47 pages • 1 hour read
Octavia E. ButlerA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Content Warning: The Chapter 3 Summary contains a sex scene.
In Chapter 1, the amnesiac unnamed protagonist—who we later learn is named Shori Matthews—awakens alone, hurt, and starving in a cave somewhere near Seattle. She hears an animal moving near her, and she blindly attacks and eats it. She sleeps and awakens several times, going deeper into the cave to avoid the light. Eventually, Shori emerges from the cave to find more food. It is raining outside, and she slowly remembers more about the outside world. She realizes she is severely injured and scarred—but is quickly healing. As Shori wanders the mountainside, she comes upon burned ruins that used to be buildings. Though she does not remember whether or not this place is her former home, she feels a connection. She searches the rubble and finds clothes to cover her naked body. When the sun rises, it burns Shori’s skin, so she covers more of herself and leaves. Over the next three days, she hunts and sleeps until she feels well enough to move on and seek something other than Deer to eat.
By Octavia E. Butler
Adulthood Rites
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Bloodchild and Other Stories
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Dawn
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Kindred
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Parable of the Sower
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Parable of the Talents
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Speech Sounds
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The Evening and the Morning and the Night
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Wild Seed
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