The short story "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler follows Valerie Rye, a former teacher left widowed and impaired by a strange disease spreading through the world. The disease causes people to lose language abilities to varying degrees. Rye seeks out family but encounters Obsidian, a police officer who understands her through gestures. They connect but are later separated when helping a woman flee a attacker, who shoots and kills Obsidian. Rye is left with the woman's two children who can speak, rekindling Rye's purpose in protecting and teaching them.
The short story "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler follows Valerie Rye, a former teacher left widowed and impaired by a strange disease spreading through the world. The disease causes people to lose language abilities to varying degrees. Rye seeks out family but encounters Obsidian, a police officer who understands her through gestures. They connect but are later separated when helping a woman flee a attacker, who shoots and kills Obsidian. Rye is left with the woman's two children who can speak, rekindling Rye's purpose in protecting and teaching them.
The short story "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler follows Valerie Rye, a former teacher left widowed and impaired by a strange disease spreading through the world. The disease causes people to lose language abilities to varying degrees. Rye seeks out family but encounters Obsidian, a police officer who understands her through gestures. They connect but are later separated when helping a woman flee a attacker, who shoots and kills Obsidian. Rye is left with the woman's two children who can speak, rekindling Rye's purpose in protecting and teaching them.
The short story "Speech Sounds" by Octavia E. Butler follows Valerie Rye, a former teacher left widowed and impaired by a strange disease spreading through the world. The disease causes people to lose language abilities to varying degrees. Rye seeks out family but encounters Obsidian, a police officer who understands her through gestures. They connect but are later separated when helping a woman flee a attacker, who shoots and kills Obsidian. Rye is left with the woman's two children who can speak, rekindling Rye's purpose in protecting and teaching them.
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The key takeaways are that communication and language are important for society, and that people should support each other and not give up in difficult times.
The main conflict is Rye's internal struggle with her purpose and will to live in a world overwhelmed by a disease that has impaired communication.
The story is told from a third person point of view.
Analyze a selection using Formalist Approach
TITLE OF THE SHORT STORY: Speech Sounds
AUTHOR: Octavia E. Butler
CHARACTERS: Valerie Rye is a woman and a former teacher that
was led to be a widow and impaired by some kind Please identify only the major of virus or disease that spread in the science fiction characters in the story. Also, write a world of the story. She is the story’s focus as she short description for each character. starts to seeks out other living family members in the face of hopelessness and purposelessness in life. A man given the name “Obsidian” by Rye is one who made a short-lived but deep connection with Rye. Obsidian was described to be a young left- handed bearded man who donned the uniform of the Los Angeles Police Department despite the disbandment of large organizations, both governmental and private, as the story points out. The last two characters I consider to be very significant and signify a great symbolism in the story are the 2 children who could understand language and speak coherently. These two children, a boy and a girl, are presumed to be the children of a woman who was stabbed to death in the latter part of the story.
SETTING: In a world overwhelmed by a strange disease, the
people lose their ability to write, speak and understand language though its effects were incomprehensibly experienced in different degrees. With the onslaught of this strange disease, people are easily overtaken by negative emotions like rage, anger, jealousy, and envy thus leading to the world’s current setting. This is a world where fights may break out anytime and anywhere. Murder is common and committing criminal acts usually go unpunished. With the lack of proper means of communication, how different do you think the world can be? Well, this story takes us to their world where you’ll see just how much important communication, spoken, and written language is. Rye, the main character of the story, is seen to be travelling through places in California, USA of the seemingly parallel world to ours. CONFLICT: The main conflict we witness in the story tackles the main character Rye’s internal struggles on what Please provide textual evidence. to do with her life. Helpless in the face of the Textual evidence may be disease, Rye sets out from her home looking for lines/quotes/events/situations in the protection, warmth, and something to prevent her short story that justify your answer. from giving up and taking her own life. The story narrates, “She had experienced longing for the past, hatred of the present, growing hopelessness, purposelessness, but she had never experienced such a powerful urge to kill another person. She had left her home, finally, because she had come near to killing herself. She had found no reason to stay alive”. Being a former teacher and educator, it can be seen that the strange disease that has overtaken the world took away what she considered was most precious to her – her literacy. The thought of being unable to read and write while others could overcame her with jealousy and even the thought of murder came into her mind though in the end she was able to be rational and control herself.
