Octavia Butler\'s Novel Wild Seed

Octavia Butler's novel Wild Seed examines the concept of slavery from a multitude of different perspectives. In addition to the most overt and obvious treatment of slavery as the international commerce in human beings, Butler addresses mental slavery as well as the enslavement of females by males. Slavery takes on many forms, and does not necessarily involve physical bondage. Rather, slavery implies any restriction on human freedom and liberty. In Wild Seed, Doro and Anyanwu perceive of slavery differently. Gender is a large reason for the differences between the two protagonists, as Butler examines closely the ways that men enslave women by their social status and their physical prowess. Doro and Anyanwu are psychological, mental equals but Doro abuses his power by attempting to have power over others, thereby restricting their freedom at least somewhat. Anyanwu, on the other hand, channels her power into more egalitarian ends such as cooperation and healing. As a result, Anyanwu is more aware of the various forms that slavery takes and is more sensitive to the plight of the physically enslaved Africans in the New World. Her enslavement by Doro is a perfect psychological counterpart for the physical slavery of those Africans. Therefore, Wild Seed examines physical, psychological, and also supernatural forms of slavery.

The most concrete type of slavery examined by Butler is expressed through physical bondage and coercion. This form of slavery most closely mimics the historical realities of the international slave trade. Butler addresses the international slave trade concretely in Wild Seed, but uses other metaphors of slavery to impart the theme. Setting aside Doro's ability to physically enslave human beings by supernatural possession, Doro has created an unwitting colony of servants to his will. While his motives are idealistic and understandable, Doro's ego and ambition make him into a stereotypical patriarch who demands obedience with the real threat of physical harm. Underscored by the inclusion of Biblical allusions such as his son whose name is Isaac, Doro is portrayed as paternalistic and fearful, and his persona is not unlike the so-called benevolent slave owners on American plantations. Doro remains unconscious of the negative implications of his role, whereas Anyanwu is continuously aware of the consequences of Doro's ambition. "I am like a prisoner. All bound," she notes (90).

Doro is not above using purely physical means of coercion, as he "catches" runaways by snatching and invading their bodies (91). "Individuals who ran from him were caught and most often killed," (80). However, Doro cannot physically bind Anyanwu but rather, uses mainly psychological coercion to prevent her disobedience. Doro does so not out of kindness or compassion but out of outright need for Anyanwu's powers in conjunction with his own. In Wild Seed, Doro is a slave to his own desires and to his own unchecked ego. His enslavement is purely psychological and Doro remains unconscious of his condition. Anyanwu is cognizant of her subservient position, and becomes frustrated by it. She sees her situation mirrored in the outside world, in the slave communities of the New World.