My Short Story Blog (Awesome)

       Octavia Butler's Blood Child is analogous to a video of pimple popping. Gross, yes, but is one able to look away? No. Or maybe I’m projecting my twisted sense of intrigue and have exposed myself beyond the point of redemption. Oh well. Blood Child is an interesting short story regarding the power dynamics and systemic coercion of the human-like Terrans from the alien Tlics. I believe Octavia Butler had the intention of including social commentary regarding gender roles, but it got overshadowed by the beastiality (?) aspect. Blood Child could be a story depicting gender roles in the ways they are manifest in our real world, but swapped. Here's my thought process:     T'gatoi is superior in age, physicality, and class status. She is an alien woman with the role of protecting the Terrans, and Gan's family from the dangerous Tlics roaming outside the Preserve. I believe she represents the "male" in traditional gender roles. Her hold over the Terrans with