POINT OF VIEW: The story was narrated in a third person point of
view detailing the actions, thoughts, observations of Please provide textual evidence. the main character Rye. In the lines “She held Textual evidence may be herself still, staring at him, almost seeing his blood. lines/quotes/events/situations in the But her rage crested and ebbed and she did short story that justify your answer. nothing,” we can see the use of third person pronouns like she and him.
PLOT: Exposition: Rye stood aboard the Washington
Boulevard bus. She ventured outside her home in hopes of reuniting with living family members from her brother’s side in Pasadena. Unfortunately, trouble was near and a dispute broke out in the bus which was likely stemmed from a small misunderstanding turned into a larger one because of the limited ability to communicate.
Rising Action: Rye got off the bus as the fight
ensued when suddenly a battered blue Ford pulled up in front of the bus. A big bearded young man who donned the uniform of the Los Angeles Police Department got off and asked her what was happening. After diffusing the fight in the bus, the man gestured to Rye inviting her to come with him. After pondering for a bit, Rye decided to go with the man as he seemed not to bear any ill will towards her.
Climax: The man set off driving towards Rye’s
chosen direction. Rye gave the man the name “Obsidian” from the man’s name symbol – a glassy black rock. Rye and Obsidian conversed through symbols and hand gestures, getting to know each other better. Both asked questions about the other and the opposite tried their best to convey their answers through limited language. The two liked each other’s company and Rye decided to ask him to come home and stay with her. Despite his initial refusal, he decided to accept Rye’s offer the second time she asked.
Falling Action: The two decided to head back
southwest, towards home. She decided that she didn’t have to go to Pasadena because now she was no longer alone. On the way back, Obsidian suddenly braked hard as he witnessed a man holding a knife while chasing a woman who ran across the street. Obsidian and Rye chased after them in an attempt to help the woman. While Rye was assisting the woman, the man suddenly seized Obsidian’s revolver and shot at him. Rye shot at the man back. Once again, Rye was alone with three corpses by her side. Two children, a girl and a boy, ran towards the dead woman’s body and shook her in hopes of waking her up. Rye was devastated.
Resolution: Rye was about to drive away leaving
the two children to fend for themselves when she realized what she was doing. She decided that she would look for a place to bury Obsidian and the woman’s body. As she was about to take the woman’s body, the little girl shouted and objected to her in coherent speech. Rye was stunned. Thoughts and possibilities rushed through her mind. The hope given to her by two children rekindled the fire and passion of being a teacher and a protector within her. With conviction and determination, Rye spoke to the children saying, “I'm Valerie Rye. It’s all right for you to talk to me." TONE: One look at the passages from the story, we can see the author’s evident disdain to the brash, violent, Please provide textual evidence. and aggressive attitude the men displayed in this Textual evidence may be fictional story – perhaps taking inspiration from her lines/quotes/events/situations in the real life experiences. The author, Octavia Butler, is short story that justify your answer. an African-American feminist author who grew up facing many obstacles both because of her descent and of her gender. Criticisms of the society and its chauvinist members were blatantly expressed in the story. Perhaps one may conclude that disdainful is the author’s tone in the story but I think that beyond that deep-rooted disdain is a sort of hopefulness. From my perception of the story, I think that the tone of the author is hopefulness - restrained hopefulness, to be more precise. This was what I thought of from the described actions of Rye throughout the story. Though she is affected by the disease, she did not give up on herself. She didn’t shoot herself despite losing her family. From the loneliness and helplessness she experienced, surely she can decide to take her own life but she did not. I think that this symbolizes the author’s hopefulness that there will be a positive change in the future. The statements “She had no idea what he intended, but she stood her ground. The man was half a foot taller than she was and perhaps ten years younger. She did not imagine she could outrun him. Nor did she expect anyone to help her if she needed help. The people around her were all strangers,” skillfully points this out. The statements “Nor did she expect anyone to help her if she needed help. The people around her were all strangers” shows the author’s disdainful attitude towards the present situation but by “standing her ground”, the author also shows that she possesses hope despite the challenges she faces in the present.
