Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora Literary Elements

Science fiction

Set in the United States and written in the context of the black author’s perspective

Third person narrative

Enlightening and cheerful

The protagonists are Lilith in 'Sister Lilith' and the enslaved man in 'The Goophered Grapevine.’ The antagonist is the plantation owner.

There is a major conflict between Adam and Lilith in 'Sister Lilith.' Since the two are created equal, Lilith is equal to Adam and is not submissive. The conflict forces God to banish Lilith to create Eve from Adam's rib to make her submissive.

The climax is in 'The Space Traders', where the aliens agree to trade the latest technology and gold with the American technology in exchange for all dark-skinned people.

The alien life forms in 'The Monophobic Response' foreshadow real-life racism practiced in America. The aliens use civilization to practice racism.

The consequences of eating a goophered grape are understated by the enslaved man. After eating the grape, the man starts to age very fast to a point he is not pleasing to his owner, who decides to sell him cheaply to others enslavers.

The goophered grape alludes to the manipulation of enslaved people in America in the early centuries. The enslavers had the luxury of manipulating slave people for their benefit.

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The main paradox is in 'Sister Lilith,' where Adam is a Black Man and Eve is a white woman. Since Eve is created from Adam's rib, she should have dark skin like Adam, but on the contrary, she is white.

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Adam’s rib is used as a metonymy to refer to a weaker gender.

The aliens in 'The Space Traders' are personified when the author says that they trade with the government by providing gold and technology in exchange for black people.