Wild Seed

Chrisitna Low

ENG 423

Journal Post 2

“Anyanwu could not have all that she wanted, and Doro could no longer have all that he had once considered his by right. She stopped him from destroying his breeders after they had served him. She could not stop him from killing altogether, but she could extract a promise from him that there be no more Susans, no more Thomases. If anyone had earned the right to be safe from him, to save his protection, it was these people. He did not command her any longer. She was no longer one of his breeders, nor even one of his people in the old proprietary way. He could ask her cooperation, her help, but he no longer coerce her into giving it. There be no more threats to her children.” Wild Seed (252)

                In reading this passage, I began to think about female agency and in the relationship or Anyanwu and Doro, who has the most power? This is an arguable issue, and one that I don’t have an answer to. This passage is one of the last wonderings Butler leaves us with at the end of Wild Seed. Throughout the book, female agency seems rather limited as women are held captive as slaves, breeders, and forced to endure inescapable abusive relationships. I began to think that women had no control over their bodies and some, such as Doro’s mother, are forced to literally submit her body for her son to take as his own.

                I began to think about Anyanwu and what power she has, as a woman, in this novel. She is the only being alive, equal to that of Doro, and is the only woman who is in full control over what happens to her body – she can even terminate a pregnancy if she wants to. I believe, despite having her body being used as an incubator for children and forced into marriages against her will, that Anyanwu has the most power out of any character in Wild Seed. By the end of the novel, Anyanwu is the only character that can exert some control over Doro. It is her threat of suicide that pulls Doro in to her demands because, without her, his dream of his “perfect” race is impossible and he would be left alone on Earth. Butler does not give Anyanwu complete control by the end of the story because despite Doro’s submission to her demands, he is still unable to change his nature of killing. Anyanwu wants Doro to “promise not to interfere with any of her descendants, but he would not” (252) because by this time they have descendants scattered all across the country and it would be almost impossible for Doro to avoid killing someone related to them. I believe Butler has Doro maintain this power to show that despite the agency Anyanwu has, there is no way for her to control everything.

                I think Anyanwu’s situation speaks to the larger issue of women in society, more specifically African American women, because to some degree she has the most control over her body and can direct the actions of a God-like figure like Doro; however it is impossible for her to have control over every situation. There is still a lack of power that Anyanwu is missing by the end of the novel and it takes extremes of almost committing suicide for Doro to come to some compromise with her. Relating Wild Seed to a larger theme of power, I think Butler wants her audience to think about Anyanwu not only has a powerful or weak figure, but to see her as both elements conflicting with one another. If Anyanwu were to claim to be all powerful, then she would merely be a mirror image of Doro. If she were portrayed as a “weak” character with no voice, then there wouldn’t really be much of a story to tell; Doro would win, end of story.

                Looking at the various book covers available for Wild Seed, I think it’s important to note that almost all of them are images of African American women. It seems evident that Anyanwu is the protagonist and, though depicted as weak in some situations, in the end she is the only one that can control the all-powerful character of Doro. It is her determination and ability to alter her body that gives her the control she needs.

Discussion Questions:
Who has the most power/control? Anyanwu or Doro?

How do the science fiction aesthetics of giving Anyanwu healing and shapeshifting abilities contribute to overarching themes of feminism and what it means to be an African American woman?