MOOD: I think that the mood the readers will experience in
this story is helplessness. At present, the loss of Please provide textual evidence. communication may not seem important to most – Textual evidence may be perhaps the thought of this has never even occurred lines/quotes/events/situations in the to us. But when it truly comes, the story shows how short story that justify your answer. devastating its effects can be. The statement “People making intercity trips like Rye's from Los Angeles to Pasadena made plans to camp out, or risked seeking shelter with locals who might rob or murder them” shows just how much communication and language is important in our daily lives. Without it, things would be so much harder. The statement “risked seeking shelter with locals who might rob or murder them” shows just how much risk the people in this fictional world takes, endangering even their own lives just because of travel. Imagine, what more for basic needs like food, water, and shelter? It also shows how lawless the world is just because of this one disease affecting our communication. Perhaps some readers may even relate how similar the world in the story and the world in real life is because of the pandemic experienced in both. Just as we experience helplessness against this COVID pandemic in real life, the readers can also experience helplessness against the disease stated in the story which also spread as a devastating pandemic in the story’s world.
THEME: Unquestionably, the central theme of this science
fiction story is communication. Throughout the Please provide textual evidence. story, we see the effects of the loss of Textual evidence may be communication and language on human lines/quotes/events/situations in the relationships and on people’s daily lives. The story short story that justify your answer. narrates, “The illness was stroke-swift in the way it cut people down and stroke-like in some of its effects. But it was highly specific. Language was always lost or severely impaired. It was never regained. Often there was also paralysis, intellectual impairment, death.” The story gives us a preview of the tragedies that await us if we ever find ourselves in the same situation.
LITERARY DEVICES: This short story by Octavia Butler is limited
especially by the nature of the world portrayed in Please provide textual evidence. the story. Only a few short dialogues were present Textual evidence may be in it but I think that the author really did a good job lines/quotes/events/situations in the presenting her story with just mostly narration. short story that justify your answer. Throughout the course of the story, we can see the author’s skillful use of symbolism instead of dialogues especially in the pivoting events in the story. An evident example of this is when Rye and Obsidian introduce themselves to each other. “…he slipped a gold chain over his head and handed it to her. The pendant attached to it was a smooth, glassy, black rock. Obsidian. His name might be Rock or Peter or Black, but she decided to think of him as Obsidian... She handed him her own name symbol—a pin in the shape of a large golden stalk of wheat. She had bought it long before the illness and the silence began. Now she wore it, thinking it was as close as she was likely to come to Rye. People like Obsidian who had not known her before probably thought of her as Wheat.” Another example is the two children who could speak. “Fluent speech! Had the woman died because she could talk and had taught her children to talk?... If the illness let these children alone, she could keep them alive.” The two children who could speak fluently were the symbolism of hope in the story. Obsidian’s LAPD uniform and the weapons Rye (“old forty-five automatic gun”) and Obsidian (“revolver”) brought with them also symbolized being a “protector” and the threat of violence easily faced, respectively. The author also used onomatopoeia to represent the sound people made despite the loss of communication. An example is “People screamed or squawked in fear.” Another literary device used is connotation with the example “young men roared in excitement” in which roar obviously refers to another thing. Imagery was also used in the story. “The driver got out—a big man, young, neatly bearded with dark, thick hair. He wore a long overcoat and a look of wariness that matched Rye's.” Use of repetition is also present to give emphasis – “no more LAPD, no more any large organization.” The narration “watched him shout in wordless anger” also made use of oxymoron. Hyperbole was used by the author in the phrases “a houseful of books”, “flood of memories”, and “almost throwing her off the seat”. The author also used figures of speech like simile (“hooting like chimpanzees”), metaphor (“the animal across the street”), and idioms (“to make room”). Situational irony was also used in the story. Examples of its use are “dead murderer” and “Obsidian had been the protector... And now that there was something worth protecting, he was gone.” Rhetorical questions were also used in the story. “Had the disease run its course, then? Or were these children simply immune?” FIGURES OF SPEECH: Figure of speech, being a subcategory of literary devices, were also used in the story. As I have Please provide textual evidence. mentioned earlier, the author used figures of speech Textual evidence may be like simile, metaphor and idioms. A few examples lines/quotes/events/situations in the are “watched her with at least as much curiosity as short story that justify your answer. fear” and “hooting like chimpanzees” which makes use of simile. The phrase “The animal across the street” in which the animal talked about is referring to a person made use of metaphor. Common idioms were also used in the story like “to make room”.
