Analyzing Octavia E. Butler’s “Amnesty” through Afrofuturism

The focus of this thesis will be “Amnesty,” a short science fiction story American writer Octavia E. Butler published for the first time in 2003. Like other works of the Pasadena-born author, “Amnesty” is an alien encounter story, dealing with both humans and extraterrestrials and how these two very different species interact with each other after tall, plant-like aliens settled in various deserted areas across the planet. At the centre of this delicate relationship, readers will find Noah Cannon, a translator and former alien abductee whose ultimate goal is to teach the two very different species to coexist through mediation and mutual knowledge. Set in a dystopian near future of economic collapse and near to no prospects outside of alien spaces, “Amnesty” is ultimately a story about otherness (here declined specifically in the form of inter-species relationship), compromise for survival and the positive role of communication, as well as a story about the imperfect species Butler thought we are. Since “Amnesty” belongs to the subgenre of science fiction that goes by the name of Afrofuturism, a part of the thesis will be dedicated to its history and development, and further references to Afrofuturism will be made throughout the analysis.