Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -… [676]

Someone had cut and burned away most of my brothers skin. Everywhere except his face. They burned out his eyes, but left the rest of his face intact—like they wanted him to be recognized. They cut and they cauterized and they cut and they cauterized… Some of the wounds were days old. Someone had an endless hatred of my brother. — , Octavia E. Butler - Earthseed, Book 1 -…, 676

Note

The repetitive ‘They cut and they cauterized and they cut and they cauterized’ enacts the duration it describes — the torture spread over days, rendered as a rhythm rather than a list. The face spared as an act of labeling (‘like they wanted him to be recognized’) is the cruelest detail and the most controlled: she reasons about the killer’s intention while describing her brother’s body. ‘Endless hatred’ is the quietly terrifying conclusion because it exceeds any possible cause.