In a good story, there are always monsters involved. However, there is more to a good story than just simply monsters. A lot of time and effort goes into creating these monsters and there are many questions the writers must answer in order to make a good story. First, one has to decide who determines who the monsters in the story are. It may very well be, the aliens are normal and the humans are the ones that are the monsters, depending on the story plot itself. Second, many elements go into making a monster in a story. There is the external appearance, hidden power, good vs evil aspect, and in Dawn, there is hybridization element. Finally, the writers have to understand why monsters are so important in science fiction. The book Dawn, by Octavia Butler addresses these questions and gives perfect depictions of monstrosity. The monsters in …show more content…
When a character meets the criteria or elements that a monster is supposed to have, we as readers are able to determine who the monster in the story is. In Dawn, the monsters are the aliens however, it could be read as Lilith and the humans are actually the aliens if you think abstractly. Therefore, the answer to the question who determines who monsters are is simple. It is the opinion of the reader who determines who the monsters are. The novel Dawn challenged my ideas of what constitutes a monster. When thinking about monsters I naturally consider the physical description given. In the book, the alien’s description was definitely monster like. However, these aliens were for the most part good. They were able to help the human race in a substantial way. Typically, we think about monsters in terms of ugly, grotesque, evil creatures. In Dawn, this is not the case. In fact, one could go as far to say the humans are the monsters. However, as humans we want to believe we are the good guys, which causes the readers to see the aliens as