Octavia Butler’s “The Book of Martha”

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Octavia Butler’s “The Book of Martha”

            On the surface, the book by Octavia Butler converses on the choices people make in their everyday lives as they seek to improve their conditions. Employing religious values in the writing, the author presents the problem of determining whether an individual should make a choice that allows improvement based on the unknown or the unknown. The problem is whether to make choices based on faith or to choose that what we see before our eyes. This is the problem that the author employs throughout the reading to open to the reader more inclusive and wide ideas concerning choices. In the approach to choices, the author argues for humility before God in order to understand life limitations. Under this approach, human king gains hope for the future without understanding what it entails. People need to assess their egos and motives in order to have greater self-awareness.

            The first assumption that we see in the book is that of an imperfect and flawed God. The literal representation of Butler’s God subjects him to judgment as opposed to being the judge. This can be seen in the point that God admits to being bored like a kid who is seeking distraction. The portrayal assumes that God can be drawn down to a level similar to that of any man. The second assumption is that Butler in her journey is dead. The author uses the assumption as the only reason as to why she is in direct communication with God in her religious task of inspiring self-awareness. The book also assumes that the future of humankind is apocalyptic. This is evident where the author claims that the human society is in a race towards self-destruction.