The Evening, the Morning, the Night, and X-men?

Immediately upon reading the tale of the characters of Lynn and Alan, the similarities became apparent when pertaining to the elements of the story in “The Evening, the Morning, and the Night,” by Octavia Butler, and the story of the mutants in the Marvel comic book series “X-men”.

In the story of X-men, for those of the readers that are unfamiliar with the characters and the plot, the X-men are comprised of “mutants” or those who possess special abilities or skills as a result of their genetic abnormality or mutation. For the majority of the series, the mutants are isolated from the “normal society”, in multiple ways. First of all, the mutants are often seen as lepers or outcast who cannot function amongst humans without placing them in danger as a result of their special abilities categorizing them as “different” or “other”. As a result of society desiring to isolate them because of their “otherness”, the X-men and other mutants are educated at a secluded private school. There, the students are educated in numerous ways: they are educated with a standard education and are also taught how to control and harness their special, mutant ways. At this school, their differences thrive into abilities that can be to great use to the world, when properly used.

In an eerily similar manner, in the story, “The Evening and the Morning and the Night,” the characters who are infected with a self-destructive disease called Duryea-Gode disease, or DGD for short, are forced into seclusion from those who are normal, also known as those who are not associated with the dreadful disease. For the most part, those afflicted with the disease, are placed into different categories and receive different treatment, from their food to their habits, in order to contain the “monster” within that can become self-destructive. As a result, the diseased, like the mutants in X-men, are placed in hospitals, which are accused of treating the DGD patients with cruelty and malice, once they become uncontrollable.

In the “Dirg”, however, the residents are treated with compassionate treatment from those in charge of the residency. Instead of having their abilities being suppressed or discouraged, the leaders of the Dirg encourage the DGD residents to focus their attention on their skills. The DGD diseased characters’ abilities, like those in X-men, are often treated in society as insignificant, even dangerous, and are viewed as pointless. Instead of being accepted for their potential contributions to society with their unique abilities, the characters of X-men and the DGD patients in Butler’s short story are forced to seclusion in order to lead a normal existence. The characters of both worlds represent how those who are different should not be viewed as abominations; they should be accepted for the brilliance that they may bring to the current world. A brilliance that, although different, could have a benevolent change for a society and its people.

~ by beautifulbelief on January 31, 2010.