`` Bloodchild `` By Octavia Butler - 834 Words

â€Å"Bloodchild† is a story that pushes the limits of humankind, creating blurry interpretations of good and evil that challenges everyday societal norms. Octavia Butler takes a traditional action-filled story and twists it into an unexpected and intensified tale. Through this heightened piece of work, the most compelling argument can be found from the structure of the narrative itself. From the first-person narrative, readers are able to receive first hand perspective in which no omniscience of any sort can be detected. Readers can acquire the character’s actions, thoughts, and interpretation of the things that happen to them. â€Å"Bloodchild† is a story of an alien planet where the Terrans are enslaved by an alien race called the Tlic. Gan, the protagonist, has been promised as a host for the alien embryos in which the story will later reveal a deeper meaning underlining the sacrifice. The story introduces itself with the line, â€Å"My last night of childho od began with a visit home† (3). Readers are placed into a scene with no real beginning or proper introduction but instead confuse our conception of time and space through this sudden opening of science fiction. Butler’s reduction of humans into a commodity is essential to note because it may suggest that the relationship between the Terrans and Tlic is an enslaved and forced one. However, because of her bloodbath and gory language style that she utilizes, may lead viewers into interpreting this story about slavery andShow MoreRelatedGender Roles In Society In Bloodchild By Octavia Butler1087 Words   |  5 PagesOctavia Butlers short story â€Å"Bloodchild,† reinvents normative ideas of gender, power, and reproduction to demonstrate the discrepancies created by the aforementioned constructed ideals in society, both fictional and otherwise. Through the idea of embracing one’s differences Butler also builds the notion that the â€Å"Other,† in the s hort story is not simple because she assigns humanity to both the Tlics and Terrans creating a gray area for who is viewed as â€Å"Other,† which tells us that Butler’s ideaRead MoreAnalysis Of Octavia Butler s Science Fiction Classic1285 Words   |  6 Pages â€Å"Bloodchild† Analysis Octavia Butler’s science fiction classic â€Å"Bloodchild† is the coming of age story told from the point of view of Gan. The story takes place on an alien planet the very night that Gan becomes a man. One might expect a highly masculine, ritualistic ceremony or event, but Butler turns the tables. In order to become a man Gan must be impregnated by an insectoid like alien named T’Gatoi. Cages have often been symbolic in literature as a means of subjugation, the cages in â€Å"Bloodchild†Read MoreAnalysis of Octavia Butlers Bloodchild Essay1552 Words   |  7 PagesShould Octavia E. Butler’s â€Å"Bloodchild† be classified as a slave story? The author claims that â€Å"Bloodchild† is not a tale of slavery, but rather a love story and a coming-of-age tale. Does â€Å"Bloochild† conform to the conventions of the slave stories, love stories, or coming-of-age tales with which you are familiar? What other classifications—in t erms of literary genre, form, or mode—apply to â€Å"Bloodchild†? Readers can easily deduce why Octavia Butlers won both the Hugo and Nebula Awards for herRead MoreBloodchild: Gender Inequality in Society1462 Words   |  6 Pages Bloodchild by Octavia Butler is seen as a story about the relationship between alien oppressors and a group oppressed humans. It has also been described as a love story between the human narrator and the chief alien. In her afterword, she describes â€Å"Bloodchild† as â€Å"a love story between two very different beings,† â€Å"a coming of age story† and a â€Å"pregnant man story.†(Hardy) However, when one comparing Butler’s â€Å"Bloodchild† to Simone De Beauvoir’s essay â€Å"The second sex†, similarities surroundingRead MoreOctavia Butler Essay3243 Words   |  13 Pages Table of Contents Page 1. A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OCTAVIA E. BUTLER Page 2 - 4. Biography Page 5 - 9. Synopsis Page 9 - 14. Analysis of Criticism Page 14 – 15. Influences on Society Page 16. Footnotes Page 17. Bibliography A BRIEF CONVERSATION WITH OCTAVIA E. BUTLER 1. Who is Octavia E. Butler? Where is she headed? Where has she been? Who am I? Im a 51-year-old writer who can remember being a 10-year-oldRead MoreOctavia Butler : A Literary Award1275 Words   |  6 PagesOctavia Butler is one of only a few African-American science fiction writers, and the only African-American woman to earn popular and critical acclaim predominantly in the genre of science fiction. Her writing has earned science fictions top literary honors, including the Nebula Award, the Hugo Award, and the Locus Award. Octavia Butler was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California. Her young adulthood was an amalgam of misery and motivation; she supported her family by working as a domesticRead MoreAfrican American And American Writing1591 Words   |  7 Pages there have been numerous trailblazers of African American writing through the years. My most loved of all has been presented late this semester, Octavia. E. Butler. Best known as the creator of the Patternist arrangement of sci-fi books, which includes a general public whose occupants have created clairvoyant controls more than a few centuries, Butler investigates topics that have been given just quick treatment in the class, including sexual character and racial clash. Olivia’s champions are darkRead More Bloodchild: Oppression in Science Fiction Essay1404 Words   |  6 PagesBloodchild: Oppression in Science Fiction Throughout American literary history, nearly every form of literature has covered the topic of slavery and black oppression in America. From William Lloyd Garrison’s abolitionist papers to Harriet Beecher Stowe’s controversial Uncle Tom’s Cabin to Alice Walker’s The Color Purple, the exploration of the black position in America has been a theme that engrossed generations. In the past century, as science fiction has established its place in the literaryRead More The Basis of Utopia Essay1211 Words   |  5 Pagesstories written by authors looking to change the world in some way or another. Authors begin with an idea, and then move towards placement of thought and scheme into somewhat of a reasonable reality. Authors such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Octavia Butler use the stories they write as ways to express their problems that they have with the present world. Advances in the present day world can only be reached through dreams and desires. These drea ms and desires come to life as authors present theirRead MoreNature On Gender Roles : Bloodchild And Its Satirical965 Words   |  4 PagesBloodchild and its satirical Nature on gender roles Bloodchild is a science fiction story written first published in 1984. It was written by Octavia butler, an African American woman born in 1947. In her time of life she faced many issues that she reflects on in her writing, like racism, and misogyny. This story is a societal satire about a young boy who struggles to understand his role in life while coming of age. Bloodchild is a story that subtly outlines gender roles, possibly those of her time