own personal experience here at college and being on my own for the
first time. Leaving home is a terrifying thing, even more so if it is out into
a ruthless world such as the one Butler has shaped. Could enlisting yourself
into a life of indentured servitude to a corporate machine such as the KSF be
any worse than facing that brutal world? I personally do not think so, but the
question is quite arguable. I am excited to see if Lauren shows us her answer
to this question.
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