Redefining Humanity

Octavia Butler seems to be asking several questions in Clay’s Ark, many that she herself can’t seem to answer. The most prominent question in Clay’s Ark is how do we define humanity? Octavia Butler is creating a split between how we perceive humanity by introducing an alien organism that can redefine humanity. It is defined many times to not be a parasite, but instead something more, something that adapts and influences, and something that makes the host body stronger.

On Pg. 525, Butler writes, “Eli says we’re preserving humanity. I agree with him. We are. Our humanity and everyone else’s because we let people alone. We isolate ourselves as much as we can, and the people outside stay alive and healthy – most of them.”

            The future that is conveyed in Clay’s Ark is one where social decency has been nearly abandoned, many living a terrible life in sewers or in deserts. The class division is even larger as those who can afford it live in gated communities, aware of the troubles of the outside world, but unwilling to help. It is within this framework that we are given Butler’s main critique on humanity: if the future is deprived of common decency and a further divided social hierarchy, what is there to really be preserved by isolating a microbe that can redefine humanity?

            This isn’t a question easily answered and I’m not sure I can even do it justice. It seems like Butler is at one hand commenting on how important it is to perceive humanity, but Butler gives us a view of humanity that we don’t want to accept. There are so many moments in Clay’s Ark where I want to see this microbe spread to the world so that the world can have a second chance, a new form of humanity. The ending is utter chaos and as the ranch family dig in and prepare for the worst, you are left with a sense that even though there is chaos, maybe the world will finally change. With a higher level of sensory awareness, would the world be able to finally face its problems?

            There are so many positives and negatives for the microbe that it is hard to determine what side Butler is on. The fact that the microbe can heal wounds, as well as improve the senses and intelligence of the host seems like a benefit. The close-knit feeling, although eerie at times, also suggests that the microbe can bring a group of people together. Obviously, there are also negative effects like on pg. 596. “Well, maybe God had arrived a few years later from Proxima Centauri Two. God in the form of a deadly little microbe that for its own procreation made a father try to rape his dying daughter – and made the daughter not mind”.

            So where do you stand after reading Clay’s Ark? How did you interpret the chaos of the end? Did you believe that the microbe spreading would be the end of humanity or would it be a redefining of humanity?