Wild Seed in Wild Times: Ruminations about Octavia E. Butler's Novel amidst the Coronavirus Pandemic

Abstract

To survive, Doro has to change bodies whenever the one he currently inhabits is threatened with death. Because of this, Doro is obsessed with obtaining strong, long-lasting bodies, and he creates a eugenics project to interbreed both his children and outsiders with unique supernatural abilities to create more and more powerful descendants. [...]though according to news reports some animals have contracted COVID-19, it does not seem to have affected these animals as severely as it has humans.1 In addition to sparking these thoughts about the parasitic nature of COVID-19, Butler's depiction of the character Anyanwu, a healer who is the opposite of the killer Doro, captivates my imagination at a time when so many need medical care after becoming infected with the virus. [...]she brought his hand to her mouth again and there was more pain and pressure, but no more biting. When I visited Nigeria in 2008, I enjoyed eating jollof rice for the first time and was struck by how much the delicious spicy dish reminded me of the red rice I grew up eating in South Carolina, where my American family originates from.