Analyze a selection using a Moralist Approach
TITLE OF THE SHORT STORY: Speech Sounds
AUTHOR: Octavia E. Butler
The main character Rye’s view in life could be
Cite lines/quotes/events/situations in described as neither optimistic nor one that the story that justify your answers. wallowed in despair from the challenges she faced. From my point of view, I would describe Rye as What is the main character’s view in one who would “go with the flow”. She was sad, life? What is his or her relationship lonely, and angry when she and her loved ones were to God? What is the significance of affected by the disease but she did not give up on his or her life on Earth? her life, though the thought of suicide crossed her What ethical principles does the mind indeed. When she was given hope nearing the story present? end of the story, her passion was rekindled, she was determined to survive and raise the two kids. From this, I would say that her viewpoint in life mostly depended on her instinct to live and to survive. From the passages in the story, we can grasp the information that all her close family members that she lived with were now all dead – including her husband, children, parents, and siblings. Despite all this challenges in life, she could not bear to take her own life, perhaps we can see this as her courage and strength to hold on to life amidst all the obstacles. This also indirectly leads us to believe that life is important for her because as we all know life is given to us by God and we should take care of it. This is given by the statements “She had been alone herself for three years. The illness had stripped her, killing her children one by one, killing her husband, her sister, her parents… She had experienced longing for the past, hatred of the present, growing hopelessness, purposelessness, but she had never experienced such a powerful urge to kill another person. She had left her home, finally, because she had come near to killing herself. She had found no reason to stay alive.” Other scenes in the story showing that she valued life is when they attempted to help a woman about to be murdered, when she made the decision that she should take care of the two children, and when she thought of burying the dead bodies to give them a proper place to lay rest. “She had almost done it, almost left two toddlers to die. Surely there had been enough dying. She would have to take the children home with her. She would not be able to live with any other decision… Before the silence, the police had always said some of the most dangerous calls they went out on were domestic disturbance calls. Obsidian should have known that—not that the knowledge would have kept him in the car. It would not have held her back either. She could not have watched the woman murdered and done nothing… Better to take the bodies with her and bury them next to her husband and her children.” Although these statements support her moral ethics, throughout the story, we have not seen any direct mention of her spiritual connection to God. Another factor we can look at here is when Rye had sex with Obsidian. As Christians, we believe that sexual relations should be done only within marriage. Obviously, Rye was not married to Obsidian. In fact, “Obsidian” was just a name she gave to the stranger she met. This leads us to the conclusion that although Rye has and follows moral ethics, specifically valuing and protecting life, she does not have a strong faith in God. At the end of the story, we can see that Rye finds her long-lost purpose in life. We can say that the significance of her life on Earth is to lead the youth towards a hopeful future where language and communication is once again made possible. Guiding the two children to grow up properly and surviving through difficult times will be her duty as a teacher and protector. In this relationship between her and the two children, we can see that the children are not the only ones being helped. In a way, the children will also be helping her because what Rye lacks is a purpose in life to prevent her from giving up on herself and taking her own life. Having the children with her will serve as her motivation and torchlight that will illuminate her path. Obviously, this also leads us to the idea that this is Rye’s role as an adult that will guide the youth towards a bright future just like in a normal world even before they experienced the pandemic.
