Suspense in The Evening and the Morning and the Night
“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” is a short story by Octavia Butler. This is a short story about a girl named Lynn Mortimer who was born with a disease called Duryea-Gode disease (DGD). DGD is a genetic disease that causes adults to become self-destructive.It is caused by a drug called Hedeonco, which cures certain types of cancer. If an adult has DGD and reproduces, their child will automatically have the disease. When adults with DGD reach middle age, they will start to drift. When this happens, the person starts to mutilate themselves until they die. To prevent themselves from drifting, DGD sufferers must eat a strict diet. Lynn’s father started to drift, and during this time he killed his wife and himself. People who have diseases are treated differently. Sometimes people treat them with sympathy, other times they are shunned. Butler tells about the struggles of these sufferers. She makes the story suspenseful by manipulating the pacing of the story, the mood created, and by foreshadowing. …show more content…
She uses long descriptive, without dialogue paragraphs. The beginning of the story is all about what DGD is and how it is contracted. It also talks about tragedies that the sufferers of DGD experience. There is nothing physically different about someone with DGD and someone without DGD until they start to drift. People with DGD are supposed to wear an emblem so if they get sick, medical personnel won’t treat them with anything that could set off their symptoms. Eating special biscuits is another way DGD sufferers are targeted and forced live outside of normal society. Butler starts adding dialogue at the end of page
“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” is a short story by Octavia Butler. This is a short story about a girl named Lynn Mortimer who was born with a disease called Duryea-Gode disease (DGD). DGD is a genetic disease that causes adults to become self-destructive.It is caused by a drug called Hedeonco, which cures certain types of cancer. If an adult has DGD and reproduces, their child will automatically have the disease. When adults with DGD reach middle age, they will start to drift. When this happens, the person starts to mutilate themselves until they die. To prevent themselves from drifting, DGD sufferers must eat a strict diet. Lynn’s father started to drift, and during this time he killed his wife and himself. People who have diseases are treated differently. Sometimes people treat them with sympathy, other times they are shunned. Butler tells about the struggles of these sufferers. She makes the story suspenseful by manipulating the pacing of the story, the mood created, and by foreshadowing. …show more content…
She uses long descriptive, without dialogue paragraphs. The beginning of the story is all about what DGD is and how it is contracted. It also talks about tragedies that the sufferers of DGD experience. There is nothing physically different about someone with DGD and someone without DGD until they start to drift. People with DGD are supposed to wear an emblem so if they get sick, medical personnel won’t treat them with anything that could set off their symptoms. Eating special biscuits is another way DGD sufferers are targeted and forced live outside of normal society. Butler starts adding dialogue at the end of page