“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” by American author Octavia E. Butler is a science fiction novelette that uses a dystopian future to explore themes of Illness and Institutionalization, Human Nature and Social Structure, and Self-Determination and Individual Responsibility, as well as gender roles and coming to terms with one’s mortality. First published in 1987, the story takes place a few decades, roughly two generations, after a cure for cancer and other illnesses has been introduced. This cure leads to a heritable genetic mutation in the children of those who take it that causes Duryea-Gode Disease (DGD). DGD symptoms include a dissociative state (“drifting”) and violent behavior, specifically self-mutilation. The story focuses on Lynn Mortimer, who has inherited DGD from both of her parents, who have in turn inherited it from one of their respective parents.

Butler (1947-2006) is a well-known science fiction writer whose work often uses dystopian settings to explore social themes. She received many prestigious awards, including Nebula Awards for Best Novelette (Bloodchild, 1984) and Best Novel (Parable of the Talents, 1999) and Hugo Awards for Best Short Story (“Speech Sounds,” 1984) and Best Novelette (Bloodchild, 1985). In 1995, Butler received a MacArthur “Genius” Grant; she was the first science fiction writer to obtain this distinction. In 2000, she was recognized with a PEN Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2010, she was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame. Some of her best-known works include the novels Kindred (1979) and Parable of the Sower (1993) and the collection Bloodchild and Other Stories (1995).

This guide refers to the version of novelette that appears in the second edition of Bloodchild and Other Stories, published by Seven Stories Press in 2005.

Content Warning: The source material contains instances of violence, particularly self-harm, and suicidal ideation.

“The Evening and the Morning and the Night” uses a first-person point of view and is told from Lynn’s perspective. Due to her status as a “Double DGD” (she carries two copies of the mutated genes that cause DGD, one set from each parent), she feels especially socially marginalized and believes the onset of the illness will inevitably lead to a short life. Every DGD will eventually succumb to violent impulses and lose control, most likely harming only themselves. Most people are fearful even of asymptomatic (“controlled”) DGDs and can identify them by their restrictive dietary habits and the emblems they must wear to alert medical professionals to their status.

At 15, Lynn rebels against the strict diet to which DGD carriers must adhere to delay the onset of the illness. To show her the potential consequences of her actions, her parents force her to visit an institution for sufferers of DGD (“out-of-control DGDs”). Symptomatic DGDs are generally institutionalized and poorly cared for, as there are no widely known effective treatments. Her experience of visiting the institution leads Lynn to attempt suicide. Her father breaks down the bathroom door to stop her, and Lynn feels guilty about how she has affected him. She does not attempt suicide again. Despite DGDs typically only harming themselves when they “drift,” one day Lynn comes home to discover that her father, having succumbed to DGD unusually quickly and violently, has killed her mother and taken his own life.

After these events, Lynn becomes studious and hardworking and goes to college. She believes that this is a tactic she and other DGDs often use to distract themselves from their fate. She refers to this as “marking time” (37), though many also stereotype DGDs as capable of an unusual level of single-minded focus. Lynn resents this theory because she is simply more aware of the time limit she has and doesn’t consider herself to be special otherwise. Eventually, having grown tired of the social marginalization she feels around most people, she moves in with a group of other DGDs and quickly becomes the “housemother” (40). Lynn’s roommates often become lost in their academic pursuits, forgetting to complete the chores they are assigned. However, Lynn notices that they politely comply when reminded each time to complete their assigned task. Through one of her roommates, she meets Alan Chi, a pre-med student who is also a double DGD. He moves in, and they quickly form a bond over their shared status and cynical outlook. They become engaged.

Alan tries to learn more about his mother, who began to drift when he was three years old and was an early sufferer of the disease. To Lynn and Alan’s surprise, they learn that Alan’s mother is still alive and being cared for in an institution called Dilg. Dilg is a well-known “retreat” for out-of-control DGDs and is known to have better practices than typical institutions. Alan and Lynn set out to visit his mother and to learn more about Dilg. There, they meet Beatrice Alcantar, who manages the institution. Alan seems instantly drawn to her, while Lynn feels an intense repulsion, neither of which Lynn can explain. Despite Lynn’s repulsion, Lynn finds herself entranced by Beatrice as they proceed through the building, doing as she asks and responding to her questions. Lynn is self-aware of what is happening and addresses her state of mind, to which Beatrice cryptically asks if Lynn is planning to study medicine and tells her she’d do good for the world if so.

Beatrice reveals that all symptomatic DGDs at Dilg are leading productive, creative lives and many are making important contributions in the arts and sciences. They are intensely focused on their particular interest, though they have difficulty noticing that there are other people around. Beatrice takes Alan and Lynn to meet Alan’s mother, Naomi Chi, who is heavily scarred from a previous institutional experience. Despite being blind from self-inflicted wounds, she is creating a detailed clay sculpture of an old woman and two children.

Naomi is entranced in routine when Alan touches her face. Beatrice, seeing this, says that she can get his mother’s attention for him, though it will be hard for her to get back into her routine afterward. Alan asks Beatrice to do this, and she gets Naomi’s attention. Naomi can speak, much to Lynn and Alan’s surprise. Naomi asks Alan if her parents kept their promise to care for him, and he confirms that they did. He reveals that he and Lynn are to be married, and Naomi responds that Lynn will keep Alan “safe” so that “[n]o one will close him away from himself” (59-60). Though Lynn is nervous, Naomi touches their faces. Now and then, she becomes slightly aggressive; Lynn and Beatrice (though not Alan) are able to stop this aggression from violently escalating by telling her to stop. After a while, Naomi turns to sculpt her son and his fiancée.

Back in the waiting room, when pressed to reveal how this is possible, Beatrice reveals that it is because she herself is a double DGD and that double DGD woman produce pheromones that help them manage other DGDs. These pheromones help double DGD women curb others’ more violent tendencies and direct them in an almost hypnotic state. However, double DGD women tend to be very territorial, which is why she and Lynn feel so much hostility toward each other. She informs Lynn that she will someday have a well-paying job waiting for her to do similar work. Beatrice asks both Lynn and Alan to come back and work at the facility. Though they feel it is the right thing to do, Alan feels apprehensive that he must choose to be a worker bee without much free will because he will eventually be controlled by a double DGD. Lynn feels that she has no choice but to eventually become an institutional manager like Beatrice because of the potential good she can do, regardless of what she personally wants. Lynn is instructed to reach out to Beatrice to discuss the future further, and Alan and Lynn leave Dilg with new information about their condition and their futures.