The main moral lesson or teaching of this story is
What moral teachings does the not to give up on life no matter the hardships we author present? face. As individuals living in this world, it is unavoidable for us to encounter problems in life. We may someday be like Rye who was faced with struggles in life – losing her family and the disease taking away her passion as a teacher and a writer. She was beaten down by the tragedies she has experienced but nevertheless she decided not to give up and instead she ventured to seek out other family members despite the difficulties she will face along the way. Instead of bowing down in the face of struggles, we should ask God to help us overcome what we are facing. Life is something precious and irreplaceable that was given to us by God. The hardships that we face at the moment may seem impossible to overcome but surely God will always make a way for us. God gives us challenges not to give up on but to face head on and to overcome bravely because He is by our side and He will aid us as long as we call for Him. The story teaches us that as long as we do not give up, we will someday meet the hope we are waiting for.
I think that the author’s attitude toward the world is
What do you think is the author’s hopeful – hopeful for the future and hopeful for the attitude toward the world? toward positive change she is waiting for. I think that the fate? toward God? author aims to spread awareness on the issues of the world through her works. Through her writing, she hopes to inspire and urge the people to fight alongside her in her cause. This also goes to show that she doesn’t want to accept just any fate dictated toward her. Through the author’s background, we can see a strong impact of racial discrimination on her life because she was an African-American. Her mother who was a single parent supported and raised her while working as a servant to a white American household. Despite the discouragements and criticisms thrown toward her passion in writing, she still continued it and eventually she made a name for herself as a writer, even receiving awards for her works. This shows that the writer wishes to build her own future and her own fate, not just accepting the fate dictated to her by the judgements of the people around her. Throughout the story, the author doesn’t seem to tackle about religious issues in any way. From this, I think that the author’s attitude toward God is neutral. Octavia Butler was apparently raised in a strict Baptist household but she has also stated in an interview that she has detached from the religion. Through the moral ethics we have witnessed in her work, we can certainly say that the author values life and encourages a positive outlook in life but the main character in her work, Rye, agreeing to have sex with a stranger definitely hit us in another way. This leads us to think that the author preferred not to have any religious attachment. In conclusion, we can say that the author didn’t possess a deep faith and connection towards God.
I think that the author’s treatment of the subject
Is the author’s treatment of the matter and theme is very sincere and brave. subject matter, theme, and character Typically, the thought that communication and sincere, mature, true, sensitive, or language would be lost will not even cross our brave? How is that so? minds. Perhaps, themes of miscommunication and arguments because of differences in language and nationality is often discussed but language and communication lost altogether is on another level. We can see here that the author attempts to show us a different possibility of the world inside her mind. At the same time, through this unique story of hers, the author also aims to give us a new viewpoint in life and draw attention to issues that are commonly ignored or not paid enough attention in today’s society. Some of the issues she has discussed in her story are gender inequality, domestic violence, suicide, depression, and poverty. As she grew up facing obstacles in life due to her African-American descent, the author aims to draw attention to issues in which she herself had experiences of her own. From this we can see her sincerity in her work. The story also shows how blunt the author is in pointing out society’s commonly ignored problems. She was able to show her maturity and sensitivity to the issues around her and bravely confront and encourage the public to address these issues through her work. This shows that author is thoughtful and gives great effort in creating a meaningful work that will help our own world.
Rather than negative things, the story aims to
Does the text aim to manipulate the encourage and prompt the readers to do things that reader or prompt him to do negative will help our society. We can see that the main things? How is that so? focus of this story is on surviving and supporting one another in the apocalypse-like world brought about by the loss of communication and language. The story shows us that Rye, the main character, did not give up on life despite the tragedies she has experienced. This tells the reader that suicide and giving up on life will not solve anything because when we give up, it is the end. On the other hand, when we do not give up and continue to live despite the hardships in life, we will eventually gain hope and realize that things can change. The story also teaches us that each and every one of us has a purpose in life, just like the characters Rye, Obsidian, and the two children in the story. The story encourages us to address the societal issues that are not given due attention by discussing these issues in her work. Through her work, the author aims to urge us to do our part in society and in the whole world.