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Stream of Consciousness
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
Butler writes with straightforward and descriptive language. The sentences are primarily informative rather than emotional, giving the audience space to discover the alien setting for themselves. This resembles how Gan reflects on his childhood experience through an inexperienced lens. As he is forced to face the new and uncomfortable experience of Bram Lomas's birth, the reader, too, is forced to remain fixed on the presented details as the story progresses.
The first paragraph, for example, establishes this informative and somewhat reserved style:
My last night of childhood began with a visit home. T'Gatoi's sister had given us two sterile eggs. T'Gatoi gave one to my mother, brother, and sisters. She insisted that I eat the other one alone. It didn't matter. There was still enough to leave everyone feeling good.
The first sentence declares a somewhat monumental claim—that Gan's final night as a child can be so clearly defined—without great significance. Gan presents expository information swiftly and without emotional depth, so as to objectively recount his memory of this night.
While Butler's style provides the audience with crucial context and relays it quickly, it is also limited in the use of figurative and emotional language. This creates the sense that Gan has become resigned as he has grown into adulthood, and the audience can determine for themselves the moral and emotional dilemmas that appear crucial for the Terrans.
Related Themes:
